Editor's pick: the best campsites for spring getaways

Surrounded by woods and trees, Dornafield is naturally beautiful, where daffodils bloom on the campsite and bluebells in its woodland. All pitches are fully serviced on mostly hardstandings.

There are toilet and shower facilities, laundry rooms, shop, games room, dog exercise area, adventure play areas, a tennis court and motorhome waste point. Away from the campsite you should head to Killerton, with its parkland, garden and eighteenth century house. The journey is worth it – spring brings a mass of flowering bulbs, magnolias and azaleas, while in the woods are wild cyclamens and bluebells.

It’s an ideal place for a sunny April walk, which you can follow up with a cream tea in The Stables café.

Dornafield  

For a campsite within 20 minutes’ drive of three great places for witnessing spring delights, choose Tanner Farm Park, 13 miles from Royal Tunbridge Wells.

The first place to visit is Sissinghurst Castle Garden. Here, you should find clusters of daffodils and crocuses in the orchard, and the Lime Walk, lined by two rows of lime trees, gets a burst of spring colour in the low-level planting in the borders.

Next we recommend heading to Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest, home to the most complete collection of coniferous trees anywhere in the world.

Finally, there is the moated Scotney Castle. An early springtime visit will uncover snowdrops and primroses, which will then be replaced by a carpet of bluebells later in the season. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for wildlife such as roe deer and plenty of newborn lambs.

Tanner Farm Park has grass or hardstanding pitches with electric hook-up, plus facilities including a shop, toilets, showers, a launderette and play areas.

The blossoming apple orchards, visible from many of the campsite’s pitches, add a touch of colour to your stay if you visit in April or May.

Tanner Farm Park  

This campsite is the closest to the pretty town of Shaftesbury, well known for Gold Hill from the Hovis advert! Shaftesbury Country Touring Park is also only nine miles from Stourhead, a landscaped garden with Palladian house.

This is a special garden, with a lake at its centre surrounded by classical temples, grottoes and exotic trees. Daffodils show their heads in March and April, while in May the rhododendrons and azaleas bloom and the smells of spring can be experienced through the scent of the lime trees and witch hazel.

After a good walk, there is a tea room to enjoy a cuppa and a slice of cake. Shaftesbury Country Touring Park has two areas, one hosting a fishing lake in a 19-acre field that can accommodate larger units.

Electric hook-up is available, as are hardstanding pitches, and there are toilets and showers, accessible facilities, a launderette, and shop selling the essentials.

Shaftesbury Country Touring Park  

Between mid-March and mid-May, the Vale of Evesham is recognised for its apple, pear and plum trees that fill the landscape with blossom of varying colours. So much so, that a 45-mile AA signposted Blossom Trail route was created, allowing visitors to drive, cycle or walk parts or all of the route.

On the doorstep of Bredon-Vale are three Blossom Trail walks, ranging in length, all rewarding you with sights and scents of the blossom. The campsite overlooks the Malvern Hills. Hedging and wildlife areas have been created, along with reinstating an orchard.

There are hardstanding pitches with electric, toilets and showers, an accessible family room and a motorhome service point. Reception sells the essentials such as bread and milk.

Bredon-Vale Caravan and Camping  

This rural campsite is set on the edge of Kielder Forest, the largest forest in England. Border Forest Holiday Park has direct access into the forest with miles of tracks where you can look for wildlife and enjoy the spring flowers.

The Pennine Way runs through the lower part of the campsite which you can follow south for approximately one-and-a-half miles to access the Hindhope Linn trail, which leads to two waterfalls.

Border Forest has hardstanding pitches with electric, toilets and showers and a washing-up area. As this campsite is remote, local amenities are a bit of a distance – there is a pub four miles away, and the nearest village, Otterburn, is nine miles.

Border Forest Holiday Park  

Set in a pleasant location to the southwest of the North York Moors National Park, this campsite has pitches with views over farmland, forest and moorland. Golden Square is surrounded by great walking countryside and is only two miles away from the market town of Helmsley.

The campsite is laid out on three levels with super, grass and hardstanding pitches. There are two toilet and shower blocks with family and accessible bathrooms, plus a licensed shop, play areas and even mini golf.

Twenty minutes’ drive away is the magnificent historic house, Castle Howard. In springtime, the castle’s 1,000 acres of parkland and gardens have stunning displays of daffodils, later followed by bluebells in Pretty Wood.

Just across the road from Castle Howard is the Yorkshire Arboretum, which bursts out of winter and into spring when the many bulbs begin to flower and some of the 6,000 trees blossom.

Slightly closer to the campsite, one-and-a-half miles away, is Ampleforth Abbey where you may be able to do a tour of the apple orchards (closed at the time of writing). During spring, when the trees are in blossom, would be the perfect time!

Golden Square Caravan & Camping Park  

Picture the Lake District in spring – flowers in bloom, bluebells carpet the woodland floors and the scent of wild garlic fills the air. Spring also means daffodils – the blaze of yellow colour that so inspired Wordsworth!

What better way to experience all this than with a scenic walk and a picnic? The shores of the lake at Tarn Hows, and the grounds of Wray Castle, make for two idyllic spots.

At the castle you will even find an indoor picnic room, should the British weather let you down. Wray Castle is only half a mile from Low Wray Campsite, and Tarn Hows is five miles away.

Located on the western shore of Windermere, there are 20 hardstanding pitches with electric. Facilities include toilets, showers, a shop, launderette and play area.

Low Wray Campsite  

Set on the edge of the River Fal in south Cornwall, Trelissick has gardens, woodland and countryside with panoramic estuary views. During the spring months you can expect to see crocuses, daffodils, camellias, rhododendrons and magnolias.

Located a few miles further south towards Falmouth, Enys Gardens are a 30-acre haven of tranquil gardens and woodland. The spring show of bluebells in the open meadow area is simply something else. There are also ponds, an orchard and a pinetum here.

Nicely nestled between the two gardens (three miles from Enys and five miles from Trelissick) is Cosawes Park. This campsite is for adults only, and is home to lots of wildlife thanks to its environmental efforts.

There are grass pitches with electric, or serviced hardstandings, plus toilets, showers, a launderette, and a bus stop within a quarter of a mile.

Cosawes Park  

Set near Welshpool in mid Wales, Rhyd-y-Groes Touring and Camping Park is a tranquil campsite, ideal for a relaxing break for adults over the age of 25 only. The site is surrounded by woodland and farmland with 60 pitches including hardstandings with 16A electric, and the majority are fully serviced, too.

Facilities include toilets and showers, with individual wet rooms, a motorhome waste point, dog shower, and woodland walk. A 10-minute drive from Rhyd-y-Groes is Powis Castle and Garden.

This striking, rust-red medieval castle sits overlooking beautiful gardens. During a visit between late March and June you can discover Italianate terraces with magnolia and wisteria in flower, and the Edwardian Formal Garden full of roses and spring blossom.

Add to this a panoramic view across the Severn Valley and you have one very special treat for the eyes.

Rhyd-y-Groes Touring & Camping Park