“Tents!?” by Iain Farrell is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.
If you are travelling to Donington for either a race event or trackday, Donington Park camping is available both on the circuit infield and in nearby off-site campgrounds.
This article will provide full details on the costs, the best camping pitches to book, what facilities are available and more.
Contents
The noise warning
I will start this article with a warning for those of you who haven’t been to Donington before. It is directly next to East Midlands airport, so camping or staying overnight here means you will have the company of low flying passenger aircraft at most hours of the day or night.
If you’re a light sleeper, then you have been warned.
Can i stay overnight at Donington Park?
If you are heading to Donington as a spectator, driver or team member, make sure you check out our complete guide to Donington Park circuit before you go.
Trackdays
Whether or not you can stay overnight the day before or after a trackday depends on each track day organiser’s rules, and often varies from circuit to circuit. There is no single rule for camping before a trackday a Donington.
If you are interested in camping in the paddock the night either side of your trackday at Donington Park, your best bet is to reach out to the trackday organiser in advance and ask them to clarify. It will also be worth clarifying whether there will be any toilet, shower blocks or other facilities open overnight in the paddock. Usually the pit garages at Donington are locked at night so you won’t be able to access the water or electricity within these, but sometimes you can.
Race weekend - competitors / crew
If you are competing in a race weekend at Donington Park, you may want to stay overnight within the circuit in the back of your motorhome, RV, Transit van or whatever your race car tow vehicle is. Usually staying overnight / camping in the paddock is allowed for competitors and their support crew during a race weekend, as these guys did fairly recently.
Check the final instructions from your race meeting organiser (750MC, BRSCC, BARC etc) and if it isn’t clear in those, reach out to the organisers directly.
Occasionally there will be particular requirements within the final instructions for how long vehicles can / can’t stay in the paddock. If in any doubt the final say comes from the circuit themselves who you can always contact as well. The below is an example from a race meeting at a different venue.
Race weekend - spectators
There is infield camping (not in the paddock) for members of the public at select Donington Park events throughout the year. More information available in the next section.
Donington Park infield camping
There is infield camping available within the circuit during a number of big race weekends throughout the year at Donington. This infield camping is good for caravans, motorhomes and tents.
The infield campsite is situated towards the eastern side of the circuit, as seen on the maps below.
The campsite is divided in to three different zones, A B and C, each having a different type of pitch:
- Zone A – Includes electrical hook-up all weekend, large 7m x 8m pitch and unrivalled trackside views of the circuit from your pitch
- Zone B – Large 7m x 8m pitch, some views of the track, does not include electricity
- Zone C – Great for tents and smaller groups, standard 6m x 7m pitch, no electricity, just a short walk to track viewing
Note the additional comment at the bottom of the image above which you should pay attention to if your motorhome is longer than 7m, as you will need two camping pitches.
The Donington Park camping pitches in Zone A have a view of the track available directly from the pitches, meaning these are the premium and more expensive spots.
The infield camping area is on raised ground, so those pitches in Zone A have a great view of the track all the way from the Old Hairpin to McLeans. This may not be the very best viewing location at Donington, but it is still great.
See images and video below to get an idea of what the view is like. The second image is taken from the Zone A camping area, and the video is from the edge of the area. If you were at Donington for the F1 in 1993 you would have had the perfect view of Senna passing Damon Hill at this very spot during his Lap of the Gods.
The pitches in Zones B and C don’t have direct track views so if you take one of these spots you will have a short walk to one of the other nearby spectator spots.
For the World Superbike championship weekend there is an additional outfield campsite available. This is located just to the east side of the circuit and paddock, and has no track viewing. There are no electrical hookups at any of the pitches here, and this site is slightly more relaxed camping experience than the infield site, so prices are slightly lower.
- Zone D: 16 pitches (7m x 12m) are available for RVs/motorhomes
- Zone E: standard-sized pitches (6m x 6m),
- Zone F: A limited number of Oversize pitches (7m x 7m)
There is a full page dedicated to Donington park camping information on the official MSV website here.
Donington Park infield & outfield camping access
Donington’s website states that access to the infield campsite is available from midday the day before an event, and all campers must have left the site by midday the day after the event.
Additionally, access to the site for campers is through the East entrance gate, not the main entrance.
