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The 28-Day Rule and the 5-Unit Exemption Are Not the Same Thing

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 15:25:32 GMT

Search "how many days can I camp without planning permission" and you'll find answers mentioning 28 days, others mentioning five units with no day limit at all, and very few explaining that these are actually two completely separate legal mechanisms. If you've come away from your research more confused than when you started, that's why.

Mechanism one: the 28-day permitted development right

Under permitted development rules (set out in the Town and Country Planning General Permitted Development Order), a landowner can use land for camping — tents, caravans, motorhomes — for up to 28 days in any calendar year , without needing planning permission or going through an exempted organisation at all.

The trade-off is the time limit. Once you've used your 28 days, that's it for the year, regardless of how many units were on site or how it was run. This suits a one-off event, a festival weekend, or occasional short bursts of use — not a site you want running for most of the season.

Mechanism two: the certified exemption (paragraph 5)

The certified exemption works completely differently. Under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, an exempted organisation — such as Wanderlust Camping Club — can certify a site for up to five units, with no fixed day limit on how many days a year it operates, provided the site is properly certified and the local authority hasn't raised a valid objection.

The trade-off here is the unit cap rather than a time limit: five units, but potentially year-round, rather than unlimited units for a short burst.

Side by side

Why this distinction actually matters

Getting the two confused tends to go wrong in one of two directions. Some landowners assume the 28-day right means they can run a small site all season as long as they keep unit numbers low — it doesn't; the day count is what matters, not the size. Others assume the certified exemption comes with a day limit like the 28-day rule does, and needlessly restrict their own season when they don't have to.

Knowing which mechanism actually fits your plans — a handful of one-off weekends, or a proper season-long small site — decides which route makes sense, and neither one is "better" in the abstract. They're built for different situations.

Which one is right for you?

If you're picturing occasional use — a summer festival tie-in, a wedding weekend, a handful of one-off events — the 28-day right is probably the simpler route, and doesn't require certification by anyone.

If you're picturing a small site that's actually open for most of the season, capped at a manageable size, the certified exemption is very likely the better fit — and it's the route that gives guests (and you) the reassurance of proper vetting behind it.

Not sure which route fits what you're picturing? Get in touch and we'll help you work out which one actually applies.

What our Certified Sites say...

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 15:21:08 GMT

Certification isn't a quick form and a rubber stamp — it's a proper vetting process, and we're upfront about that from the first conversation. So rather than tell you it's worth it, we thought it was more useful to let the site owners who've been through it say so themselves.

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Meet the People Behind Wanderlust

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 15:14:05 GMT

"Vetted, not viral" is easy to put on a website. It's a lot more meaningful once you know who's actually doing the vetting.

So here's a proper introduction to th e small team behind Wanderlust Camping Club — the people visiting sites, answering emails, and deciding what does and doesn't make the cut.

Matt — Founder & Director

Wanderlust started with Matt, and it's still very much his standards the club is built around. He's the one out on the road doing the expert site visits — the actual walking-the-land, checking-the-details work that decides whether a site earns a place in the club. He's also co-owner of The Hide at Manton Bay, an award-winning glamping site by Rutland Water, so the eye he brings to vetting other sites is one he applies to running his own.

Jazz — Marketing & Sales Manager

Jazz covers a lot of ground: customer and site happiness, socials and marketing, partnerships, copywriting, and the technical side of keeping things running behind the scenes. If you've had a smooth experience finding out about Wanderlust or love how we're shouting about your site and getting bookings, there's a good chance Jazz had a hand in it.

Phoebe — Operations

Phoebe is the one making sure everything holds together once a site joins the club — applications, compliance, oversight, and the aftercare that happens once a site is up and running. It's not the most visible job, but it's the one that keeps the whole thing trustworthy, credible and worth joining. You'll hear from Phoebe every month if you join our club!

Why this matters

None of this is a big team. That's rather the point — Wanderlust isn't trying to be the biggest camping club out there, just the most carefully put together. Every site you see on the platform has been through actual people, not an algorithm, and actual standards, not a form you fill in yourself.

Next time you spot a hidden gem through Wanderlust, that's the four of us behind it.

Curious about a site you've seen on our Instagram?

Or thinking about certifying your own? Get in touch — we'd love to hear from you.

Do You Need Planning Permission for a Glamping Site? The Answer Most People Get Wrong

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 15:10:11 GMT

Type "planning permission for glamping" into Google and you'll fall down a rabbit hole of council jargon, forum horror stories, and blog posts that all seem to disagree with each other.

It's no wonder most people considering a small site on their land assume the answer is: yes, obviously, and it'll take a year and cost a fortune.

Here's the bit that gets missed. For a lot of small sites, it isn't true.

