THE UK's top camping destinations have been ranked.  

And the best in the country is all the way down in Dorset, at Higher Moor Farm has according to a new best of list.

But in second place, a beautiful spot closer to home in Northumberland might make more sense for North-East holidaymakers not wanting to stray too far from home this year.

With foreign holidays put on the back-burner this year, many of us are looking to holiday a lot closer to home, so campsites are expected to be all the rage this summer.

There has been somewhat of a renaissance of Great British camping since the start of the pandemic, with equipment flying off the shelves and campsites getting busier than ever.

The Northern Echo:

Higher Moor Farm Campsite 

New research from leading motorhome rental company, Camptoo, has ranked the 10 top camping hotspots in the UK, with Higher Moor Farm in Dorset taking the top spot.

It also proved to be the most Instagrammable campsite on the list with by far the most social media posts, tagged 943 times by users on the social media site. 

The 10 most popular camping regions in the country were selected based on the number of campsites in the area, with the top individual site for each region then singled out based on the online popularity (judged by Instagram posts and TripAdvisor reviews).

Average climate conditions (annual sun hours and rainfall) were measured, along with the number of nearby hiking routes, the quality of air in the area and nearby landmarks to visit to give an ultimate overall score of the top 10 campsites in the UK.

Herding Hill campsite in Northumberland took second place on the list, boasting the most landmarks nearby compared with the rest of the list. 

The Northern Echo:

Hiking in Northumberland - (stock).

As expected, popular camping locations made up the top five with Long Meadow (New Forest), Deepdale (Norfolk) and Mains Farm (Lake District) ranking third, fourth and fifth respectively.

The top 10 campsites: 

  • Higher Moor Farm, Dorset
  • Herding Hill, Northumberland
  • Long Meadow, New Forest
  • Deepdale, Norfolk
  • Mains Farm, Lake District
  • Gwithian Farm, Cornwall
  • Beech Croft, Peak District
  • By The Way Hostel and Campsite, Loch Lomond
  • Grantown on Spey, Cairngorms
  • Tyn Cornel, Snowdonia

Mains Farm, located in the UK’s largest national park, was found to have by far the most hiking trails close by, with a huge 631 to choose from although the Lakes do have the second-highest average annual rainfall in the list.

Gwithian Farm, located in the UK’s unofficial camping capital Cornwall, ranked in joint sixth place alongside Beech Croft in the Peak District.

National Parks made up the rest of the list as By The Way Hostel and Campsite (Loch Lomond), Grantown on Spey (Cairngorms) and Tyn Cornel (Snowdonia) coming in eighth, ninth and tenth place. 

The Northern Echo:

Loch Lomond, Scotland - (stock).

Ed Bassett, Camptoo’s Head of Wanderlust, said on the research: “This was a really interesting piece of research to be involved with and it gave us some very unexpected results.

“We knew national parks would dominate the list, but had no idea just how much with an impressive seven campsites making the list from parks all across the UK. 

“With Cornwall having so much to offer in terms of camping and activities, it was no surprise to see Gwithian Farm place in the top 10, perhaps lower than expected given the areas natural beauty. But ultimately, the competition is fierce as we have an amazing choice of campsites throughout the country and are spoilt for choice. 

“It will be interesting to see if any of these results change over the coming months with campsites beginning to open their doors to the public again and record numbers expected with travel restrictions meaning Brits are more likely to book a staycation this summer.

“We hope our research will help the public decide which areas of the UK will be the best for them whether they’re looking for good weather, nearby attractions or social media-worthy pictures.”