Campsites in Cornwall
Good to know
How many campsites are there in Cornwall?+
When do Cornish campsites get booked up?+
Can you camp on the beach in Cornwall?+
Are dogs allowed on beaches in Cornwall?+
When is the best time to camp in Cornwall?+
Camping in Cornwall
Camping in Cornwall
Cornwall is England's most south-westerly county and its best-supplied camping destination, with 342 campsites split between two coastlines and the granite uplands of Bodmin Moor. The north coast takes the Atlantic head-on: surf beaches at Fistral, Watergate Bay, Polzeath and Widemouth Bay, cliff-top pitches with long sea views and sites that ask you to peg down properly when the wind gets up.
The south coast is the gentler side, where sheltered river valleys meet calm swimming water around Looe, Fowey, the Roseland Peninsula and Mount's Bay. Inland, Bodmin Moor rises to 420m at Brown Willy and holds the county's darkest skies, quietest pitches and lowest prices.
When to camp in Cornwall
July and August bring the warmest sea and the heaviest demand: pitches near the coast sell out for the school summer holidays before anything else in the county, so book those weeks months ahead. Late May, June and September keep most of the warmth with lighter traffic on the A30 and lower pitch prices. A hardy set of sites stays open through winter; use the campsites open all year in Cornwall filter to find them.
Pitch types across the county
Every camping style operates in Cornwall. Tent campers get everything from bare farm fields to full-facility parks, tourers have 48 caravan parks in Cornwall to choose from, van travellers find campervan and motorhome pitches across the county's touring parks, and glamping in Cornwall covers pods, yurts, bell tents and shepherd's huts for arrivals without kit.
Travelling with a dog, start at dog-friendly campsites in Cornwall and check the beach rules first: around 50 Cornish beaches restrict dogs between 10am and 6pm from 1 July to 31 August, with longer restrictions on Blue Flag beaches.
Beyond the pitch
Cornwall's fixtures fill rest days reliably. The Eden Project sits outside St Austell, the open-air Minack Theatre cuts into the cliffs at Porthcurno, St Michael's Mount rises out of the bay at Marazion and Tintagel Castle holds the King Arthur legend on the north coast. The South West Coast Path links the lot, passing close to most coastal campsites in the county.