of the best campsites

1 Canna Camping Holiday Canna, Inner Hebrides

Price: Dependent on availability.Best for: Travellers who don't own camping gear.Price: Camping is pound(s)4 a night per adult, pound(s)2.50 per child. Bothy is pound(s)6 per adult per night.Contact: www.badrallach.com; 01854 633 281.5 Ecopod Boutique Retreat Loch Linnhe, Appin, ArgyllSelf-catering lodges and chalets overlook a loch surrounded by natural birch woods and bog meadows full of wild flowers. The campsite is inside a stone circle surrounded by trees. Facilities for campers are simple but include a drinking water tap and a turf- roofed cooking shelter with gas ring. Otherwise it's au naturale.Contact: www.redsquirrelcampsite. com; 01855 811 256.The Red Squirrel occupies a fantastic spot in the shadow of Glencoe's dramatic peaks and backs on to the River Coe. Choose from secluded woodland pitches or breezy riverside ones - all enjoy views of the hills. There are several fire-pits so you can cook in the open and chase away the midges with the smoke. If you'd rather have your dinner cooked for you, The Clachaig Inn is a 20-minute stroll and often has live music.Run by the Grant family since 1935, its 35 pitches are spread across an expansive 10-acre forest site, so there is plenty of space. The main, flat area is set around a small pond, where most people congregate. Alternatively, the hillside pitches offer a more secluded position among the fragrant heather. Each pitch has its own picnic table where you can enjoy meals and arresting views of the Glengarry Mountains. Popular with cyclists and walkers, the campsite is handy for Ben Tee as well as the more challenging mountains of Kintail. The farm is also a good base for cycling on the Great Glen Way and for the world-famous mountain-biking tracks in the Nevis range. Facilities include two toilet blocks with hot showers, a laundry area and a payphone.Best for: A sociable holiday.Price: From pound(s)200-pound(s)230 per tent (sleeps five) per week.Contact: www.comriecroft.com; 01764 670 140.How can you fail to feel romantic when shacked up in a beautiful hand-crafted, ornately furnished roulotte (Romany caravan) with your loved one? Owners Avril and Alan have transported the roulottes from France and Holland and decked them out beautifully with bespoke pieces of furniture and antiques.Something of a rural idyll, this tranquil retreat allows you to experience living alongside wildlife and farm animals. Children can collect hens' eggs, feed the lambs and watch the osprey fish for brown trout in the loch. The holiday accommodation is sited on Laikenbuie croft, which is situated four miles inland from Nairn and a 30-minute drive from Inverness. Regular visitors include roe deer, red squirrels, wild cats and foxes. Eighty species of bird have been spotted here including buzzards, red kites, barn owls, long-tailed tits and greater spotted woodpeckers.While one's own offspring are obviously delightful, the boisterous sounds of strangers' children can be less endearing. If you don't fancy the prospect of holidaying with only a sheet of canvas between you and the Brady Bunch, check out adults-only Faichemard Farm.Price: Camping is pound(s)7/pound(s)9 per night for adults; pound(s)3.50/pound(s)4.50 for children.Best for: Wildlife-spotting.6 Badrallach BOTHY & CAMPSITE Dundonnell, Ross-shireBest for: Lazing around.4 Hidden Glen NairnContact: www.lazyduck.co.uk; 01479 821 642.Contact: www.cannafolk.co.uk; 01687 460 166.Those who want to escape the rat race should consider a restorative break on the Isle of Canna (population 21), which now has its own campsite. Without TV, satellite, WiFi or mobile phone coverage, this is the place to switch off and tune in to nature. On- site traditional bell tents mean you don't need to lug all your own camping gear with you. The luxury five-metre tents are equipped with wood-burning stoves, cookers and solar lighting. Each comfortably sleeps four in one double and two single futons and there's room for an extra mattress. The island perfectly embodies the phrase "windswept and interesting" and the wind is key to the campsite's claim of being a largely midge-free zone.While away the afternoon reading in a hammock, refresh