Holiday Parks in Cambridgeshire

Flat, wide and genuinely dry, this is the sort of county where you can watch a shower cross three fields and never feel a drop. Met Office averages put Cambridgeshire at around 583mm of rain a year, one of the lowest figures in England, which makes it a sensible place for a caravan holiday.

Stay here and you get two holidays side by side. One is Cambridge, where punts queue under the bridges and King's College Chapel closes the view at the end of the Backs. The other is everything the city isn't: reed beds, drove roads, villages sat on islands of higher ground, and a fishing lake you can reach in your slippers.

The holiday parks Cambridgeshire does have are small, quiet and nearly always built around water. Four are bookable with us today, and here's what each one is like, how long the run into town really takes, and what's worth your week once you're there.

Why book one of the holiday parks Cambridgeshire has to offer?

Because the geography does the work for you. Nothing here sits far from anything else. Most holiday parks in Cambridgeshire are lodge and caravan parks rather than big resorts, so the facilities run to a fishing lake, a laundry and a deck that catches the evening sun. There's rarely a touring pitch in sight. Trade the waterslides for quiet, though, and you get a world-famous city, a medieval cathedral and one of the oldest nature reserves in the country inside a 40-minute radius of your decking. From a base in the west, you can reach all of these in half an hour or less:

• Cambridge city centre, the colleges and the River Cam
• The Imperial War Museum at Duxford
• Wimpole Home Farm and its rare breeds
• Grafham Water, for cycling, sailing and lakeside walking
• Hamerton Zoo Park, out towards Sawtry

Holiday parks within reach of Cambridge

Only one of the four sits inside the county line, and we've said so plainly below. An extra 20 minutes over the Suffolk or Norfolk border usually buys you a private tub, and plenty of guests call that a fair swap.

Saxon Mound

Elsworth, near Cambridge - about 19 minutes away - sleeps up to 6 - no tubs, no pets, no pool - rated 4.9

It's the location that sells this one. A small rustic lodge park on the site of an Anglo-Saxon settlement, with warm earthy interiors, fishing on site and farmland views in every direction. Elsworth is a quiet village of thatched cottages with two pubs that do food, the 17th-century Poacher among them, so you can walk out for dinner and walk back. The accommodation is the most accessible here too: ramped entry, wide doorways, a wet room with handrails and a raised toilet, and a private balcony.

Aspen Lodge Escape

Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk - about 42 minutes from Cambridge - sleeps up to 7 - hot tubs, pets welcome, no pool - rated 4.7

Win the argument about whether the dog comes, and this is where you end up. Winner of the 2026 East of England Hoseasons Diamond Award, it spreads over 222 acres of grounds that once belonged to the Duke of Norfolk, with no clubhouse and no tannoy anywhere. Every one has its own tub, a big deck, ensuite shower rooms and a full-size bunk room, so seven people spread out without anyone on a pull-out bed.

Hawthorn Glen Lodges

Downham Market, Norfolk - about 50 minutes from Cambridge - sleeps up to 4 - hot tubs, no pets, no pool - rated 4.8

Pick this one for the free golf. It sits on the course at Denver Golf Club, play is included for your whole stay across two courses, and the licensed cafe serves home-cooked food all day. Downham Market station is less than a mile away, which puts the whole of west Norfolk on the train instead of the A10.

Apple Mount Retreat

Thorpe Morieux, near picturesque Lavenham, Suffolk - about 58 minutes from Cambridge - sleeps up to 2 - hot tubs, no pets, no pool - rated 5.0

Adults only, two people, five stars, no children anywhere. The bespoke-built pods sit in two and a half acres of landscaped grounds, with a tennis court and holistic therapies among the amenities, and so much resident wildlife that the deer more or less run the place. Low-key luxury in a tranquil setting, and the one couples keep rebooking.

A day in Cambridge without the parking rage

Leave the car behind if you can. Trains from Ely and Downham Market drop you ten minutes' walk from the colleges, and nobody has ever enjoyed circling the multi-storeys on a Saturday.

Punting is the popular thing to do and it's worth doing properly. A shared chauffeured trip along the Backs takes about 45 minutes and costs somewhere near £20 a head, or you can hire your own punt for roughly £30 an hour plus a deposit, then spend ten minutes going sideways on the river. Add the market square and its restaurants, and three more to explore while you're in town:

• The Fitzwilliam Museum, free to walk into, with Egyptian coffins upstairs
• The University Botanic Garden, 40 acres of planting and a glasshouse range
• King's College Chapel, whose Christmas Eve carols are broadcast worldwide

Ely, Peterborough and the Fens

Ely is 20 minutes by train and feels like a different century, its historic streets dropping downhill to the River Great Ouse, while Peterborough in the other direction gives you Nene Park at Ferry Meadows. Four things worth the diary:

• Ely Cathedral opens 9.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Saturday; the Octagon Tower tour is the one to climb, at £12 on top of your visitor ticket and 170 spiral steps
• Oliver Cromwell's House charges £8.20 for adults, audio tour included
• Nene Park has lakes, bird hides and a miniature railway, with pay and display from £2.60 an hour
• The Nene Valley Railway steams 7.5 miles between Wansford and Peterborough

Days out the kids will ask for twice

Imperial War Museum Duxford

Spitfires still take off from the airfield where they first flew, which never stops being extraordinary. Adult tickets start around £26.80, or £3 if you're on Universal Credit or Pension Credit, and there's a big outdoor play area plus free family activities in the hangars. Summer hours run April to October.

