Three is the magic number for new UK glamping locations from £29 per night

If you still think family camping holidays are all about expedition-style packing and tussling with tents, think again. Say a big hello to Ready Camp, the UK’s largest glamping network, where you only need to pack the essentials, and family tents are pre-erected, so you get to keep your dignity and temper intact.

Of course, no packing and tent pitching is just the basic Ready Camp premise. Drill down a bit and there’s plenty more delight in the details.

For a start, Ready Camp are part of the Camping & Caravanning Club (CCC), so they have all the best campsites in the prettiest places across the UK. Which means you can crave anything from beaches to mountains, rivers, forests, National Parks, water parks, safari parks or theme parks, and you’ll find a Ready Camp site with your heart’s desire in the mix.

Their pre-erected safari tents are about as far from basic as it gets. Think two bedrooms with real beds, a cosily furnished open-plan living room, a fully kitted out kitchen with a hob, fridge, microwave and all sorts of other useful stuff (you don’t even need to bring a corkscrew or a torch). A table and chairs complete the tent-patio – not a word, but definitely should be.

In real terms, the UK’s largest glamping network now amounts to more than 45 sites, from the coast of Cornwall to the Scottish Highlands, with prices from just £28 per tent, per night.

And if that isn’t enough to persuade you to change your mind about family camping holidays, Ready Camp have just added three new campsites to 2019’s already stellar line-up. Open your mind and take a look:

1/3 Clitheroe, Lancashire

This new for 2019 Ready Camp site is set to become a go-to for family holidays. Not only is it on the River Ribble – perfect for fun stuff like canoeing – it’s also minutes from adventurous Forest of Bowland. Outdoorsy kids should pack plenty of energy for forest trail walking, rambles along the riverbank to pretty Waddington and keeping up with all the family events the locals have planned for spring and summer this year.

Why families love Ready Camp Clitheroe

• Enormous Forest of Bowland is just 20 minutes’ drive away for dozens of kid-friendly walking trails, five official Dark Sky Discovery Sites, plenty of picnic places, and free family activities all spring and summer.
• Half-an-hour from Clitheroe, medieval Hoghton Tower has a famous collection of dolls’ houses and gorgeous gardens, there’s also a monthly Farmer’s Market and a packed summer season of family events kicks off on 8 April 2019.
• Up close encounters with cute animals make Bowland Wild Boar Park a local must-do with kids. Wildlife walks, a play barn and exciting tractor rides add to the fun, all less than 20 minutes from the campsite.
• Nearby Gawthorpe Hall is managed by the National Trust which means lots to do for families, starting off with treasure hunts and egg painting this Easter.
• Blackpool’s beaches and piers, Go Ape at Rivington and LEGOLAND Discovery Centre are all under an hour’s drive from Ready Camp Clitheroe.

2/3 Devizes, Wiltshire

If your heart’s set on countryside with a side order of canals, Ready Camp Devises ticks both those boxes beautifully. It’s also walking distance from remarkable Caen Hill Locks for awe-struck staring and an easy learning moment. The charming market town of Devises is another near neighbour. And, if you feel like expanding your horizons just a little, that sweet sound you hear is the siren call of nearby North Wessex Downs.

Why families love Ready Camp Devizes

• Walk (or bike) along the Kennet and Avon Canal tow to Caen Hill Locks, then hop aboard The Admiral Welcome Boat and find out what makes the locks so special.
• Stonehenge is just 30 minutes’ drive away. Don’t miss the visitor centre for a huge collection of prehistoric artefacts and close encounters with Neolithic ancestors.
• Hillworth Park just picked up a Green Flag for the fifth year running. It’s only 20 minutes’ drive from the campsite has a great kids playground, basketball and tennis courts, and a packed spring and summer’s worth of family events.
• Lively Devizes is the town for weekly street markets, a colourful two week festival in August and heaps of kid-size history anytime, all less than 20 minutes’ drive away.
• We The Curious Planetarium; the American Museum & Gardens; Longleat Safari Park; Boxwood House & Gardens, are all under an hour’s drive from Devizes.

3/3  Kingsbury, West Midlands

A wake-up, walk outside and get the fun started holiday is what it’s all about at Kingsbury. Take a stroll to 600 acre, 15 lake Kingsbury Waterpark, almost right next door. A 10 minute drive puts kids in place for riding white-knucklers and roaming the zoo at Drayton Manor. And if you can’t resist an urban adventure, you can be in Birmingham in under 25 minutes

Why families love Ready Camp Kingsbury

• Kingsbury Water Park gives you plenty of scope. You can hire bikes or pedal boats, go hiking or horse riding, check out the animal farm, meet donkeys or, since it’s minutes from the campsite, have a shot at everything.
• Drayton Manor, 10 minutes’ drive away, is home to Thomas Land and Drayton Manor Zoo. But, at the other end of the spectrum, it’s also land of Shockwave: one of only two stand-up rollercoasters in Europe and just as terrifying as it sounds.
• A 22 minute drive brings you to Birmingham, some of the best shopping in the UK, fantastic city centre museums, and the sweet treat of Cadbury World.
• For high rope courses, obstacle challenges, 4D cinema, Billy Bonkers Play Zone, canoeing, activity trails, tunnel burrowing and general running around wildness, head to Conkers, just 30 minutes’ drive away at the heart of the National Forest.
• National SEALIFE Centre; Blists Hill Open Air Museum; Hatton Adventure World, and Calke Abbey are all under 40 minutes’ drive from Kingsbury.