The route nobody mentions first

Buried in the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 is a provision — known in planning circles as a paragraph 5 exemption — that lets certain organisations certify small sites without the landowner needing to go through the full planning process at all. Up to five units. No site licence. No months in the planning queue.

This isn't a loophole. It's been part of UK law for over sixty years, built specifically so small, low-impact sites don't need the same process as a housing development or a 200-pitch holiday park.

The organisations able to certify sites this way are known as exempted organisations — camping and caravanning clubs that have been granted the authority to do it. Wanderlust Camping Club is one of them. Site owners still notify the local planning authority, and the council retains the right to object. But for most small, well-run sites on suitable land, that objection never comes.

Where planning permission actually is required

To be clear, this route isn't a way around planning permission altogether — it's a different, more proportionate legal path for genuinely small setups. Full planning permission is still the right route if you're looking at:

More than five units
Permanent structures with fixed foundations rather than movable units
Large-scale development with new roads, car parks, or extensive groundworks
Change of use that goes well beyond seasonal, low-impact camping or glamping

If any of that describes your plans, the certified exemption isn't the answer, and a planning consultant is worth talking to early.

Why the confusion persists

Most of what comes up when you search this topic is written from the perspective of large-scale developments or written by people who've only encountered the full planning process. It's not wrong, exactly — it's just answering a different question than the one most small landowners are actually asking.

If you own a few acres and are picturing five shepherd's huts, not a fifty-pitch holiday park, the planning permission process most articles describe was never really built for you. The exemption route was.

What "certified" actually means in practice

Certification isn't a rubber stamp. Exempted organisations like Wanderlust vet every site before it's approved — checking access, drainage, safety, and suitability — because the certification carries their name and their standards. It's a slower process than "no rules at all," and a considerably faster one than full planning permission.

That's really the trade-off: less bureaucracy, but not less scrutiny. Which, if you're planning to run a site people will actually want to stay at, is probably the right balance anyway.

Thinking about turning a corner of your land into a small camping or glamping site? Get in touch to find out whether the certified exemption route could work for you.

The Five-Unit Rule: How Landowners Are Diversifying Without a Planning Battle

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 15:07:49 GMT

Farm incomes have been squeezed for years, and diversification has gone from a buzzword to a necessity for a lot of landowners. Holiday lets, wedding barns, farm shops — all well-trodden paths, and all requiring significant capital and, usually, full planning permission.

There's a quieter option that rarely comes up in the diversification conversation: a handful of shepherd's huts, pods, or bell tents in a corner field, certified under an exemption that's existed in UK law since 1960 and needs no planning application at all.

Small, on purpose

The rule — a paragraph 5 exemption under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 — caps things at five units. That ceiling is the whole point. It's designed for exactly this kind of low-impact, small-scale use: land that isn't being farmed intensively, or a field that sits empty for most of the year, brought into gentle use without construction, groundworks, or a change-of-use application.

For a working farm, that means:

No disruption to existing agricultural use elsewhere on the land
No planning application, and no six-month wait to find out if it's been approved
A seasonal income stream that can start small and prove itself before any bigger investment
Units that are, by definition, movable — nothing permanent, nothing that locks you in

It won't replace a farm's income on its own. But as a way to test whether hospitality has legs on your land, without betting the farm on it (literally), it's about as low-risk as diversification gets.

Who actually certifies a site

This is the part that trips people up: you can't self-certify. The exemption only works through an organisation that's been granted the legal authority to certify sites on landowners' behalf — Wanderlust Camping Club is one of a small number of these across the UK.

That's a deliberate safeguard, not red tape for its own sake. Certification means someone has actually visited, checked access and drainage, and confirmed the site meets the standard — because every site certified under an organisation's name reflects on that organisation. Local authorities are still notified and can object, though for well-sited, well-run applications that's rarely where things end up.

What five units actually looks like on the ground

Five doesn't sound like much until you picture it: five shepherd's huts tucked along a treeline, five bell tents in a wildflower meadow, five pods with a view over the valley. For a lot of landowners, that's not a compromise — it's the appeal. Small enough to run without hiring staff. Small enough that it doesn't change the character of a working farm. Large enough to be worth doing properly.

It also tends to suit exactly the kind of guest who's actively looking for something that isn't a 200-pitch holiday park — which, if hospitality is new territory for you, is a considerably gentler crowd to start with.

The honest trade-off

This route isn't for everyone. If the ambition is a proper glamping business — twenty units, a shower block, a bar — full planning permission is the right conversation to have, and probably sooner rather than later. But if the question is "could this field earn something without a year of planning limbo," the five-unit exemption is very often the answer nobody's told you about yet.