yourself in the solar-powered hot water "bush shower", listen to music in the woodshed sauna and meet the neighbours - Soay sheep and wild fowl - at the Lazy Duck campsite. The hostel has a tiny campsite which shares the main building's quirky ambiance. Set in the Cairngorms National Park, the area was used in the 1890s as a stopover for clansmen bringing their horses from Lochaber to be sold at the Inverness wool fair. Facilities include a toilet, washing facilities, cooking shelter and chimenea fires, and free-range eggs are available. As the campsite has only four pitches, it's best to check availability in advance.Price: Various rates.Contact: www.domesweetdome.co.uk; 07725 409 003.9 Roulotte Retreat Bowden, Melrose, Scottish Borders8 Comrie Croft Comrie, PerthshireContact: www.hiddenglen.co.uk; 01667 454 630.Best for: A Highland family welcome.Price: pound(s)12 per pitch per night based on two sharing.If regimented campsites drive you to distraction, you'll find the Red Squirrel pleasantly laid-back. Its owners understand that campers don't appreciate being bossed around in their free time. White-painted boulders and jaunty, hand-painted signs swinging from trees offer all the guidance you need, although the quirky entrance booth is always manned if you need tips on the local area.This small, friendly and peaceful family-run lochside campsite on the Scoraig peninsula, Badrallach can accommodate 12 tents and three caravans. In addition to the campsite, there is a cosy bothy, a smart new eco-crofthouse and even a gigantic space-age Airstream caravan for hire. You can park right next to your pitch and the campsite is surrounded by meadow and often visited by deer. Coastal breezes ensure midges are kept at bay but the owners have also installed a midgebuster on the site to make sure.Enjoy wild camping for cheats at this family-friendly site in the chocolate-box village of Comrie. Choose from a spot in a secluded woodland area, an elevated meadow pitch with views down the valley or an accessible spot in the camping field with its splendid hill views which are uninterrupted by pesky caravans. While the setting allows you to revel in the freedom of wild camping, there are a few home comforts on offer, such as hot water washing facilities and shelter should the unthinkable happen and the heavens open. Campfires are allowed and there is a communal fire-pit which is sheltered from the elements by a huge military cargo-chute where you can sit around and get to know your fellow campers.Price: pound(s)15 for two, pound(s)20 for three, per night.3 Red Squirrel Glencoe, ArgyllFor campers, four-star spotless facilities are shared with the bothy. When the bothy is not booked, it is used as a social eating area and games room and offers a welcome retreat should the weather turn nasty.2 Faichemard Farm Invergarry, Inverness-shireBest for: Fabulous views.If the mere suggestion of back-to-basics camping is your idea of holiday hell, this luxury nook near Oban might change your mind. Unique in the UK, the self-catering retreat is hidden away in birch woodland and enjoys a spectacular view which cannot fail to aid relaxation. The Ecopod retreat is situated on a ridge overlooking Castle Stalker, Loch Linnhe and the Kingairloch mountain. The ethos of the place is to combine environmentally friendly structures with the last word in luxury. Accommodation is in modern, open-plan, light-drenched domes. Inside, classic, well-made furniture and high- end audio-visual equipment is combined with locally sourced produce and toiletries, top-of- the-range low-energy appliances and sustainable timber. The retreat is located between Oban, 17 miles away, and Fort William, a distance of 25 miles.7 Lazy Duck HOSTEL Nethy Bridge, Inverness-shireContact: www.faichemard-caravancamping.co.uk; 01809 501 314.Best for: Child-free peace and quiet.Price: pound(s)8 per adult; 50p per child, per night.

How can you fail to feel romantic when shacked up in a beautiful hand-crafted, ornately furnished roulotte (Romany caravan) with your loved one? Owners Avril and Alan have transported the roulottes from France and Holland and decked them out beautifully with bespoke pieces of furniture and antiques.