Anyone who has ever read Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie books has probably dreamed of staying somewhere just like Gilcombe. In many ways, this feels like wild camping: you're off-grid, you're surrounded by 30 acres of woodland and there's a herd of 100 Friesians hoofing about the place. But there's nothing basic about flushing toilets and double beds. Thanks to the enormously-popular Feather Down Farms franchise, you can enjoy your camping experience with the kind of touches you'd expect to find in a luxury cottage, such as a wood-burning stove and a large dining table which provides the perfect setting for gorging on home-cooked pizzas and sickly-sweet s'mores.
If you're a regular on the UK festival circuit, then you may already recognise the name 'Gilcombe'. This beautiful 300-acre organic farm is home to several summer festivals, including Sunrise (winner of the Guardian Ethical Travel Award in 2011) and Farmfestival. It's also a stone's throw from Glastonbury, and maintains the laid back, free-spirited vibe throughout the year.
Whether you're here for a festival, or here for some R&R, you can enjoy panoramic views straight from your tent. Look out across the rolling Somerset Hills towards King Alfred's Tower; an 18th-century folly at the north-western edge of the Stourhead Estate.
Adventurous kids will be in their element; there's 30 acres of woodlands to explore, and winding streams to paddle in. But some of the best experiences can be had right on site – this is a working organic dairy farm, so there are lots of furry, feathery and four-legged friends to meet. The cows are a big attraction – you'll be able to see them being milked at least once during your stay, and if you come between June and October then you may even witness a calf being born. Pottering about the site, you'll also find free-range geese, ducks and turkeys.
If you like your camping to be stripped back and rustic, then Feather Down Farms probably isn't for you. But if you want to feel a little spoilt, yet keep that wild sense of adventure, then you'd be hard pressed to find a more restorative retreat.