Have a field, paddock, or a bit of spare land that's doing nothing right now? Get in touch to talk through whether certification could work for you.

7 of the most unique stays in the Wanderlust Club

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 08:07:07 GMT

Looking for unique glamping and camping sites in the UK? From mirrored glass retreats to converted horseboxes and riverside vehicle conversions, our network of independently run sites proves that no two stays are ever the same.

Browse unique stays across the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Shropshire, Cheshire, and Wales - and find the one that's missing from your bucket list.

Across our network of certified sites, a handful have gone properly off-script — swapping the standard canvas for converted vehicles, glass boxes, and structures you won't find anywhere else in the UK. Here are seven stays that prove it. Because we don't just camp. We stay places others miss.

Nook and Key Escapes — Anglesey, Wales

Mirrored on the outside. All glass on the inside. The kind of stay that makes you do a double take before you've even checked in.

By day, the mirrored exterior melts into the Anglesey landscape — trees, sky, coastline, all reflected back at you. By night, the glass walls take over, framing uninterrupted views straight from the hot tub as the sun goes down over the coast. It's privacy and exposure in the same breath: hidden from the outside world, wide open to the view.

Tags: Glamping · Coastal · Unique Stay · Tub

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Marshland Alpacas Camping — Lincolnshire

Camp here and your neighbours have four legs and significantly better hair than you.

This adults-only site puts you right alongside its resident alpacas — genuinely on-site, not bussed in for a photo opportunity. It's a quieter, slower kind of unique: no fairground gimmicks, just good company of the woolly variety and the novelty of waking up to alpacas grazing outside your tent.

Tags: Dog Friendly · Adult Only · Animals On-Site · Unique Stay

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Sycamore and Stars — Lincolnshire

A converted carriage, parked up in a wildflower meadow, with absolutely nothing else around it.

Sycamore and Stars leans into "most wild" for a reason — this is woodland glamping stripped back to the essentials: long grass, tall trees, and a sky with zero light pollution to compete with. If you want a stay that feels like you've properly disappeared for a night or two, this is it.

Tags: Glamping · Woodlands · Most Wild · Unique Stay

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Deerstone Glamping — Yorkshire Dales

A barrel sauna and a geodesic dome, side by side, with the Dales rolling out behind them.

This is a pairing built for contrast: sweat it out in the sauna, then step straight into the dome to cool down under a glass ceiling full of stars. Add in the rolling hills and big-sky views, and Deerstone is less a place to pitch up and more a small wellness retreat that happens to come with a postcode.

Tags: Dog Friendly · Glamping · Rolling Hills · Countryside · Amazing Views · Unique Stay

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Springfield Riverside Camping & Glamping — Shropshire

A retired military vehicle, converted into a glamping stay, parked up by the river.

There's something brilliant about a vehicle built for convoys ending up as one of the most relaxed stays in Shropshire. Springfield pairs the novelty of sleeping in a converted ex-forces truck with the simple pleasure of a riverside pitch — rod in the water by day, four solid (very solid) walls by night.

Tags: Glamping · Camping · Fishing · Unique Stay · Riverside

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The Horsebox & Stables at Wits End — Cheshire

Once it carried horses. Now it's one of the more unexpected glamping conversions in the country.

The horsebox keeps its rugged, working shell on the outside but trades hay bales for a proper stay on the inside. Set against Cheshire's rolling hills and countryside, it's a stay with real character — and a great story to tell anyone who asks "wait, you stayed in a what?"

Tags: Glamping · Rolling Hills · Countryside · Unique Stay

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The Blencanthra Box — Lake District, Cumbria

Sleek, dark-clad, and glowing from the inside out — the Blencanthra Box looks more architectural showcase than glamping pod.

Set in the Lake District with the Cumbrian fells as a backdrop, this is a stay for anyone who wants their countryside escape with a side of design. Clean lines, a moody exterior, warm lighting spilling out at dusk, and a hot tub to make the most of those rolling hills. Proof that "unique" doesn't have to mean rustic.

Tags: Glamping · Dog Friendly · Lakes · Rolling Hills · Countryside · Tub

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Stay places others miss

Seven sites, seven completely different ways to do "unique" — mirrored boxes, military convoys, alpacas, and a sauna-dome double act among them. If your usual camping trip needs shaking up, this is where to start.

This Is What Switching Off Actually Feels Like.

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:46:50 GMT

Not the version where you put your phone face-down at dinner and call it a digital detox.

The real version. The one where you're two days into a stay somewhere genuinely quiet and you realise, with mild surprise, that you haven't thought about your inbox since you arrived. That your sense of time has shifted. That you're noticing things — the way the light changes across a field in the late afternoon, the particular sound a wood makes at night — that you'd completely forgotten how to notice.

