The 14 best residential summer camps for kids

Best Summer Camps 2025 

Are British kids ready for US-style summer camps? Samantha Laurie looks at the best residential summer kid camps...

A beautiful lakeside setting, teenage romance, s’mores around the bonfire: every child knows a summer camp from films. And yet, unlike everything else American, camp culture has never caught on in the UK.

Unpredictable weather, shorter school holidays and more generous parental leave contribute to the indifference, perhaps augmented by a certain flinty cynicism about outsourcing holiday fun. 

Still, as an alternative to kids lolling around on their phones all summer, a week of outdoorsy – or even indoorsy – fun away from home has plenty going for it.

The best camps fill up quickly as the domestic market stirs into action. So, in no particular order, we've compiled a list of some of the best stay-away summer camps in the UK.