Campsites near Conwy

Camping in Conwy ticks the boxes for a lot of people. Want a relaxing seaside staycation? Check. Fancy an active outdoorsy holiday in a national park? Check. Need some time away from the rat race, a cultural escape or a digital detox? Check, check, check. The county of Conwy sits on the North Welsh Coast and includes the seaside resort of Llandudno, the Carneddau Mountains of Snowdonia and the World Heritage-listed Conwy Castle among its treasures. This heady mix means Conwy has a bit of an all-round appeal so however you like to spend your days when you’re camping - you’ll probably find it here. What constitutes the best campsite in Conwy will be down to individual taste, of course, but thanks to the variety of landscapes and the variety of camping on offer - you should find something to suit. Whether you like traditional tents only camping, touring in a campervan or full-on super-luxurious glamping we reckon you’ll be well catered for in Conwy.

Classic camping in Conwy

If you’re a back-to-basics kind of camper who just needs somewhere to rest your head after a day’s climbing, hiking or biking, there are plenty of traditional (and some historic) campsites. Thanks to the high mountains of North Wales, it has long been a training ground for UK-based climbers and mountain-loving adventurers. As a result there are plenty of places near the peaks that will provide a well-placed pitch - and not much more. If your Ordnance Survey map is more important to you than your hairdryer, these are probably the places for you; places where there’s a loo and a fantastic location with easy access to the places you want to visit.

North Wales may well do a good line in campsites for adventurous types, but that doesn’t mean you have to rough it. There are also plenty of Cool Campsites where the facilities feature as one of the things that make it special. Places where you can hire a fire pit so you can toast marshmallows, places with eco-friendly composting loos, sociable spaces and little extras that can make or break a camping trip. These sort of sites are especially good for families. But, of course, for those who want yet more convenience and comfort... there’s always glamping.

Glamping in Conwy

If setting up your own tent, sleeping on rough ground and cooking on the campfire sounds like a hassle rather than a holiday to you, glamping may be the way to go. Camping and glamping in Conwy and North Wales in general are such popular ways to stay that it’s no surprise that there’s a healthy array of glamping options to choose from. Whether you fancy a bell tent, yurt or shepherd’s hut, you should be able to find it here. Stay in any of these and you’ll enjoy the halfway house between true camping and a self-catering cottage stay. In fact, some of the most luxurious glamping sites might offer something which is more akin to a hotel stay; beds may be made for you, toiletries provided and meals delivered to your door. Some sites are sociable places with a few glamping units together with the atmosphere of a more traditional campsite - and some are little boltholes tucked away on their own - perfect for a romantic stay or a quiet getaway.

Whether you consider yourself a camper or a glamper, there’s no denying that glamping has an advantage over camping in bad weather. When the majority of campsites have closed their gates for the winter season, many of Conwy’s glamping sites remain open. Insulated walls, log burners and the like mean that glamping can extend the camping season and, in fact, make it a year-round activity… which, in our eyes at least, can only be a good thing!

Family camping in Conwy

North Wales is a great destination for a family camping holiday - and Conwy is an absolute winner. It doesn’t matter how old your kids are there’s plenty to do for all ages - including in those awkward teenage years. Swimming in the sea, climbing mountains, visiting castles and riding on heritage railways are just some of the family-friendly activities on offer and that’s before taking into account the joy of camping itself. For most kids, life on the campsite is one big adventure; sleeping in a tent, making new friends, staying up late to toast marshmallows… it’s all good fun that your children will probably remember forever. There are plenty of campsites that cater specifically to a family market with play equipment and facilities to make life on site easier - like family bathrooms and baby change facilities. If these are important to you, look out for them at the time of booking to make sure you know what to expect. For families who are trying camping for the first time, glamping can be a good option - an easy way to test the waters without having to buy all the gear.

The Conwy Coast

No visit to Conwy county would be complete without a visit to Conwy town and Conwy Castle. Together with three other castles built by King Edward I (the others are Beaumaris, Harlech and Caernarfon), it is said to be the finest example of 13th and 14th-century military architecture in Europe and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You have to pay to go in and explore its rooms and exhibitions but access to the 13th-century town walls is free. From here, you can walk a full circumference of the town and enjoy great views of the castle. The town is also home to The Smallest House in Great Britain - a tourist attraction since it was declared unfit (presumably too small) for human habitation in 1900.

The Conwy Coast’s most famous other sites are the seaside resorts of Colwyn Bay and Llandudno. Both have been welcoming visitors since their heyday in Victorian times. Apart from the beach itself, Colwyn Bay is close to both the National Trust’s Bodnant Garden where there’s 80 acres of landscaped gardens to explore and The Welsh Mountain Zoo. Llandudno is the bigger and showier resort town with a pier and a Victorian promenade and plenty of traditional seaside fun - along with access to natural beauty at the Great Orme Country Park, a headland that juts out in to the sea. If you don’t fancy the walk up there, you could always hop aboard the Great Orme Tramway close to the the pier to ride to the summit and enjoy the view. In addition to the beaches in the resort towns, the Conwy coast offers plenty of quieter beaches and excellent coastal walking on the Wales Coast Path.

Snowdonia National Park

Almost half of Conwy county falls in Snowdonia National Park, the largest of Wales’ three national parks. Whether you’ve come to this part of Wales specifically to scale mountains, or are here for coast or countryside - you won’t be able to ignore its impressive and imposing peaks. The mountainous terrain makes it a fantastic place for walking, running, climbing, horse-riding, caving, mountain biking and more. The summit of Snowdon, or Yr Wyddfa, the highest mountain in England and Wales is just 10 miles inland from the coast. There are six well-trodden routes to the 1,085-metre summit and the views from the top are impressive. If you fancy taking a peek without the walk - you could always take a ride on the Snowdon National Railway which has been taking tourists from Llanberis to the summit since 1896.

On the Conwy side of Snowdonia, is the town of Betws-y-Coed which styles itself as both the ‘gateway to Snowdonia’ and ‘the adventure activity centre of the UK’ with plenty of outdoor activity companies available to teach you the (ahem) ropes of climbing, caving and more. Zip World Fforest is an adventure park just outside town offering you the chance to ride rollercoasters and fly through the trees on zip lines. Their other sites, further afield but within easy reach for a day trip, offer the chance to speed along zip lines over a slate mine and to enjoy the ethereal experience of trampolining underground. You might think you’d need to head back to the coast to ride the waves, but another ground-breaking attraction in Conwy offers the chance to surf at an inland lagoon. Surf Snowdonia is part of a larger adventure park which also has some indoor activities, including a climbing wall which are always good to have in mind for rainy days when camping in Conwy - they do occasionally happen!

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Looking for Conwy campsites? Chosen by the expert authors of the Hipcamp guidebooks, this collection of campsites includes all the very best places in the county, including woodland camping, hillside campsites, dog-friendly campsites, tent-only campsites and campsites where your campervan is welcome too. Discover the best of Conwy now and book online at the best price!