This is what the outdoors does when you actually let it. Not as a wellness concept or a scheduled retreat activity, but as a simple consequence of being somewhere without the usual noise, doing things at the pace they're meant to be done at.

The Wanderlust network exists to make this easier to find. Not through itineraries or programmes or guided experiences — though some of our sites offer exactly that, from rewilding walks to nature skills to immersive stays designed specifically for people who need to properly decompress. But fundamentally through the quality of the places themselves. Sites chosen because they have the kind of atmosphere that does the work for you. Where the environment is enough. Where the agenda writes itself.

There is real, well-documented value in time spent outside. In contact with nature, in unstructured days, in the kind of slow that comes from a morning with nowhere to be and good countryside on the doorstep. People sleep better. Think more clearly. Come back from holidays feeling genuinely restored rather than just rested. The science has been catching up with what anyone who's spent a week under canvas already knew.

But knowing it and actually doing it are different things. The friction of finding the right place — somewhere that feels genuinely removed, genuinely personal, genuinely worth the journey — is real. That's what we remove.

Every site in the Wanderlust network has been chosen because it offers something the mainstream can't: a real connection to the natural world, hosted by people who live inside it. Whether you're after three nights of complete silence in a woodland, a family week on a working farm that puts children back in contact with where food comes from, or something more structured around rewilding or nature skills — it's in the network.

The world that actually matters is outside. We'll help you find your way back to it.

The Best Trip You Haven't Taken Yet Is Probably Two Hours Away.

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:45:33 GMT

Britain is wilder than you think. The evidence is out there, down a quiet lane, at the end of a field track.

Somewhere between the rise of the long-haul holiday and the algorithm-driven travel list, we collectively forgot something. Britain is extraordinary - in a genuinely, stubbornly, surprisingly wild way that most people who live here have barely scratched the surface of.

The limestone valleys that drop without warning into the Peak District. The Pembrokeshire coastline on a clear morning when the sea is doing something improbable with the light. The New Forest in late summer, when the ponies are everywhere and the heather is out and the whole place feels like it belongs to a different century. The Lincolnshire Wolds, the Surrey Hills, the Welsh borders — landscapes that don't make the front covers of travel magazines but reward the people who find them with something those covers rarely deliver: genuine quiet, genuine space, and the particular satisfaction of a place that feels like yours because almost nobody else is there.

The flight to somewhere extraordinary has its place. But there's a growing number of people who've started to notice that the search for the remarkable doesn't have to involve a departure terminal — and that the things they were flying towards were available, in different form, an hour or two from home.

This is what the Wanderlust network is built on. Not a compromise version of travel, not a consolation prize for people who couldn't get elsewhere — but a deliberate, considered argument that the UK's most special places deserve to be sought out, stayed in, and talked about. The sites we champion are the ones that make that argument most convincingly: small, independent, rooted in the landscapes that surround them, and run by people who've chosen to build something in a corner of Britain they believe in.

When you book through Wanderlust you're not just finding somewhere to sleep. You're putting money into a local economy that needs it, spending time in a landscape that benefits from thoughtful visitors, and discovering a version of your own country that most people fly straight over.

Britain is wilder than you think. The evidence is out there, down a quiet lane, at the end of a field track.

We know where it is.

Go Further. Tread Lighter.

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:44:03 GMT

There's a particular kind of traveller who's started to ask a different question. Not just where do I want to go — but how do I want to do it?

It's a quiet shift, but it's a real one. More people are choosing holidays that feel considered.

That leave something behind other than footprints. That sit comfortably in the landscape rather than imposing on it. Not because they've been told to, but because once you've spent a night in a field with no light pollution, woken up to nothing but birdsong, or watched a deer appear at the edge of a woodland you're sleeping in — the idea of holidaying any other way starts to feel like a strange choice.

This is what low-impact travel actually looks like. Not deprivation. Not compromise. Not swapping comfort for conscience and spending the whole trip slightly cold and slightly guilty. It looks like a shepherd's hut with its own hot tub, positioned so carefully in the landscape that it barely interrupts it. It looks like a bell tent on a working farm where the food miles between field and fire are measured in metres. It looks like a campfire that's been burning in the same spot for twenty seasons, tended by people who care deeply about the land they're inviting you onto.

The best outdoor experiences have always understood this. The sites that make up the Wanderlust network were chosen precisely because they get it — independently run, landscape-led, and managed by hosts who consider the natural world around them an asset worth protecting, not a resource to be used up. Staying at one of these places isn't a sacrifice. It's an upgrade.

Because here's the thing about low-impact travel that rarely gets said clearly enough: it tends to produce the best holidays. The quieter sites. The more personal experiences. The stays that don't feel like a product. When a host is genuinely invested in their land — when they know the names of the birds that nest in their hedgerows and can point you towards the swim spot the locals use — you feel that. It changes the quality of the experience in ways that a five-star rating system doesn't really capture.