Donington Park infield & outfield camping prices
Infield & outfield camping pitches must be booked online in advance. Prices for booking a pitch in one of the different zones seem to vary slightly depending on what event is on:
BTCC infield camping prices:
- Zone A: £125
- Zone B: £40
- Zone C: £15
BSB infield camping prices:
- Zone A: £135
- Zone B: £40
- Zone C: £20
Superbike World Championship infield & outfield camping prices:
- Zone A: £150
- Zone B: £59
- Zone C: £35
- Zone D: £50 (outfield)
- Zone E: £20 (outfield)
- Zone F: £30 (outfield)
As well as booking a camping pitch, everone attending also needs a General Admission ticket and a Campsite Access ticket. See next section for more information.
Donington Park infield & outfield camping booking process
To purchase a Donington park camping ticket you need to first select the race weekend you are interested in on the Donington Park website, and click to book general admission tickets. Everyone who is camping needs a general admission ticket for every day you will be on the campsite. General admission tickets are cheaper online than at the gate, often with savings of around 20% available for booking in advance.
Once you have purchased these you will need to go through to Stage 3 on the booking process to select your campsite pitch.
Each campsite is available for up to 6 people. Each individual person much also purchase a campsite area access pass. This can be done in stage 4 of the online booking process. Costs for these are usually around £30 per adult for the weekend, less for teens and free for children under 13. Again these tickets are cheaper if booked in advanced with further savings of almost 20% available for online bookings.
This can make Donington Park camping seem quite expensive at the infield, but if you’re going with friends then splitting the cost of the campsite pitch between 6 or so of you can make it more affordable.
Another option is off-site camping near Donington. Read on further down this article for more information.
Are there showers at Donington Park?
If you are camping in the infield or outfield sections, there are shower and bathroom facilities in each area during these events. These are shared between everybody camping, so expect a bit of a wait at peak showering times.
There is also one male and one female shower in the building above the infield pedestrian tunnel to the left of Garage 39, however as of January 2023 these were in a state of disrepair so would not be available for use.
Food when camping at Donington
On a busy race weekend there will probably be a number of of burger vans dotted around the main spectator areas. In addition there is the Garage 39 cafe and restaurant which can be accessed via a tunnel going from the infield to the pitlane.
Donington Park offsite camping
Donington Park Farmhouse
The best, closest and most popular offsite camping is barely offsite at all. Donington Park Farmhouse is adjacent to the circuit. It has direct pedestrian access to the Donington’s pits and paddock, so you don’t need to worry about parking your car at the track.
Donington Park Farmhouse has camping facilities for caravans, motorhomes and tents. It has 46 hard-standing pitches that are first-come-first-serve, 60 reservable grass pitches, 200 overflow pitches and 70 electrical hook-up points.
A 2023 full electric hookup site was £47.50 per night, and that includes 2 occupants plus an additional car or motorcycle.
For major race weekends such as the BTCC and BSB Park Farmouse campsite can get booked up pretty fast, so it is worth booking your spot there asap.
It scores a 4.5 / 5 on Google with over 600 reviews, but it also offers hotel accomodation as well as the campsite so the 600+ reviews are not all from campers. But overall it seems to be a great option for camping right next to the circuit.
Springwood Fisheries Camping & Glamping
Springwood Fisheries campsite may be designed for those who love fishing with two well stocked lakes on site, but it is also great if you’re at Donington Park for the weekend as it is only a 10 minute drive away.
It has 22 electrical hook-up sites for caravans and motorhomes, another large grassy area for tents and motorhomes that don’t need electricity. If you want to treat yourself to something a bit fancier it also has some standard and deluxe glamping log cabins for hire.
Prices are lower than Park Farmhouse above, but you would still have to drive to the circuit in the morning.
It scores a 4.5 / 5 with over 250 Google reviews, so all in all this looks like a great option for camping near Donington if you are happy to be away from the circuit in the evenings.
Dovesite Caravan Park
Dovesite caravan park is a small site less than 10 minutes away from the circuit. It can accomodate up to 40 caravans.
They do not have toilet or showever facilities, however, so only suitable if you are fully self-contained and not ideal for people tent camping.
Prics are the cheapest out of any of the off-site camping facilities on this page, largely because of the lack of amenities mentioned above.
It also gets a 4.7 / 5 on Google reviews, so a good option for those who are looking for a quiet, self-contained camping experience close to the circuit.
Other off-site campsites
There are numerous other campsites in the area surrounding Donington Park. The three listed here are the closest and most popular options for easy access to the circuit.
To search for other campsites, use Google maps or JetCamp.
Download festival camping
Every year Download Festival is held as Donington Park. All camping tickets and information for this event can be found on the Download website here.
