A lit tent on open moorland beneath the Milky Way

Collection

Sleep Under the Stars

Stays chosen for one thing: what happens when the lights go out. Wales has two International Dark Sky Reserves, and a small site with no floodlighting will always beat a big park with security lighting.

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In this collection

Handpicked

Bannau Brycheiniog
Off-grid Camping
International Dark Sky Reserve since 2013, with upland pitches on its northern edge.
Eryri
Off-grid
Also an International Dark Sky Reserve; the quieter valleys away from Llanberis are best.
Open farmland pitches
Camping Off-grid
Unlit fields on working farms, often the darkest option within an hour of a city.

What makes a good dark sky pitch

Low site lighting matters more than remoteness. A field with a single toilet block and no floodlights, twenty minutes from a town, can be darker than a lit holiday park in the middle of a national park.

Look for an open southern horizon, and ask the host how exposed the pitch is. Clear nights are cold nights, so pack accordingly.

When to go

Winter gives the most hours of true darkness and the crispest air, but many small sites close seasonally. Late autumn and early spring are a good compromise.

Check the moon phase: a full moon washes out the Milky Way completely.

Good to know

Do I need a telescope?: No. Binoculars and twenty minutes of dark adaptation will show you far more than most people expect.
Which nights are best?: Clear nights around a new moon, ideally in autumn or winter when full darkness arrives early.