Camping in Tenterden

Tenterden itself has no large campsite within the town, but the surrounding Weald and the Sussex border a few miles south are well provided for, with touring parks set among orchards, farmland and the fishing lakes and woodland that fringe the Rother valley. Most sites within easy reach of Tenterden take tents, touring caravans and motorhomes, and several have grown a small glamping offering alongside their standard pitches, giving visitors without their own kit a way to try camping without buying a tent.

Facilities at these parks tend towards the straightforward rather than the resort-style: electric hook-ups, clean shower blocks, small on-site shops and, in some cases, playgrounds and fishing lakes rather than swimming pools or entertainment programmes. That suits Tenterden's appeal well, since the draw here is the Kent and Sussex countryside itself, the Kent & East Sussex Railway's steam trains passing within sight of some pitches, and easy access into Tenterden, Rye and Bodiam for a day out. Dogs are welcome at most of the sites within reach of the town, and all sit close enough to Tenterden for the vineyard, the railway and the high street to be a short drive rather than a serious expedition.