Stockbridge View Campsite

This laid-back, year-round campsite in the beautiful Test Valley is a great place to pitch up for a relaxing stay in your tent or campervan. You can pitch where you please, you can bring your dog, and campfires are allowed. Groups are welcome and the check-in and check-out times are notably generous (arrive from 10am, leave by 4pm). All that friendly host, and organic dairy farmer, David asks is that you respect your camping neighbours: keep it down after 10pm and leave ample space between tents.

That’s not hard in this four-acre field as it could hold many more than the maximum of 55 tents and campervans allowed. Typically, campers pitch around the hedgerows leaving the centre free for games. Facilities are simple but kept in good order by David, who visits twice a day and is always on hand to answer the phone – his number is on the gate. There are individual timber-cabin composting loos and gas-powered showers; the site is fully off grid. With that in mind, don’t forget your torch, bring a powerbank if you want to charge your phone, and don’t forget to look up. The lack of light pollution means dark skies and starry nights.

Washing up is done undercover in a little potting shed and it’s here that you’ll find some information on the local area too. There’s peaceful walking and, famously, fly fishing on the River Test but for most people, the short walk to riverside Stockbridge and The Three Cups pub is enough activity for a short stay. For others, the site makes a great base from which to explore Hampshire and beyond. It’s just off the A30 which can mean a little road noise on site (though this can be countered by taking a pitch on the hedgerow furthest away). It also means there’s a quick route to the historic cities of Salisbury in one direction and Winchester in the other, both within 15 miles.