Need to escape ASAP? Check out these campsites with August availability

With the summer camping season now in full swing, it can be difficult to rock up to a campsite at the last minute without having pre-booked. Here are some great campsites - including some new Cool Camping discoveries which still have availability for summer 2010.

Trill Farm

Musbury, Axminster, Devon EX13 8TU

01297 631113

www.trillfarm.co.uk

The farm’s new owner is the globally successful Neal’s Yard Remedies entrepreneur, Romy Fraser. Profits from the campsite will subsidise courses on site, and eventually build a commune of likeminded businesses. So what might look like no-frills camping facilities to some will be a godsend to the ‘green brigade’. Solar-powered showers and solar-panelled lighting are Fraser’s first touches to creating a leading ecological centre. Watch this space…

To find out more about this campsite, click here.

Carnebo Barn

Trenoweth, Mabe, Falmouth, Cornwall TR10 9JJ

01326 377454

Carnebo Barn has only recently opened as an official campsite, though friends and family have been enjoying the place for years. The five acre smallholding up a very rough and ready track has a spacious, though slightly sloping, camping field in front of the barn. What power there is comes from a small wind turbine whirring above a gorse bush. A short walk down the hill from the site through thigh-high bracken you’ll find a glorious little swimming hole in a tiny quarry. Cold,  deep and very discrete it’s the perfect place for a wake-me-up plunge in the morning or for cooling off after a long hot day of Cornwalling.

Rufus and Rebecca are charming and interesting hosts, eager to share stories round the fire of an evening, maybe break out into an improv music session and there are even plans to erect a screen in the field and have film evenings of French New Wave classics and the like. It’s all very cool and just sufficiently on-grid not to be too scary to soft city dwellers.

To find out more about this campsite, click here.

Stoat's Farm 

Weston Lane, Totland, Isle of Wight PO39 0HE

01983 755258

www.stoats-farm.co.uk

NEW Cool Camping site! Full review currently being written... 

Nestled at the foot of the Tennyson Downs, bang in the middle of some of the Isle of Wight’s best walking and cycling, Stoat’s Farm is a bit of a find. It’s just basic enough to scare off the wrong kind of campers, but if your camping needs are more about a friendly welcome and a countryside view than posh toilets, then Stoaty gets the thumbs up.

True, it’s a bit slopey here in places so care will be needed when choosing a pitch but it’s not overly vertical. Friendly owners Lynne and David Leonard will help you find a good spot; they also run a well-stocked farm shop providing all the essentials, from seasonal garden produce and fresh dairy, to bread, drinks and ices.

This happy little site is the ideal base for exploring the many activities for which the West Wight has become famous, including sailing, bird-watching and hang-gliding as well as the top-notch cycling and walking that’s right on the doorstep. On the other hand, if the thought of all that activity leaves you feeling exhausted, the local country pub is just across the road.

Park House Farm

Keld, nr Richmond, North Yorkshire DL11 6DZ

01748 886549

www.keldbunkhouse.com

NEW Cool Camping site! Full review currently being written... 

This tranquil little gem of a 12-pitch campsite is ideally located right on the River Swale.  With only 100 metres between you and the Coast to Coast walk and only slightly further to join the Pennine Way, you’ll most definitely make use of the homemade breakfast baguettes and hearty suppers provided on request by owners Steve and Heather. These can be enjoyed in the shed-type dining shelter if groundsheet dining is beginning to take its toll. With Park House located in serious walking and mountain biking country, it would be almost criminal not to take advantage of all that the landscape has to offer. Steve and Heather can even provide secure bike storage to ensure your trusty two-wheeler sleeps as well as you do.

Camus More

Kilmuir, Isle of Skye, IV51 9YS

01470 552312

Camus More takes up an enviable spot by the sea on Scotland’s romantic Isle of Skye. There are just a dozen or so pitches shaved out of the long grass next to a low stone wall separating the lawn from the beach.

It’s a basic affair, with just a couple of loos and an outdoor sink for washing – and it’s cold water only – but it seems in keeping with the sparse surroundings. Behind the site the land sweeps slowly upwards towards the cliffs of the famous Trotternish Ridge. There’s a grand road right up through the middle of the mountains that’s worth trying (by bike if you’re feeling fit) for the fantastic views down the eastern side of Skye and out over Staffin Island.

Sunsets here are of the magical variety too, so you’ll want to have your camera at the ready. As the long summer evenings draw to a close, the sun sinks down behind the line of the Outer Hebrides and you can almost count the islands poking from the fiery sea. It’s classic Skye, and why people who’ve been can’t help but be drawn back again.

To find out more about this campsite, click here.

Vintage Vacations

Newport, Isle of Wight

 07802 758113

Vintage Vacations is the perfect blend of holiday comfort and retro chic. The owners have lovingly restored a mini fleet of Airstream trailers, staying as faithful as possible to the mid-century origins. Beautiful, stylish and wonderfully luxurious, stop by for a unique and memorable camping experience in a shiny bubble of fun.

There is currently availability for one of the JAMBOREES (space for 10+ people) on the weekend of 13-15 August. 2 x nights B&B @£48 per person per night (your own mini 'pop-up' Vintage Vacation at the fabulous Brighstone Holiday Centre).

To find out more about Vintage Vacations, click here.