Cerenety Eco Campsite

A mile from Bude, half a mile from the South West Coast Path, and midway between two of Cornwall’s best-loved sandy beaches is where you’ll find Cerenety Eco Camp. It’s a rustic little place that offers a great-value place to pitch a tent in a handy location for adventures around North Cornwall. If you’re after a perfectly-mowed pitch for your tent, look elsewhere. If you want bells and whistles, please choose another site. But if, on the other hand, you simply want a sustainable place to stay, Cerenety Eco Camp might just fit the bill.

The site exists to house campers in the simplest style alongside a menagerie of animals who’ve been rescued over the years. There’s a racehorse, alpacas, and a miniature Shetland pony alongside a changing cast of smaller animals (sometimes rabbits and lambs) and a tortoise or two. These guys, who live in the neighbouring paddocks, can all add something to your stay if you take the time to meet them. But you need to respect them and your other neighbours too. That means obeying the 10.30pm noise curfew, for example. It’s one of the only rules at this laid-back, off-grid place where campfires are allowed in off-ground fire pits. Loos are composting, showers are solar powered, and washing up is all done in the open air. It’s simple, but everything works.

The site occupies a sloping field with surrounding hedgerows and views towards Bude. You can reach the town by walking along a canal tow path. There, you’ll find all the amenities you need as well as a sea pool, a museum and the vast sands of Summerleaze Beach. South of site, by a couple of miles, there are more of those at Widemouth Bay – but neither of these are the closest place to reach the coast. That is a short stroll away at Upton where you can join the coast path or scramble down to the shore.