Glamping breaks in the New Forest
After a day of hiking through the New Forest’s conifers, oaks and beech trees, heading back into a traditional canvas tent might not be quite the comfy evening you need.
Instead, you might fancy a hot shower or a soak in a hot tub before unwinding in a spacious bell tent or putting up your feet up inside a shepherd’s hut. No matter how muddy or sandy you get during your New Forest explorations, you can count on glamping facilities being particularly comfortable and welcoming.
Where you should stay in the New Forest
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Families seeking a New Forest getaway might want to focus on the national park’s 40-mile coastline, where there are fossil beds, coastal hikes, and watersports and swimming hubs such as Milford-on-Sea. For kids, glamping is often about the adventure of it all, so staying in a bell tent or a treehouse might get them particularly excited. Kids often come with a lot of their own kit – toys, prams, bodyboards and the like – so bell tents and other glamping accommodation will avoid the need to include lots of camping kit too.
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If your New Forest getaway is strictly adults-only, you might want to make the most of the peaceful village atmosphere in Beaulieu. Home to the Beaulieu National Motor Museum and the World of Top Gear, an abbey and a scenic riverside, the village also happens to be a short drive from the coast. You might want to hunker down in a lodge or log cabin for the ultimate level of comfort and privacy. Log cabins are especially excellent for couples seeking a romantic getaway with plenty of quality time.
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Plotting out a dog-friendly glamping holiday with plenty of walks? Perhaps you’re planning to stay near the Radnor Trail around Bolderwood or tackle the coastal trail with your four-legged friends. Since dogs can feel unsettled in new spaces, a lodge, a camping pod or a shepherd’s hut with four walls might make them feel more at home than a tent.
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Foodies might want to glamp in and around one of New Forest’s characterful towns and villages. The Milford Sea Food Week in Milford-on-Sea and the Lymington Seafood Festival both showcase some of the finest local catches. Cookery schools cater to foodies at all times of the year, as do farmers’ markets in Ringwood and regular markets in Hythe and New Milton. With so much local produce up for grabs, you might want to look for a glamping accommodation with electricity access or a firepit to cook your culinary findings.
What you can do in the New Forest
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Those seeking wildlife and natural scenery might want to spy on animals like bison and otters in the New Forest Wildlife Park. Meanwhile, on the Blackwater Tall Trees Trail there are conifers from the 1850s, plus some of Britain’s oldest Douglas fir trees. The trail is only a mile and a half long, meaning that you’ll have plenty of time to admire the thick trunks around the arboretum.
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Here for the coast, first and foremost? The 60-mile Solent Way footpath from Milford on Sea to Emsworth Harbour has views of the Solent, the Isle of Wight and rural Hampshire. In Lymington, go sailing or bathing and paddleboarding in the UK’s oldest lido, the Lymington Sea Water Baths. Picking a glamping site along the route means you'll have easy access to the trail, and somewhere to relax and have a shower post-walk.
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History fans can learn about the history of the motor and check out the classic cars at the Beaulieu National Motor Museum. There’s also a steam railway in the Moors Valley Country Park and Forest in Ringwood.
- We've pulled together a comprehensive area guide to the New Forest too - with sections covering the best walks, some hidden gems and a whole host of family friendly things to do.
Here's how
Every glamping break is different, and our guide to glamping will help you understand what it might involve.
If you like the idea of staying in a tent but you don’t want to get completely back to basics, bell tents or safari tents are great glamping accommodation options. Since the New Forest is primarily a forest setting, a log cabin in the woods might sound particularly pleasant. Other glamping accommodations include yurts and camping and glamping pods, and they all have different levels of comfort.
Need to narrow down your choices? Just use the tick boxes on the side of the Pitchup page to choose all your non-negotiables, such as hot tubs, dog-friendly accommodation and firepits.
Still pondering over where to visit? Try glamping in nearby Dorset or Wiltshire. Pitchup has a huge selection of glamping sites all over England, as well as many other countries including Italy, Croatia and France.
