6 of the Best Riverside Campsites in the UK

Inside a great sweeping meander on the River Wye, this spacious farm campsite has unbeatable river access. A beautiful pebble beach makes it easy for wading, swimming, and launching canoes, and you can get picked up further downstream so you never have to paddle against the current. Walkers love the place too – there’s great access to Hay Bluff and the mountains of the Brecon Beacons – and the whole thing is a five-minute drive (or 15-minute cycle) to the famous book town of Hay-on-Wye.

This pop-up campsite is only around for the school summer holiday and is the perfect place to wear out the kids. Along the banks of the River Great Ouse, you can swim, hire stand-up paddleboards, or cast off the young ones for mass games of football and quirky family activities. One Hipcamper described it as, “camping with just a hint of festival”, in a recent review, which pretty neatly sums the place up – there are good food vans, a pop-up bar, and the sort of tipi glamping options you might see at Glastonbury. 

Canalside Camping opened for the first time in 2022 but already has a reputation as a chilled out, spread out, popular country campsite, on the northern edge of Cannock Chase. It’s just across the water from the National Trust’s Shugborough Estate, home to a grand Georgian Mansion, and, as the name suggests, the campsite sits right beside a canal. In fact, two canals converge here – the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal joins the Trent and Mersey Canal – with a farm shop and café already onsite before the camping came along. Grab good food, set up the tent, and get the campfire going, as you watch canal boats coming in to moor for the night.