Family Campsites in the Lake District

Wild camping gets all the attention on this site, and fair enough, there’s something in pitching a tent on a fellside with nobody else around for miles. But most people camping in the Lakes aren’t doing that. They’re turning up with two kids, a cool box the size of a small wardrobe, and a tent that took forty minutes to put up in the garden as a trial run. That’s a different holiday entirely, and it deserves its own guide.

So this one’s for the campsite crowd. Proper pitches, proper facilities, somewhere to plug in a phone and somewhere for the kids to run off before bedtime. If you’re still working out what tent to bring, our guide to choosing a bigger family tent covers exactly that.

What Actually Matters When You’re Booking

Reviews of Lake District sites tend to circle the same handful of things, so it’s worth checking these before anything else.

Location relative to the water and the hills. A site five minutes from Windermere sounds lovely until you realise you’re driving everywhere because it’s not actually walkable to anything. Low Wray solves this by sitting right on the shore. Castlerigg Hall solves it by putting you a short stroll from Keswick and within easy reach of Catbells for a first proper family fell.

What’s actually on site. Some parents want peace and a fire pit, some want a shop, a bar and a games room so the kids have somewhere to go when it rains, which in the Lakes it will. Park Cliffe leans hard into the second type. Fisherground leans into the first, with a farm shop and a playground rather than a bar.

Pitch type. Grass pitches are cheaper and more atmospheric, but can turn to mud fast after a wet week. Hardstanding pitches cost more but save you a soggy awning. If you’re going in shoulder season (April, or September into October), it’s worth checking which you’re actually booking.

How close together the pitches are. A site with tight, densely packed pitches means hearing your neighbour’s radio at 11pm. Farm-based sites and National Trust sites tend to space things out more generously than the bigger holiday parks.

A Few Worth Knowing

Low Wray is about as classic as Lake District camping gets. Windermere on one side, fells on the other, and it’s run by the National Trust so the site itself is kept simple rather than turned into a resort. Good for families who want the view to be the main event.

Fisherground sits in the quieter Eskdale valley, away from the Windermere crowds, with direct access to the Ravenglass and Eskdale steam railway, which will buy you at least one entirely stress-free afternoon. Full details are on the Eskdale campsites page.

Castlerigg Hall has become a regular fixture on “best of” lists for a reason. It sits above Derwentwater with genuinely good views, and it puts you close to Keswick, Catbells and the Castlerigg Stone Circle if anyone in the family fancies a bit of the folklore side of the Lakes. It’s not the only ancient circle worth a detour either, our look at Long Meg and Her Daughters covers Cumbria’s other, stranger stone circle. Book directly through their own site.

Great Langdale is the pick if you want to actually walk from your tent. The Langdale Pikes are right there, there’s a mix of grass and hardstanding, and there’s a pub within walking distance, which after a day on the fells is not a minor detail. Booking and pitch details are on the National Trust site.

Park Cliffe consistently gets picked out for its facilities and its views over Windermere, and it’s been recognised as one of the better family sites in the North West in recent awards. If you want a site that does more of the entertaining for you, this is the one. See what’s on offer at Park Cliffe’s website.

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