Are UK campsites generally rammed full in the summer? Tightly packed tent pitches?

[Missanneshirley]

I'm looking for somewhere for August and was hoping to go further afield- we are in Scotland and normally camp here- was looking at Yorkshire/ Northumberland. We normally only get a chance to do 3 nights max and have used reasonably small sites, maybe 20-30 pitches and have never been very close to our "neighbours".been looking on trip advisor and all the photos seem to show really tightly packed fields, no space between guy lines etc . Is this normal in the summer holidays? I was only looking at slightly bigger sites say 30-50 pitches but even the quiet ones show very busy tent fields! Slightly concerned! But I don't know if we've just been lucky not to come across that before

I think it depends where you go although we are in the camping and caravan club and have never yet been tightly packed in. Theres a post or something you have to put the corner of your tent to. Lovely warm showers. Lots of the sites accept non members too.

Otherwise If you book a biggish site you would find less squish pitching further away from the amenities perhaps. Probably less busy in the north than at a Cornwall beach site perhaps too

It really depends on the site. Big family sites with lots of amenities often seem to be quite squished whereas the more basic rural sites are more spaced out.

Thanks!
That's interesting re C&c sites, do you think because they're a bit more regulated they stick to pitch sizes more rigorously?
Trip advisor pictures are horrendous looking for some sites, criss crossing guy lines and front awnings practically touching the ones opposite!

Think it's something to do with fire risk, I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will know what the recommended distance is.

Agree with Wine, look at Camping and Caravanning sites. They have a variety of sites; adult only, family friendly and CL (max 5 pitches) that have a variety of amenities.
The only time we've had people on top of us is on commercial sites. Which might be what you have to put up with if you want club houses, swimming pools etc.

Another advantage of C&C is you don't need to save your 20p's for the shower and the facilities are always clean!

Can recommend the sites at Bellingham and Jedburgh if you fancy Northumberland

Thank you I will look at those!
No we absolutely do not want the clubhouse etc- I think just as we're going for a week this time I'd just like a better location than our normal "field in the middle of nowhere"! Especially for day trips etc.
I'd actually hit upon a nice looking one - Eskdale in the lakes?- and then saw on its website that from 2o17 season it's no longer a C&C site grrrrr!

We liked Ravenglass in the lakes, quite small. Can ride steam train at end of site to pub lunch in beautiful valley. Manchester Castle has events on and nice grounds too

I will look that up, thank you very much!

Don't use TripADvisor, have a look on specialist camping board UKCampsite.

Sites that allow fires and have a more wild camping vibe often allow a lot more space than 'holiday park' type sites.

UKCampsite and PitchUp have campfire filters, and anywhere on CoolCamping will probably be less regimented.

There's a group on Facebook "TentTalk" I think, there's loads of advice on there...,

I second using UKCampsite.co.uk, if they pack the tents the reviews will tell you so.

Shame about Eskdale, it was lovely. Hopefully new management will preserve the atmosphere.

CC membership really paid for itself during the small children years. We've given it up, together with National Trust and English Heritage, now that they're big teenagers who largely want to holiday and weekend with mates and ought to be revising for A2's anyway.

UK Campsite's reviews are normally pretty accurate.