Vineyards with Camping and Glamping

Most vineyard stays in England mean a hotel room or a self-catering cottage. This guide is about the other kind - where you pitch a tent between the rows, wake up in a bell tent with dew on the grass outside, or fall asleep in a pod with the vines right up against your window. The number of vineyards offering proper camping and glamping is still small, but it's growing. It's a completely different experience from a vineyard hotel: more informal, closer to the land, and usually cheaper. The cellar door is still just a short walk away.

For campers who want canvas over their head and vines right outside it, options are limited but good.

Brissenden Vineyard in Kent has four grass pitches set directly among the rows, with a shower block, fire pits, and private tours on request. It's exclusive-hire only (minimum three nights), so you get the vineyard to yourselves.

Hanwell Wine Estate in Nottinghamshire is a more open option: pitch a tent or park a tourer in the paddock, with bar and café access from Friday to Sunday. Sealwood Estate in Derbyshire has twelve pitches with electric hook-ups, well placed for walking and cycling into the National Forest - one of the few vineyard campsites in the Midlands.

In the New Forest, Setley Ridge near Brockenhurst takes caravans and motorhomes (Camping and Caravanning Club membership required). There's a farm shop, a tea room, and a woodland footpath to the Filly Inn nearby.

Bell tents at vineyards range from the basic-but-charming to the full hamper-and-yoga experience. These are the ones worth knowing about.

Downsview Vineyard near Crowborough in the High Weald keeps it adults-only: four bell tents with fire pits, an on-site bar, and tours and tastings bookable for the next morning. Oastbrook Estate near Bodiam goes further - king-size beds, breakfast hampers, Weber BBQs, and optional spa treatments. National Geographic put it on their list of top UK glamping sites for foodies in 2021.

Yorkshire Heart on the Vale of York runs bell tents through July and August, with a cosy BBQ cabin available May to October. Flat cycling country, vineyard restaurant on site. Woolton Farm near Canterbury offers both furnished bell tents in the gardens and self-pitch camping in Ellen's Meadow, with Woolton Wines and Kentish Pip Cider made and sold on site. Open April to September.

Ten Acres Vineyard in Devon has nine standard pitches, a 5m bell tent, and a gypsy wagon - the Saturday wagon booking includes a tour and tasting. On a clear day, the views stretch past the vines to Dartmoor.

A step up from canvas, and in some cases a significant one.

Wolds Wine Estate in Nottinghamshire has four pods named after their grape varieties - Chardonnay, Rondo, Pinot Noir, and Solaris. Each has a private deck facing the vines, a full kitchen and bathroom, and a firepit. Flamborough Glamping and Vineyard on the East Yorkshire coast has eight pods overlooking a young vineyard above Flamborough Head. It functions more as a working glamping site than a producing winery, but the location between the heritage coastline and the village is hard to argue with.

In the Cotswolds, Road Green Vineyard has one cabin: The Grape Escape. Wood-clad, set among the vines, wood-fired hot tub, pizza oven. Sleeps two comfortably, four at a push.

• Seasonality - most vineyard campsites run April to October at the widest. Bell tents are often July to September only. Check before you book.
• Noise - vineyard campsites are quiet by design, and most owners actively enforce it. They're not the right choice if you want a late night.
• Tours and tastings - being on site doesn't mean a tasting is automatically included. Most require a separate booking, often in advance. Worth sorting at the same time as your pitch.
• Getting there - by their nature, vineyards need space and rural land. A car is the practical option for almost all of these.