Leicester campsites

Vibrant and friendly Leicester is a cosmopolitan spot and hub of shops, cafes, restaurants and bars that would be hard to beat. If you love a sizzling curry, the aromas on the Golden Mile will have your mouth watering and Leicester's market is the largest undercover one of its kind in Europe, so the sky's the limit there!

The city's colourful past will take you time travelling, from the Iron Age hill fort (which you can breeze around at Burrough on the Hill) all the way through the Romans to the present day. For a whistle stop tour, pop into the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery just outside the city centre and get curious. No doubt the dinosaur gallery will bring a smile to any young campers' faces.

To see how the Romans did things, it's off to the Jewry Wall museums and then you're sure to have a gas (geddit?) at the National Gas Museum which tells the history of industrial gas supply with its working gas lights, vintage cookers and the unbelievable sight of a gas powered radio.

With a cinema experience, a recreated First World War trench and a collection of tudor toys, Newarke Houses and Museum Gardens have plenty more to add to the tale of Leicester's history.

Leicester is also home to the National Space Centre where you'll get all starstruck by the science and astronomy of the universe and the fun of Kiltworth House's open air theatre, for warm balmy evenings. It's got a tempting tea room, too.

In the city you can also find the Curve Theatre where you can see a range of performing arts pieces throughout the year, and the ruins of Leicester Abbey, traced into a bright green meadow - also known as The Abbey of Saint Mary de Pratis.

Once you've soaked up your urban break, you can get back to nature at the University of Leicester Botanic Gardens.

But that's not all, the city also has several expansive parks. Watermed Country Park is packed with wetland wildlife and lakeside trails, set in the valley of the River Soar and along a National Cycle Network route. There's more riverside fun to be had at pretty Abbey Park and Bradgate Park is a gem in Charnwood Forest. It's got a stonking 850 acres of parkland, great for deer spotting and popular with walkers and cyclists.

Ruffle a few feathers at Tropical Birdland where you'll meet some chirping friends along the Parrot Path, see teeny chicks getting used to being in the world and then reward yourself in the zoo's cafe. 

Close by you can discover Thornton Reservoir and take long, shady walks in the National Forest. Twycross Zoo will win over the kids with exotic wildlife and roarsome activities. Rockingham Castle in Market harbour was built by William the Conquerer and you'll be steeped in all that history with a tour of the interior and gardens, a round of fancy cakes and hot drinks in the tea room and a round of mementoes from the gift shop.