anyone got any recommendations for a campsite that's close to keswick please? what's that castelrigg one like- any good? not biking; just 2 of us with a car and a tent. preferably somewhere nice and quiet (hence castlerigg cos they've got a noise curfew policy thing)…

Castlerigg was good when I took my son there…about 18 years ago! Probly still ok. Or there's one at Braithwaite, & check out the (council run?) one by the rugby field.

We stayed at the Braithwaite one. Very good too IIRC.
It rained a lot so we walked into town spending the evening in the really old fashioned cinema.

Went there last year. They are *really* *REALLY* keen on the noise rule. So much so that when you book in they tell you if you want to *talk* after 10:30pm not to book in. We saw bikers, hikers etc. there.

You get the feeling that they want gun turrets around. I saw one group being asked to leave the next day as they were too noisy. They walk about between 10:30 and 11pm checking the noise levels.

BUT

Boy it was nice being able to sleep soundly! The previous nights I had been elsewhere and some complete to55ers had been singing, laughing and shouting until 5am and ignored polite requests to STFU.

Recommended, but don't go to the local bar (the hotel one) as it is one of the worst bars I've ever been in – very expensive and rubbish beer – go into Keswick for food/beer. The on-site restaurant makes a good breakfast though.

Scottgate in braithwaite is nice

well castlerigg appealed because we're likely to be asleep by 10pm anyway!
is that local hotel/bar the one that does all veggie food though?
hmm… although we're planning on going into keswick for eating/drinking anyway so it's no big deal.
do they have lots of pitches because you can't book in advance and we'll be rocking up late on a friday afternoon…

When we went it was a bank holiday weekend and we couldn't get in. To be honest we only just about managed to get in somewhere else before it filled up – it was August last year. We then upped sticks and moved to Castlerigg on the Monday morning (was in the lakes for a week).

I guess if it is high season and you turn up late on a Friday you won't get in – the gates are locked at either 8pm or 10pm so no cars can get on site, though there is a little parking outside IIRC. If it is, say, Thursday, you may be OK. They may be able to tell you if you give them a bell.

Yes the pub is the one that sells vegetarian food but it is really pants (and hideously expensive). It could do with more than a lick of paint, a menu that has come out of the seventies (lots of Chinese food, I recall) but it isn't that far to pop into Keswick itself. I recommend the Square Orange cafe, it's pizzas are really good!

We stayed at Castlerigg a few years ago – and yes we were told about the noise rule (indeed we had picked the site out as the reviews of it mentioned the noise rule)
But we had a group of folks camp right next to use – who were v.noisy well past midnight, we told the chap in reception the next day but just got a shrug of the shoulders and a 'what can you do?'

so we lifted the guy lines, and carried the tent to the far end of the camping field where we couldnt hear them.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/campsite-near-keswick

Andy. There's only one place to stay up there. Here:

http://www.discoverthelakes.co.uk/stonethwaite-campsite-i72.html

Be warned: Its basic. But what a location!!! Its stunning!!! You can have fires there by the river. And walk up and jump in the plunge pools further up the valley for a dip. Honestly. Even if you only stop there one night, you'll love it!!!