Going further doesn't have to mean going harder. It can mean going slower, more deliberately, with a better eye for what's actually around you. Choosing the site that sits gently in its landscape over the one that's been bulldozed into it. Picking the host who's been there for twenty years over the one who's there for the margin.

The natural world that makes these stays possible is worth showing up for properly.

Wanderlust exists to make sure you always know where to find it.

Every Stay Does Good.

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:42:39 GMT

When you book a stay at any Wanderlust site, a share of your membership contribution is channelled into wildlife support

There's a version of a holiday where you come back feeling genuinely good about it. Not just rested — though that too — but good in the way that comes from knowing the thing you did had some value beyond the experience itself.

That's what we've tried to build into every Wanderlust booking.

The places that make our network special — the woodland clearings, the hillside fields, the coastal corners that feel like nobody else has found them yet — exist because of the landscapes around them. The wildlife that wanders through. The skies dark enough to actually see stars. The rivers clean enough to swim in. These aren't backdrops. They're the whole point.

Which is why we think it matters that a portion of every Wanderlust membership fee goes directly into supporting UK wildlife. Not as an afterthought, not as a badge on a webpage — but as a built-in commitment to the wild places and creatures that make these stays worth having in the first place.

It works simply. When you book a stay at any Wanderlust site, a share of your membership contribution is channelled into wildlife support — funding projects that help the UK's most important habitats recover, protecting the kind of countryside that independent camping and glamping depends on. You don't have to opt in or pay extra. It's already part of what you're doing.

The sites in our network understand this better than most. These are people who live and work in the landscapes they're inviting you into. They know the difference between land that's being looked after and land that isn't. Many of them are actively involved in conservation, rewilding and low-impact land management — and when you choose their site over a large commercial alternative, that choice has a tangible effect.

We're not going to overclaim what a single booking does. But we do believe that the cumulative effect of a community of people choosing to holiday this way — independently, thoughtfully, in places that are genuinely worth protecting — adds up to something real.

So when you're looking for somewhere to go this season, know that wherever you end up in the Wanderlust network, your stay is doing a little more than you might expect.

Planning Permission for a Glamping Site? There's Another Way.

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:11:06 GMT

Exemption Certification solves the legal question of permission to operate. But Wanderlust membership goes further than that - we're by your side, filling your units with bookings.

If you've been looking into starting a glamping site, you've probably already encountered the planning permission question — and if you have, you'll know it's not a simple one.

The traditional route, applying for full planning permission for a campsite or glamping operation, is slow, uncertain and often produces results that are heavily restricted even when approved. Limits on the number of units, conditions on operating months, requirements that can fundamentally change what you were trying to build. Many landowners go through the process, get a decision they didn't want, and give up on the idea entirely.

There is a better route. And it's been used by landowners across the UK to open glamping sites without touching the planning system at all.

What is an exemption certificate?

Under paragraph 5 of the First Schedule of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, recognised camping clubs are legally authorised to certify sites without the need for planning permission. This means that landowners who become certified sites through an approved club can operate legally — including trading beyond the standard 28-day permitted development rule — without ever submitting a planning application.

Wanderlust Camping Club is fully authorised by Natural England to issue these certificates. We hold certificates for both caravans and camping, and can issue licences for up to five caravans, shepherd huts or pods, plus a number of camping pitches or glamping tents depending on the size and facilities of your site.

What does that mean in practice?

It means you can open. Properly, legally, and with far more freedom than the planning system would ever grant you. No arbitrary unit limits imposed by a planning committee. No lengthy application process eating up a season you could have spent trading. No list of conditions telling you what you can and can't do on your own land.

The certification process moves quickly enough that — if your site is suitable — you won't miss the next season.

What does Wanderlust look for?

Certification isn't automatic. We assess each site on its individual merits and we're genuinely selective. What we're looking for is simple: good accommodation, well-maintained facilities, and a host who's willing to go the extra mile for their guests. A site manager must live on or very close to the site.

There are some situations where certification isn't possible — open sites with little natural screening, sites very close to neighbours who might be adversely affected, land subject to enforcement action, or sites within the curtilage of a listed building. We'll always be upfront about this early in the process.

What else do members get?

Certification solves the legal question. But Wanderlust membership goes further than that.

Members get their site listed on our platform and promoted directly to an engaged audience of guests who are actively looking for small, independent, curated places to stay. Unlike some clubs, we place no advertising restrictions on our members — you can take your own bookings, use any platform you choose, and run your site your way. We also offer advice on setup, infrastructure, planning and supplier relationships, including priority access and discounts with shepherd hut manufacturers and glamping equipment suppliers.

