Glamping In The UK

Camping certainly isn't what it used to be! Luxurious retreats are now the order of the day, as Lisa Burn discovers

If the mention of camping brings you out in a cold sweat at memories of leaky tents, flat airbeds and two-ring Calor Gas stoves, then prepare to be pleasantly surprised. Yes, you still can camp that way - and it's fun when you're young - but you don't have to.

For those of us who are more mature, traditional camping often equals a bad back. Even camp beds are tough on the knees, and just because you get down on to the airbed doesn't mean you'll easily get up off it again. I'm talking from experience here!

But camping these days has evolved into an altogether more civilised affair. Even the name has had a makeover.

Glamping is just as it sounds-glamorous camping. Forget queuing for the communal shower, or traipsing to the toilet block by torchlight in the middle of the night. Now you can have double beds with luxury Egyptian cotton sheets, orthopaedic mattresses, freestanding baths, hot tubs and even ensuite bathrooms.

No more water coming in through the tent roof, either. Today you're just as likely to find yourself in a treehouse, a shepherd's hut or a lodge as you are a tent - and even if you are sleeping under canvas, it's likely to be a fully-furnished yurt.

You'll find glamping destinations across the UK and many are located in the countryside so you can get away from it all in style.