Hamerton Zoo Park and Shepreth Wildlife Park

Two small, well-run collections at opposite ends of the county. Hamerton charges £14.99 for adults and £9.99 for children aged 3 to 12, open 10am to 5pm in summer. Shepreth, just off the A10 towards Royston, is £16.50 and £14.50, daily from 10am with last entry an hour before closing. Either makes a cheap, easy day out when the weather turns.

Wicken Fen Nature Reserve

The National Trust bought its first hectare here in 1899 for £10. It now runs to more than 550 hectares, the oldest reserve the Trust owns and the best surviving piece of the old fen country. Konik ponies and Highland cattle do the grazing, boardwalks let you explore without wet boots, and bittern, crane and marsh harrier are all on the list if you're patient. A beautiful place in July, when the dragonflies take over.

Water, fishing and flat, easy riding

That's the thread running through the holiday parks Cambridgeshire is known for: water, and plenty of it.

Grafham Water

Ten miles of traffic-free cycling loop this reservoir near Huntingdon, and the hire fleet covers hybrids, e-bikes, tandems, kids' bikes and tag-alongs, so nobody gets left behind. Kayaking, canoeing and sailing all go from the centre. Parking is free for 15 minutes, then £2 an hour up to a £12 daily cap.

Fishing from the park

Saxon Mound has its own water, and plenty of caravan parks in Cambridgeshire are built around old gravel workings now full of carp, tench and bream. Day tickets are normally available at reception rather than sold in advance, and you'll want your own tackle. Other peaceful spots within a short drive:

• The Great Ouse at Houghton, where the watermill still grinds flour on summer weekends
• The lakes at Ferry Meadows, for coarse fishing off the bank
• The lodes and drains of the Fens, most of them club water, so ask at the local tackle shop first

When is the best time to visit Cambridgeshire?

September, if you can pick freely. The water is still warm, the footpaths empty out, the harvest is in and prices fall off a cliff once the schools go back.

What to pack for flat, open country

Seasonal kit matters more here than you'd think, because there's no shelter anywhere. Wind crosses these fields unopposed.

Cambridgeshire holiday park FAQs

Which holiday park is closest to Cambridge?

Saxon Mound at Elsworth, about 19 minutes' drive from the centre. It's the only one of our four actually in Cambridgeshire.

Are there holiday parks in Cambridgeshire with a swimming pool?

Not among the four here. Facilities are deliberately modest on these small waterside places, so none of them has an indoor pool. If a pool decides it for you, look at the larger coastal resorts over in Norfolk.

Can I bring the dog?

Aspen, near Bury St Edmunds, is the pet-friendly one, and dogs are welcome in all four of its units. Saxon Mound doesn't take them at all, so check before you book. You can filter everything we list for places that take pets.

Can I bring a tourer, motorhome or tent instead?

Everything on this page is a holiday home or static caravan. Cambridgeshire has touring pitches, camping fields, campsites and glamping pods of its own, but the caravan parks we list are holiday-home sites, so you'd arrange those others direct.

Do I need a car?

It helps, though less than you'd expect. Hawthorn Glen is under a mile from Downham Market station, with direct trains to King's Lynn and Cambridge, and driving into the city centre is far more trouble than it's worth.

Is there fishing on site?

Saxon Mound has fishing on site. Elsewhere, Ferry Meadows and the Great Ouse both give you bank fishing a short way from the caravan, and day tickets are usually bought on the day.

How far is the nearest beach?

Hunstanton on the Norfolk coast, well under an hour from Downham Market and roughly an hour and a half from Cambridge. Our guide to the best family breaks near Hunstanton covers that stretch properly.

When is the cheapest time to come?

Mid-January to March, then again from mid-September once the schools go back. Caravan park prices here follow the school calendar exactly as they do everywhere else, so half terms and August cost the most, and the ones with tubs go first.

So: a lodge with a tub, or a straightforward caravan by the water? Start with everything we list across the East of England, hop over the border into Suffolk, narrow the range down to anything with a tub, or search by postcode to find what sits nearest your door. Elsworth to the colleges takes 19 minutes, and the kettle is yours. It's all bookable at Book Holiday Park.