The marketing problem — being found by the right guests in your first season — is one of the hardest things about launching a new site. Membership addresses it from day one.

Is your land suitable?

If you've got a plot with natural character, reasonable screening, and a genuine desire to create something worth staying at, it's worth finding out. The application process starts with a phone consultation, and we'll give you an honest assessment of whether certification is achievable and what it would take to get there.

[Apply now] or [get in touch] to find out more.

What Actually Makes a Glamping Site Work?

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:08:25 GMT

Location gets you the click. Everything else gets you the review.

If you're sitting on land with genuine natural character — good views, mature trees, a river, a sense of proper seclusion — you're already ahead. That's the foundation. But a great plot with a poorly thought-through setup will still produce average reviews, and in glamping, reviews are everything.

Here's what the best small sites get right.

Privacy over density. The temptation when starting out is to maximise units to maximise revenue. Resist it. Guests pay a premium for glamping precisely because they don't want to hear their neighbours. Fewer, better-spaced units at a higher nightly rate will outperform a crowded field every time — financially and reputationally.

The arrival moment. Experienced glamping hosts obsess over what guests experience in the first five minutes. The approach, the first view of their accommodation, whether everything is clean and ready and exactly as pictured. First impressions in glamping are disproportionately powerful — they set the emotional tone for the entire stay.

The small things. The sites that generate the most repeat bookings and word-of-mouth referrals are rarely the most expensive or most elaborately kitted out. They're the ones where someone has thought carefully about the details. Good quality bedding. A proper welcome. Firewood that's actually dry. A local recommendation that turns out to be genuinely brilliant. These things cost very little and are remembered for a long time.

A booking system that works. Guests expect a smooth, professional booking experience regardless of how small or personal your site is. Clunky processes, slow responses and unclear availability are the fastest way to lose bookings you'd otherwise have won. As a member of Wanderlust Camping Club, your site can benefit from our many partnerships, including a discount on ResNexus booking systems!

Visibility from the start. Building an audience for a new site takes longer than most first-time operators expect. Social media helps, but organic reach is slow. Being part of an established network changes this significantly. Wanderlust Camping Club members benefit from immediate exposure to an engaged guest audience actively seeking independent sites — which means your first season looks very different from one spent building from zero.

None of this is complicated. But the sites that last — the ones still full three years in — are the ones that got these fundamentals right before they opened, not after.

Want to open to the right guests from day one?

Wanderlust Camping Club exists to put the best small, independent sites in front of the people who'll love them most. Membership includes certification, a listing on our curated platform, and access to a guest community that actively seeks out sites like yours. Don't spend your first season being invisible.

Find out more about joining Wanderlust Camping Club .

You've Got the Land. Have You Thought About Glamping?

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:05:58 GMT

Wondering how you can use your land to diversify your income? Glamping could be the answer!

Most people who end up running a glamping site didn't plan to. They had land — a field, a corner of a farm, a woodland they weren't quite sure what to do with — and at some point the question appeared: what if?

It's a good question. And if you're asking it, you're probably further along than you think.

Glamping has quietly become one of the most compelling ways to diversify land in the UK. The demand is real, the margins can be strong, and — crucially — guests are actively seeking out small, independent, personal sites over large commercial ones. The era of the big holiday park has its place, but it isn't where the interesting money is moving. What guests want increasingly is somewhere that feels like a genuine find. Somewhere with character. Somewhere run by someone who actually cares.

That's exactly what a small landowner with the right plot can offer.

The barriers are lower than most people assume. You don't need a huge capital outlay to get started. A shepherd's hut, a well-placed bell tent, a thoughtfully converted structure — the most memorable glamping stays in the UK aren't defined by scale or spend. They're defined by atmosphere, location and the sense that someone has put real thought into the experience.

What you do need is a clear-eyed approach to a few key things: planning, certification, and getting found by the right guests.

On planning — permitted development rules have evolved, and depending on your land, structure type and intended use, you may have more flexibility than you expect. It's worth getting proper advice early, but don't let the planning question stop you from exploring the idea altogether. Many of the UK's best small glamping sites started exactly where you are now.

On getting found — this is where most new sites underestimate the challenge. Having a beautiful site isn't enough if nobody knows it exists. Building visibility from scratch takes time, and in the early months, that can be the difference between a site that works financially and one that doesn't.

This is one of the reasons joining an established membership network like Wanderlust Camping Club makes sense from day one. Rather than spending your first season trying to build an audience, you're immediately visible to a community of guests who are already looking for exactly what you're offering — small, independent, curated stays off the beaten track. The marketing groundwork has been done. Your job is to deliver the experience.

