Camping in Gloucester

Gloucester itself has no campsites within the city, but the surrounding Severn Vale and Cotswold fringe are well provided for within a short drive, particularly along the flat, willow-lined banks of the river to the north and south and the gentler farmland towards Tewkesbury. Sites here tend to be small, family-run touring and camping parks rather than large holiday centres, several set directly on the riverbank or beside the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, which suits visitors after a peaceful rural base with the cathedral city still only ten to twenty minutes away by car. The terrain is largely flat water meadow close to the Severn itself, rising gently towards the Cotswold escarpment to the east, giving even simple touring pitches a wide, open outlook.

The camping season here runs roughly from Easter through to the end of September at the smaller sites, with a handful open year-round for all-weather touring pitches. Summer brings warm, changeable weather typical of the Severn Vale, with river levels at their lowest and towpaths at their driest, while spring and fine autumn weekends offer a quieter, cooler alternative with orchard blossom or turning leaves as compensation, and birdlife along the Severn is a particular draw in the shoulder seasons near Slimbridge. Wild camping has no general legal right in England outside a few specific areas such as Dartmoor, so pitching up without landowner permission on the riverbanks or in the countryside around Gloucester is not lawful, however tempting the Severn's quieter stretches may look; the established sites listed here are the reliable and legitimate way to camp in the area. Given their modest size, popular weekends and school holidays can book up quickly, so those planning a Gloucester trip built around camping are best advised to reserve a pitch in advance rather than arrive on spec.