Camping in Taunton

Somerset's gentle, orchard-studded countryside around Taunton offers some genuinely good camping, from small farm sites tucked beneath the Quantock Hills to family-friendly campsites nearer the Somerset Levels. As in the rest of England, wild camping is not permitted without the landowner's permission, so a booked pitch on a proper site is the way to go, and the choice around Taunton ranges from simple, no-frills fields with a tap and a compost loo to fully serviced touring parks with electric hook-up, showers and a shop. The Quantock Hills, a short drive north of town, are particularly good camping country: wooded combes, open heather moorland and quiet lanes make for excellent walking and cycling straight from the tent, and several small sites in villages such as Bicknoller and Holford put you right at the foot of the hills. Closer to town, sites around the Somerset Levels suit those who want easy access to Taunton itself along with the flatter, waterside landscape of rhynes, willows and wading birds that the Levels are known for.

Camping around Taunton is at its best from late spring through to early autumn, when the Quantocks are purple with heather in August and the orchards that give Somerset its cider are heavy with fruit by September. Summer brings warm, settled weather often enough to make evenings around the campfire a real pleasure, though Somerset's mild, damp climate means it is worth coming prepared for rain at any time of year. For those who like the outdoors but want a roof over their head, glamping has taken off across the county, with shepherd's huts, bell tents and safari lodges available on farms within easy reach of Taunton, many of them working farms where cider apples or livestock share the land with the pitches. Whether you are pitching a small tent for a weekend on the Quantocks or booking a glamping pod as a base for exploring the wider county, Taunton's campsites put you within easy reach of the hills, the Levels and the town itself.