If you've got land and you're wondering whether glamping could work on it, the honest answer is: it might. And the only way to find out is to start asking better questions.

Top Picks: Get wild in woodlands, lakes and UK wilderness!

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:03:25 GMT

For When You Need to Actually Disappear

Not a digital detox package. Not a wellness retreat with a timetable. Just genuine wildness — the kind that asks nothing of you except that you show up and pay attention.

Bolam Lake , Northumberland Almost-wild camping in the heart of Northumberland, directly opposite Bolam Lake Country Park. Spacious grass pitches, no electric hook-ups, woodland views and grazing horses. Canoeing, paddleboarding and fishing on the lake. Hadrian's Wall and the Northumberland coast both within thirty minutes. Jill and David have built something here that feels genuinely unhurried — a site that knows exactly what it is and delivers it without fuss.

Sycamore and Stars , Lincolnshire Twelve acres of woodland on a hundred-year-old working farm, with two stays tucked so sympathetically into the trees that guests say it feels like discovering a hidden world. A shepherd's hut or a reinvented 1910 Lincolnshire hay cart — both with hot tubs, private facilities and woodland walks on the doorstep. Highland cows, goats and geese complete the picture. The Lincolnshire Wolds AONB starts where the farm ends.

Fieldhead Campsite , Peak District In Edale, at the foot of Kinder Scout, Fieldhead is one of those sites that earns its reputation quietly. The Peak District countryside wraps itself around you here in the most uncompromising way — proper walking country, proper open skies, proper silence when it matters. Small enough to feel personal, special enough to feel like a find.

Cotswold Lakes Camping at Field Farm, deep in the Cotswold Water Park. Lakes, wildlife and the particular stillness of somewhere that exists at nature's pace. No noise, no crowds. Just good space and honest surroundings in one of the most quietly beautiful corners of the country.

Some places ask you to switch off. These ones make it easy.

Top Picks: Great British Countryside Escapes

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:02:00 GMT

Our top picks to get deep into those idyllic British hills and wilderness spots, that are worth writing home about...

Some stays are defined by what they're near. Others — the better ones — are defined by what they're far from. No traffic noise. No neighbouring terraces. No sense that the rest of the world is pressing in. Just countryside doing what British countryside does best, and a site that lets you actually settle into it.

Heathy Lea , Peak District Quietly recommended, quietly brilliant. Heathy Lea is the kind of site that earns its place on shortlists passed between friends — never shouted about, always remembered. Wide skies, unhurried air, and a host who clearly knows this land well. Days here tend to fill themselves: long walks, slow mornings, fires at dusk. The Peak District wraps itself around you and the rest of the world can wait.

Jubilee Camping , Hampshire / New Forest Twenty-five acres of rural Hampshire, run by a farming family who genuinely love what they do. Jubilee Camping has dark sky accreditation, a bar at weekends, tractor rides with Farmer Dave, and the New Forest National Park a five-minute drive away. It's uncomplicated family camping with real rural charm — the kind of place that reminds you why you started doing this in the first place.

Shire Camping , Warwickshire There's a version of Warwickshire most people never see — quieter, off the main roads, away from the car parks. Shire Camping lives in that version. Small, personally managed, and with the kind of easy charm that takes real effort to achieve, it sits in the Warwickshire countryside with the confidence of somewhere that knows it doesn't need to try too hard.

Stowford Manor , Wiltshire A working farm in the Frome valley with pitches set alongside the river. There's a café serving cream teas from Easter, pizzas on summer evenings, and the particular atmosphere of somewhere that exists primarily as a farm — and welcomes guests as part of that life rather than despite it.

Berrends Farm , Gloucestershire Gloucestershire has a quieter version of itself that most people drive straight past. Berrends Farm is in it. Small, personally managed, and rooted in exactly the kind of landscape that makes you realise why you came. Pack what you need, leave what you don't, and give yourself a few days to properly arrive.

The British countryside is full of places like these. You just need to know where to look.

Top Picks: Coastal Spots the Sat Nav Doesn't Know About

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:59:55 GMT

Looking for a seaside glamping escape?

There's a particular kind of coastal stay that doesn't come up on the big booking platforms. No swimming pools, no entertainment programme, no fifty-pitch car park facing the sea. Just you, the sound of water, and the feeling that you've actually got somewhere.

These are a few of those places.

Wild Comfort , South Devon Perched high above a Victorian planted garden with Blackpool Sands spread out below, Wild Comfort is the kind of site that makes you wonder why you ever booked anything else. Two birdhouses, a Lookout tent and a communal kitchen sink into the woodland like they've always been there. Completely off-grid, completely one-of-a-kind. The view alone is worth the journey.

