Camping in Cambridge

Cambridge itself has no campsite - the city is too compact and too built up for one - so camping here means basing yourself in the surrounding countryside and travelling in. That is less of a compromise than it sounds. The villages west and north of the city sit five to fifteen miles out on flat, easy roads, several have a bus route or a park and ride site within reach, and the cycling is exceptionally good: this is some of the flattest terrain in England, with quiet lanes and traffic-free paths such as the guided busway track from St Ives.

The land around Cambridge is gently undulating chalk to the south and west, giving way to true fenland to the north, where the ground is black peat and sits at or below sea level. Pitches are almost always level and drain reasonably, but the fen edge is open country with very few hedges or trees, so wind matters more than rain when you are choosing a spot. Ask for a pitch with some shelter if the forecast is breezy.

The weather is otherwise kind. Cambridgeshire is the driest county in England, with annual rainfall around 550 to 600mm, and summer temperatures here are regularly the highest recorded in the country. That makes for excellent camping in July and August but also for genuinely hot tents in the afternoon, so shade is worth having. The trade-off comes in winter and early spring, when the same lack of shelter and the proximity of the North Sea bring hard easterly winds and cold clear nights.

Wild camping is not legal in England without the landowner's permission, and there is no equivalent of the Scottish right to roam, so all camping around Cambridge must be on a proper site or with explicit consent. Most parks in the area open from March or April to October, though one or two of the hardstanding sites stay open all year for caravans and motorhomes. May, June and September are the best months: long days, warm ground, and no competition for pitches from the summer festival crowds.