10 Camping Spots in Ireland

1. Clifden Eco Beach Camping & Caravanning Park - Co Galway 
Also known as Actons, Ireland’s first climate-neutral ecocampsite has an Eco Tourism Ireland Gold Award. You’ll find it 10 minutes from Clifden, between the Atlantic and the Twelve Bens. Bring your own caravan or camper van, or pitch your own or a hired tent amid the machair-grass sand dunes. (A free shuttle bus runs to Clifden.) Single-use water bottles and disposable barbecues are banned, and you won’t find any games rooms here to entertain the kids. Instead it’s all about mucking around on the secluded white-sand beach, fishing or cooking sausages on a beach campfire. https://clifdenecocamping.ie/

2 Pure Camping – Co Clare
This eco retreat in Querrin, near Kilkee, is a 15-minute stroll from a shingle beach. Bring your own camper van or tent, use a prepitched one, book into a bell tent furnished with bed and stove, or head into the woods for some wild camping. Kids will love the donkeys, dogs, cats and hens. There’s a communal dome for escaping bad weather, plus a rustic sauna for relaxing, and yoga is available most weekends. Solar showers, rainwater harvesting and discounts for cyclists add to the ecofriendly vibe. https://purecamping.ie/

3. Inishbofin Island Hostel and Campsite - Co Galway
Life on Bofin is all about getting back to basics and soaking up the peace. Where better to do it than this little campsite for six to 10 tents in the sheltered garden beside the hostel? Campers can use all of the hostel’s facilities: kitchen, dining room, sitting room, showers, fire, board games and library. Because the aim here is tranquillity, alcohol is banned in the campsite, and singles, couples and families are welcome but not stags or hens. Bofin offers fantastic birdwatching, historic walks, lovely pubs, and snorkelling and kayaking on the recently mapped Blueway. http://www.inishbofin-hostel.ie/index.html

4. The Apple Farm - Co Tipperary
Set in a working orchard in Moorstown, near Cahir, this camping and caravan park is charming. It caters for just 60 people, with plots dotted among immaculately pruned apple trees. A big converted apple store – which you’ll share with swallows and other birds – is set up for cooking, eating and escaping bad weather. Fresh fruit and home produce, such as apple juice, organic cider, apple ice cream, apples, plums and cherries – are on offer. You can even pick your own strawberries at certain times. Other great bonuses are the free tennis court and solar-powered hot showers. http://www.theapplefarm.com/index.htm

5. Hidden Valley Holiday Park - Co Wicklow
This campsite, in Rathdrum, is like those from your childhood but with infinitely better facilities. Camper vans, motorhomes and tents sit side by side with smart wooden huts and self-catering accommodation. But it’s the range of facilities that makes this destination a hit with families. The Avonmore river runs through the site, so you can fish or take out kayaks and bumper boats. Riverside campfires, a kid’s adventure fun park and cinema nights with beanbags complete the picture. And, of course, you have all the hiking, biking and scenery ogling that Wicklow’s mountains offer.  https://www.irelandholidaypark.com/

6. Morriscastle Strand Holiday Park - Co Wexford
This large campsite near Kilmuckridge offers about 150 pitches for caravans, camper vans and tents, as well as catering for private mobile-home owners. The safe beach next door, with pretty dunes, is perfect for chilly dips and low-tide rock-pooling. Open since 1969, the campsite now includes a playground, tennis courts, all-weather football pitch, games room, pool tables, shop and takeaway (in high season). In July and August, and on bank holidays, there’s a full schedule of football and sandcastle competitions, surfing and fishing lessons, and teddy-bear picnics, among other activities. https://morriscastlestrand.com/

7. Knockalla Caravan & Camping Park - Co Donegal
Tucked between Knockalla Mountain and Ballymastocker Bay, near Portsalon, this well-established family campsite has about 30 touring pitches for tents, campers and caravans, as well as catering for people who keep their caravans here. The campsite is seven minutes’ walk from a stunning sandy beach and has views of the bay, Lough Swilly, Inishowen Peninsula and Dunree Head. Facilities include a playground, tennis courts, pool tables and a cafe serving full breakfasts, home baking and burgers and chips. The area offers lots of water sports and excellent hiking. http://knockallacaravanpark.com/

8. Westport House - Co Mayo
A stroll from Westport town, this site has 150 pitches for caravans, motorhomes and tents. You can also rent prepitched family bell tents with air mattresses. There’s a separate group area for scouts and the like, so they can be a bit more boisterous, but a strict curfew starts at midnight. Free movie nights and other indoor kids’ activities are organised in the evenings. The grounds are home to the Pirate Adventure Park, with rides appealing to under-12s. Bigger kids and adults can enjoy zorbing, high ropes and zip wiring. A free playground sits next to a cafe and bar. https://www.westporthouse.ie/

9. Rivervalley Holiday Park - Redhill, Co Wicklow
Open since the 1970s, this large campsite has 190 pitches for tents, caravans and motorhomes. It also has microlodge pods, Kukoo huts, and a tree house for glamping. (It’s not strictly a tree house – but it is almost 3m off the ground.) Another big draw is the adults-only Secret Garden, although an 11pm curfew should ensure relative quiet. There are tons of activities, such as, indoors, badminton, football and basketball and, outdoors, golf, tennis and archery. https://www.rivervalleypark.ie/

10. Newtown Cove Caravan and Camping Park - Co Waterford
If you’d like the fun of the fair but to be able to escape it, too, this Copper Coast campsite is a great option. Just 2km from Tramore’s hurdy gurdies, surf beach and buzz, it’s just 400m from Newtown Cove, which is ideal for family dipping, and the Guillamene deep-water swimming spot. This quiet family site has 40 pitches for visiting caravans, tents and motorhomes, as well as 50 for regulars. It has a campers’ kitchen, a weatherproof eating area, a TV room and a games room. But really this place is about the outdoors. http://newtowncove.com/