Make the most of dining under the stars with undiscovered Welsh glamping sites

Discover Carmarthenshire, the organisation responsible for promoting tourism to the county of Carmarthenshire, has spotted a trend amongst glamping businesses opening up. More and more are becoming savvy to visitors seeking to purchase and enjoy locally produced food the region is famed for and are incorporating cook up experiences directly with their accommodation offering.
 
Carmarthenshire has always been known for its rural landscapes and Welsh speaking farming heritage. However, the expanding number of foodie camping and glamping sites springing up on farms has, until now, been more of a secret and are now being known as the Canvas and Cook Up Collective.
 
These Welsh versions of the agritourismos of Europe – accommodation on small holdings, farms and in beautiful countryside – not only offer peaceful wild and rural spots to sleep under the stars but offer close experiences when it comes to local produce.
 
Choose from a yurt with a hot tub and meat and eggs from the host’s farm to cook up; a site with a farm shop, new geodesic domes with under cover kitchens and pitch your own spots with sea views, or a family farm campsite with its own wood fired pizza restaurant and made on the farm ice cream parlour.
 
Covered kitchens with sea views at Thorning Farm Camping and Glamping, Marros Bychan
Down a bumpy farm track and on the Wales Coastal Path is a camping and glamping site with salty air and sublime sunsets. With views of the sea and near a quiet sandy bay there are options to pitch your own, bring a van or try out one of the new geodesic domes, with full equipped covered kitchens. There’s a little farm shop onsite, each camping pitch has a fire pit and dining table and Craig Evans, TV’s best known coastal forager, takes groups foraging for cockles down the road at Pendine – perfect for cooking up with coastal views at the end of the day.
 
Soak in the hot tub and sustainable meat at Gilfach Gower, near Ammanford
New for summer 2022 is a yurt with hot tub at Gilfach Gower for an escape to nature, tranquillity and a sustainable way of farming life. This small working farm has just added a yurt with hot tub and a private kitchen and next up is a shepherd’s hut - all part of the plan to help keep sustainable Welsh farming alive. Order a meat box for the barbeque or a breakfast box with bacon, sausages and eggs all reared lovingly on the farm. Walk an old drover’s path to the pub on Betws mountain or ask owner Sarah to take you on a tour of the farm.
 
Welsh woodfired pizza and egg collecting at Cwm Ty Coed, near Carmarthen
This 30 acre smallholding has bell tents, yurts and grass pitches and caters brilliantly for those who like a camp cook off. There are private camp kitchens for campers and glampers, fire pits and barbeques and even a pizza kitchen for decorating dough with Carmarthen Ham and local cheese in the woodfired oven. Guests can help themselves to eggs from the hens and make friends with the sheep, ducks and donkey.