Camping in Rochester

Rochester itself has no campsites within the city, which sits too tightly built around its castle and cathedral to leave room for one, but the surrounding Kent countryside more than makes up for it. Within a short drive, the North Downs, the Medway Valley and the orchards and hop gardens further into Kent offer a genuine mix of woodland camping, family-friendly touring parks and small, quiet certificated sites.

Campers who want to stay close to the city tend to head for the villages along the Medway towards Sittingbourne and Maidstone, where small touring parks and certificated sites offer electric hookups and straightforward facilities within a twenty-minute drive of Rochester Castle. Those happy to travel a little further towards the Kent Downs can find more characterful woodland pitches, with private fire pits and a genuine sense of getting away from it all, still well within range of a day trip back into the city.

None of the three sites below sit inside Rochester itself, but all are within around fifteen miles, an easy drive for an evening at the castle, a wander round the cathedral or dinner on the High Street before heading back to the tent, caravan or bell tent for the night.