We should start by saying that it’s a lot easier to list those trails that aren’t kind to campers. Those that aren’t – the North Downs Way, Cotswold Way and the Ridgeway spring to mind here – are the exception rather than the rule.

Of the ‘also rans’,  we would probably put the Coast to Coast path at the top, for you can also camp for pretty much every night along here too. However, it loses out to West Highland Way purely because of its location in England, where wild camping is not allowed; and to Glyndŵr’s Way as it’s a lot busier, and thus (illegal) wild camping is more difficult.

For the others in notional ‘third place’, most allow you to camp at official campsites along most of their length. Hadrian’s Wall, South-West Coast Path, Pennine Way, Offa’s Dyke and the Pembrokeshire Coast Path – are all sufficiently provisioned with campsites to allow people to put up their tents for all but one or two nights along the trail. Even the Thames Path is pretty good for campers, at least for the first half of the trail; after Wallingford, however, the situation worsens as you approach London.

But that is the key: all of them also have a section where there is no official campsite. For most that won’t be a problem: that might be the night when you can ‘take a break’ and spend a night in a B&B or, if you’re a purist, simply wild camp that night.

And that is why we put Glyndŵr’s Way slightly ahead of this bunch. Because this trail does have a campsite every night, and some of them are lovely too. Indeed, given the paucity of other accommodation options, camping is by far the easiest option. And though it’s not strictly legal, because the area is so quiet wild camping opportunities abound.

But even Glyndŵr’s Way loses out to the champion: The West Highland Way. This is the clear winner here due to the fact that a) it’s feasible to camp every night along the trail; b) the official campsites are supplemented by the odd bothy; and c) that you can also legally wild camp in Scotland. As a result, it stands heads, shoulders, chest and tummy button above the rest. And that’s before we’ve even mentioned the fact that many of the campsites along the West Highland Way are of a great quality too, and were amongst the first to offer camping pods/wigwams etc – ideal if the weather’s bad.