Glamping in Kent

Table of Contents

• At a glance: What should you know about renting a glamping site in Kent?
• Glamping in Kent: find your perfect retreat
• Exploring Kent: our top recommendations
• Activities: What are the top things to do and see in Kent?

• Pods, yurts and shepherd's huts: Kent's glamping sites range from insulated camping pods to canvas safari tents and shepherd's huts, most set on working farms, orchards or hop gardens.
• Four very different corners: the north Kent coast, the Kent Downs, the countryside around Canterbury and the wide skies of Romney Marsh each suit a different sort of trip.
• Hearty food after a walk: Whitstable oysters, Kentish lamb and vineyard lunches are never far, with kitchens open across the county from Cranbrook to Folkestone.
• Best from late spring: May to September brings the warmest evenings for outdoor cooking, while September adds the hop and grape harvest.
• Walking, cycling and coast: the North Downs Way, the White Cliffs of Dover and the Viking Coastal Trail are all within an easy drive of most sites.

Glamping in Kent means canvas and timber rather than bricks: bell tents pitched in orchards, insulated pods on the Downs, shepherd's huts beside vineyards and safari tents with wood-burners on farmland near the marsh.

• Wood-fired hot tubs, easiest to find on the glamping sites with a hot tub
• Firepits and covered outdoor kitchens for cooking after a long walk
• Compost or private shower blocks a short stroll from the pitch
• Secure parking beside the pitch, useful on a driving tour of the county
• Dog-friendly fields and boot rooms for muddy days on the Downs

Book early for August and for harvest weekends, when the best pitches go quickly.

What are the best areas to stay in Kent?

For a first visit, base yourself around the Kent Downs, which sits within reach of both coast and cathedral city. The table below details regions for specific interests:

What do our guests say?

Guests staying in Kent consistently rate the county above 9.0+ for setting and hosting, and the comments follow a pattern: the quiet of the fields at night, the welcome from farming families, and how little driving is needed once you have arrived. Sites near the Downs draw praise for walking straight from the pitch onto a footpath, while coastal pitches are singled out for morning light over the water.

Kent is England's south-eastern corner, where chalk downland, orchards, vineyards and the Channel coast sit within an hour of each other.

🥗Where to eat in Kent?

According to Google Maps data and reviews, The Small Holding is the best rated restaurant in Kent. Below is a table showing the top 5 highly-rated restaurants hand-picked by our travel experts.

⭐Our guests' recommendation: Our guest traveller Emma recommends Timber Batts @ The Compasses in Kent: tucked into a Downs lane near Canterbury, it is the sort of pub where walking boots cause no fuss and the sharing plates arrive fast.

1. Walk the White Cliffs of Dover
2. Eat oysters in Whitstable
3. Wander medieval Canterbury
4. Tour a Kentish vineyard
5. Ramble the North Downs Way
6. Cross Romney Marsh
7. Seek out oast houses and hop gardens

1. Walk the White Cliffs of Dover

   Start at the visitor centre above Langdon Bay and follow the clifftop path east towards the South Foreland Lighthouse, with the Channel shipping lanes below and France often visible on the horizon. The turf is springy, the drop is real and the whole walk takes about two hours there and back. Fulmars nest on the chalk in spring, and the tea room at the lighthouse is a sensible turning point before heading back to the car park.

2. Eat oysters in Whitstable

   Whitstable has farmed oysters since Roman times, and the easiest way to try them is standing at a shack on the shingle with a wedge of lemon. Wander the narrow alleys off the High Street, look in at the harbour fish market, then walk west along the sea wall towards Seasalter as the sun drops. The Oyster Festival in late July fills the town with landing processions, live music and stalls.

3. Wander medieval Canterbury

   The UNESCO-listed cathedral is the obvious draw, but the pleasure is in the streets around it: timber-framed frontages leaning over the Stour, the ruins of St Augustine's Abbey, and punts gliding under the Weavers' House. Set aside an afternoon, eat at the market inside the old railway goods shed, and leave time to wander Canterbury itself after the crowds thin.

4. Tour a Kentish vineyard

   Kent's chalk soils mirror those of Champagne, and the county is one of the leading regions for English sparkling wine. Vineyards around the Weald and the Downs run guided tours through the vines and tastings in the barrel room, usually finishing with a glass on a terrace looking over the rows. Harvest runs from late September into October and is the liveliest time to visit; book ahead, and plan a driver.

5. Ramble the North Downs Way

   This long-distance trail runs the length of the county along the chalk escarpment, and it is easily sampled in day-sized pieces. The stretch above Wye, past the crown carved into the hillside, gives huge views across the Stour valley, while the section near Hollingbourne threads through beech woods and orchards. Pack a picnic, since villages are spread out, and finish at a pub with an open fire.

6. Cross Romney Marsh

   The marsh feels like nowhere else in England: reclaimed grazing land under enormous skies, cut by drainage dykes and dotted with lonely churches. Drive or cycle the lanes between Appledore and Dungeness, where a shingle headland holds fishing boats, a lighthouse and one of Britain's strangest gardens. The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch narrow-gauge railway runs the length of it in miniature.

7. Seek out oast houses and hop gardens

   Those white cowled roundels in the fields are oast houses, built to dry hops for the brewing trade, and they are the signature of the Kentish landscape. The Weald around Cranbrook and Faversham has the greatest concentration, and several working farms still grow hops for local brewers. Combine a slow drive between them with a brewery tap stop, or head north-east for a day beside the sea at Margate.