Swan Island Glamping and Camping

There’s water, water everywhere and quite a lot to drink at Ye Olde Swan campsite in Oxfordshire. That’s because the campsite is on an island surrounded by the River Thames and just a short stumble from a pub of the same name. If you’re lucky, you won’t even have to wander across the little bridge that connects the two to quench your thirst, as the pub’s mobile pizza oven and Prosecco bar will be making one of its regular visits to the site.

If you’re looking for quiet country camping with designated pitches, electric hook-up and a strictly-enforced noise policy; this may not be the campsite for you. But if you’re a happy-go-lucky kinda camper who will enjoy the craic of a lively pub as much as the countryside scenery, come along and check in at the bar. Or you could head straight over the bridge to make yourself known at the little on-site shop. Park up, pitch up and then go for a ploughmans in the pub garden or, perhaps, for a paddle using one of the kayaks available to hire from the jetty just outside.

Although not set in stone, there are technically 30 grassy pitches at Ye Olde Swan campsite. As it’s an island, they are virtually all on the water’s edge with the green fields of rural Oxfordshire just beyond the historic Radcot Bridge – said to be the oldest crossing on the Thames. Facilities are simple but adequate; a cold water tap at the lone washing-up sink with simple toilets and showers. You might call it classic camping (albeit with a glimpse of 10 tipis in a separate, neighbouring field). Dogs are welcome, ball games allowed and there’s generally a laid-back atmosphere. It’s an understandably popular spot which makes for sociable camping – especially at weekends. If you prefer peace and quiet, a weekday pitch here is more likely to please.

Whenever you visit, there’s plenty to do if you tire of watching narrowboats, cruisers and swans sailing by. You can fish from site or head straight out on a riverside walk as the Thames Path long-distance national trail passes right past. And, aside from messing around on the riverbank, there are plenty of well-to-do places to visit; market towns like Bampton, which doubled as TV’s Downton, Kelmscott Manor, once home to William Morris, and the enchanting gardens at Buscot Park to name a few.