Travel

Forget boil-in-the-bag meals or burnt campfire sausages, camping now can mean a gourmet getaway to rival that of any boutique hotel.

Perhaps Britain’s foodiest campsite is Bert’s Kitchen Garden, an eco-site on the little-visited Llyn Peninsula in North Wales. Bert’s, with its collection of wildflower meadow pitches, glamping safari tents and new shepherd’s huts, is built around a central kitchen garden restaurant, where campers can tuck into the freshest of pastries, superb coffee, wood-fired pizza and cocktails. Additionally, across the summer season there are supper clubs, food trucks and even a beach-side food festival. 
Commenting, Ali Paice, co-founder of Bert’s, said: “Food has always been central to the story at Bert’s, and we’re thrilled that so many of our guests enjoy our kitchen garden restaurant every summer season. A G&T in the garden, perhaps with a sharing steak of the finest Welsh beef, before retiring to your tent - perfection!"

The hub of the campsite is a thriving kitchen garden, where vegetables and herbs are grown and guests are free to wander. It is within this garden that Bert’s has its main camp restaurant, alongside a small shop. The restaurant is run by owners Ali and Ian Paice, and offers a changing menu of seasonal dishes, using ingredients grown, picked and cooked within metres, and others sourced from suppliers based on the Peninsula and in North Wales. Local Welsh beef is served with a kitchen garden chimichurri, salad leaves are snipped to order for burgers and pizzas, while fragrant rosemary is the garnish for a local G&T, made with Anglesey’s Jin Môr, with its botanicals of sea salt and seaweed - a true taste of coastal North Wales. Open for breakfast every day and dinner five nights a week, the restaurant also offers locally-roasted coffee and fresh pastries.  

Bert’s Kitchen Garden have partnered with local catering company, Fig & Wild, who offer special supper club evenings at the campsite once a month throughout the summer season. Here, the focus is on a communal, social form of dining, with long shared tables and dishes often served family-style. The menus are secret, and revealed only on the night, but again showcase and highlight the freshest, seasonal ingredients and creative cooking.  

Away from Bert’s, the Llyn and North Wales is one of Britain’s undiscovered foodie gems, and there’s more than enough to tempt the epicurean explorer for a food-filled short break. A highlight is the Ty Coch Inn at nearby Porthdinllaen beach. Once voted as the best beach bar in the world, the Inn sits right on the beach and is hugely popular when the sun shines. Other must-visits include: the Gaerwen Arms, a sustainable gastro-pub, whose chef, Andrew Tabberner, is holding a pop-up at Bert’s this summer too; The Jackdaw in Conwy, run by local Nick Rudge who has returned to the area after a stint at The Fat Duck; and Sheeps and Leeks, which was included in the recent Michelin guide.  

There are 20 camping pitches at Bert’s, mowed out from wildflower meadows perfumed with the scent of meadowsweet or tucked into a riverside paddock, while there are four pitches for campervans and two pre-erected glamping safari tents. The site has no electric hook-ups, no Wi-Fi and is car free with guests transferring their gear by wheelbarrow. Facilities include shower blocks, where eco-friendly toiletries are provided, composting toilets, BBQs to hire, and a small kitchen with washing up and fridges. Alongside a new family hut introduced earlier this year, two other shepherd’s huts were introduced in 2022, each sleeping two with an en suite shower, and there’s also a beautiful holiday cottage for rent, The Piggery, with a master bedroom, huge en suite, log burner and coffee making facilities. 

Prices: Camping pitches cost £22pppn, £10 per child (under 5s free), The Piggery (sleeping two) costs £175 per night, the glamping Dutch tents (sleeping four) cost £85pn, the family hut (sleeping four) is from £175 per night and the two huts (sleeping two) cost £175. 

For further information visit Bert’s Kitchen Garden (bertskg.com, 01286 660823).