Muddy Creek , Hampshire / New Forest Set on a traditional New Forest commoning farm in the coastal village of Milford-on-Sea, Muddy Creek does something increasingly rare: it lets you camp the way camping used to be. Fifteen acres, unmarked pitches, New Forest ponies in the neighbouring fields, and the sea a short walk down the lane. No rigid layouts, no crowded rows. Just space, simplicity and a genuinely easy-going feel that keeps guests coming back year after year.

Cedar Camping , Pembrokeshire Ten minutes from Pembroke, down quiet country lanes, Cedar Farm sits on the edge of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park with green views in every direction and glimpses of the sea on a clear day. Freshwater West, Broad Haven South and Barafundle Bay are all within four miles. The owners have kept things beautifully simple — toilets, showers, water, and evenings around a campfire. Sometimes that's exactly enough.

Grass Roots Camping , Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire has a way of making the everyday feel very far away, and Grass Roots makes the most of that. Small, independently run and full of atmosphere, this is the kind of site that gets quietly passed between friends on shortlists. The Pembrokeshire landscape does a lot of the work, but it's the personal touch that makes it genuinely worth seeking out.

The coast doesn't have to mean crowds. These places prove it.

Finding the Right Campsite Isn’t About Facilities - It’s About Feeling

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 17:09:28 GMT

There’s a moment when you arrive somewhere new and instantly know if it’s right or not.

Before you’ve even unpacked, before you’ve looked around properly — you can feel it.

Choosing a campsite isn’t really about comparing facilities. It’s about understanding the kind

of experience you want to have.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by choice, start here:

Think about your pace.

Do you want slow mornings, no plans, and time to properly switch off? Or do you want a

base for exploring — somewhere you’ll return to after long walks, pub lunches, and day

trips?

Then think about your surroundings.

Coastal spots feel open and energising. Woodland sites feel enclosed and quiet. Open

countryside often gives you that wide, uninterrupted sense of space.

If you’re unsure, narrow it down even further:

Do you want total simplicity (just nature and a tent)?
Or comfort (hot showers, proper beds, maybe even a hot tub)?
Do you want to be off-grid or near places to explore?

A good rule of thumb: don’t overthink the “best” campsite. Think about what kind of version

of you you want to feel like when you’re there.

At Wanderlust, the places we feature are chosen because they already feel right when you

arrive — calm, considered, and easy to settle into.

What Guests Really Notice at a Glamping Site (It’s Not What You Think)

wb6@resnexus.com (ResNexus Websites) — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 17:09:28 GMT

When people book a glamping stay, they often think it’s about the obvious things — the

structure, the styling, the hot tub, the view.

But what actually stays with guests is something different.

If you’re staying at a glamping site, here’s what tends to matter most:

1. How it feels when you arrive

Is it easy to find? Do you feel welcomed? Can you relax straight away, or do you feel like

you’re figuring things out?

2. Privacy and space

You don’t need isolation — but you do need to feel like you’re not on top of other guests.

Thoughtful spacing makes a huge difference.

3. The small, practical details

Things like lighting at night, dry wood for fires, clean bedding, and whether everything

actually works without asking.

4. The atmosphere

The best glamping sites don’t feel styled — they feel calm. Like everything has been placed

there with intention, not decoration.

If you’re choosing a site, look beyond the photos. Ask yourself:

Would I actually feel comfortable arriving here on a rainy Friday evening?

For site owners, this is the difference between a one-off stay and someone who comes back

or recommends you to friends.

People don’t just remember how a place looked — they remember how easy it felt to be

there.

What It Takes to Become a Wanderlust-Approved Site

wb6@resnexus.com (ResNexus Websites) — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 17:09:28 GMT

We’re often asked what makes a site “good enough” to be featured on Wanderlust.

The honest answer is — it’s not about perfection.

It’s about how a place feels when you step into it.

Here’s what we look for when reviewing sites:

1. A sense of character

We’re drawn to places that feel like they belong where they are. Not generic fields or

standard setups, but sites with personality and identity.

2. Care in how it’s run

You can tell very quickly when a site is looked after with intention. It doesn’t need to be

luxury — it just needs attention, pride, and consistency.

3. Ease for the guest

We think a lot about arrival experience. Is it clear where to go? Can someone arrive late and

still feel okay? Is it intuitive, or confusing?

4. Respect for the landscape

The best sites don’t dominate their surroundings — they sit within them. They feel like

they’ve been placed gently, not imposed.

If you’re a site owner, the best advice we can give is this:

Don’t try to be everything. Focus on being really good at what you already are.

The sites that resonate most are usually the ones that feel honest — not overbuilt, not

overcomplicated, just thoughtful.

And for guests, that’s exactly what we’re trying to make easier to find.