Car-free camping is on the rise in the UK. Would you take a bus or train to your next campsite?

Growing up, camping was a fundamental family holiday experience. As I got older, the tent would come out for festivals and nights out with a couple of cans in a friend’s field. Now, I love nights in the tent, going for hikes, paddles, and spending time in nature.

Camping is one of the most affordable holiday styles around, with some UK campsites offering pitches for as low as GBP£8 (USD$11) per night. Given how the cost of just about everything is spiraling, camping remains a stalwart of budget-friendly travel.

The issue has often been getting to campsites. Typically, you’d spend the morning loading up a car with tents, coolboxes, rollmats, gas cookers, and half of the local supermarket, before crawling along winding country lanes trying to find the site entrance. This is, of course, the easiest way to reach a campsite.

But it’s not an option for many people: A fifth of UK households don’t have a car.

According to the Department for Transport National Travel Survey, 22 percent of households are car-free and multi-car households have dropped; single-car households now outnumber those with two or more, in an attempt to cut costs.

Fuel costs have also skyrocketed due to turmoil in the Middle East, and even the cost of learning to drive now sits at around GBP£2,472 (USD$3,282) as a total spend, according to UK motoring association, the RAC. That’s before you factor in the cost of a car and the cost of insurance, especially for young drivers. The reality is, driving isn’t as accessible as it used to be, and as a result, people simply aren’t driving as much as they used to.

Even if you wanted to drive to a campsite and set up your tent, or you have a campervan, you might not want to drive everywhere once you’re there. A campsite with a bus stop or train station nearby opens up the accessibility of the area.

Separately, people are becoming more conscious in their transport options. Many are choosing trains over planes, or leaving the car at home and taking public transport for day trips. It can also be a less stressful trip, if you manage to avoid lengthy traffic jams and hours of being annoyed at Google Maps.

Dan Yates, founder of leading UK camping and glamping website Pitchup.com, says car-free camping is becoming a much more attractive option for UK holidaymakers. “So far this year, use of Pitchup.com’s ‘public transport nearby’ filter is up 761 percent year-on-year, while searches for campsites offering pick-up from public transport have risen by 1,127 percent,” he says. “That tells us more people are looking for countryside breaks they can reach easily by train or bus, without needing to drive.”

While public transport links exist for popular outdoor spaces, such as the Peak District and Lake District, many campsites can be miles from the nearest bus stop.

Matt Fagan, a camping enthusiast from Liverpool who works for the NHS, points out that the lack of infrastructure for the last few miles to some sites has often resulted in long walks with a lot of gear. “Once we got a 12-hour coach to Hayle in Cornwall and then had an hour walk along country roads in the dark to our campsite” he tells me.

The fact that Pitchup.com’s filters around public transport are so heavily utilized is a testament to the demand of car-free campers. Even if you wanted to drive to a campsite and set up your tent, or you have a campervan, you might not want to drive everywhere once you’re there. A campsite with a bus stop or train station nearby opens up the accessibility of the area.

Pick-up services, provided or arranged by the campsite, are the natural next step in getting more people camping who don’t want to drive or have access to a car.

This was the issue for Megan Eaves, dark sky enthusiast and author of Nightfaring which explores the human connection with the night sky: “I’ve taken trains and then walked to campsites, but I wish it was easier—tents are heavy! I haven’t bothered to try camping in ages because it was such a pain.”

There’s a simplicity to camping that’s beautiful. It’s even more so with car-free camping.

Often, it’s the campsite owners themselves picking up visitors in their own cars, so it can be a lot of extra hassle for them. So why are the campsite owners volunteering to do this extra service?

For campsite owners, pick-ups are a simple way to make their site more welcoming and appeal to a wider range of guests,” says Yates. “Clearly showing nearby transport links, or offering pick-up and drop-off services from the station or nearest bus stop can give people the confidence to book and make a lower-carbon UK break feel genuinely easy.”

He tells me some of their recent reviews specifically mention how much guests appreciated being picked up or dropped off at nearby villages, farm shops and parks. “Those small touches can make a real difference to the overall holiday,” he adds.

As you might expect, you need to book the pick-up service when you book your pitch to ensure someone is around to come and get you. Essentially, it’s the same process as booking an airport transfer with your accommodation.

Being able to access a campsite or a trailhead without driving is a huge benefit that allows more people to experience the wonder of camping and outdoor adventure. There’s a simplicity to camping that’s beautiful. It’s even more so with car-free camping, as you need to cut down your gear to the essentials.

Slow travel means traveling with intention. For me, nothing says that more than camping in the middle of nowhere and not needing a car to get there.

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