Six Swoon-Worthy UK Boltholes for a Romantic Countryside Escape
Woo and be wooed on an escape to the countryside with our definitive list of the most romantic rentals and rooms in the UK
26 January, 2023
- Words by
- Lucy Kehoe
The
The
perfect romantic winter weekend away? There’s nothing quite
like an escape based wholly on The Holiday’s cosy cottage
aesthetic. Forget the film’s plotline: that house, those sweaters
and that wonderful winter weather are our guiding holy trinity for
any romantic rendezvous in the countryside.
Thanks to the storybook looks of much of the UK’s rural landscapes, you don’t need to travel far to
find a suitably romantic retreat à la Amanda and and Graham.
Whether you’re aiming to impress with a Cornish castle or wanting
to hide away in a cosy Norfolk cottage, these six country escapes will leave
you swooning.
The most romantic countryside escapes for a UK winter
break
The Nook
Stow-on-the-Wold, Cotswolds
Classic British country style with a streak of urban-industrial
chic is how we’d sum up this cosy Cotswolds stay restored using
only locally sourced and recycled materials – all honey-hued soft
furnishings, exposed original features and rustic wood touches. The
owners have squeezed a dinky double bedroom into the eaves of the
property, while an open-plan farmhouse kitchen leads onto an
under-the-stairs loveseat space, dining area tucked into a cranny
and leafy private patio. The welcome hamper lasts the (minimum)
three nights’ stay, but if you’d rather be cooked for,
Stow-on-the-Wold provides: the town’s bakeries, restaurants and
pubs do a bustling trade. For a date-night dinner, try The Wild Rabbit,
in nearby Kingham.
What it costs: From £190 a night
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Grace & Savour
Hampton-in-Arden, West Midlands
If the way to someone’s heart truly is through their stomach,
prepare to be utterly infatuated with your other half after a night
at Grace & Savour. This five-bed hideaway
offers one of the UK’s most exciting food experiences – a
scoff-and-stay adventure through the menu of one of the best
British kitchens going. Following a chef-led garden tour, guests
embark upon a 15-course dinner (plates of silky Cornish lobster,
butter-tossed chargrilled leeks under butter emulsions, and tart
sheep’s milk sorbet with caramel, among other dishes). Rooms –
masterminded by the estate’s interiors guru, Fjona Hill – are
tactile and earthy, and reflect (rather than mimic) the forested
views framed by large Crittall windows. In the morning, breakfast
is another multi-course extravaganza. Bon appetit.
What it costs: Full experience from £360pp.
Dinner from £135pp
Spinks Nest
Hunworth, Norfolk
Located in a hamlet so ancient it got a mention in the Doomsday
Book, this mouse-sized Norfolk stay has something of a gardener’s
cottage feel to it, thanks to its quirky dimensions and leafy
embellishments. Rambling pelargoniums line window sills,
patina-flecked mirrors sit crowded by pot plants, and botanically
influenced curios hang from rustic, wood-panelled walls. It’s all
heart-warmingly homely – and dog-friendly, too. The bucolic beauty
of the Glaven Valley sits beyond the door – but don’t be surprised
if you spend the entire weekend playing old-school board games,
wrapped up in soft woollen blankets, beside the wood-burning
stove.
What it costs: £175 a night, minimum two-night
stay
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The Bear Inn at Hodnet
Market Drayton, Shropshire
Brilliantly British colours sing throughout the guest rooms of
the village’s newly refurbished Bear Inn, a timeless restaurant
with rooms in up-and-coming Shropshire. Racing green, Colman’s
yellow and bracken orange-brown are just some of the hues put to
use by designer Octavia Dickinson in the 12 softly eccentric
bedrooms, alongside playful, piglet-pink tongue-and-groove
panelling, paisley headboards, school tie-striped lampshades and
valance-capped curtains. Home comforts are plentiful (think snuggly
woollen blankets, crisp cotton sheets and Haeckels skincare in
en-suites). For the kind of romantic rendezvous where you don’t
want to be disturbed, we’d book the Rowan Suite, a lamp-lit den
tucked high in the inn’s ancient rafters.
What it costs: From £140 a night
Glenfeadon Castle
Portreath, Cornwall
Calling all pampered princesses (or princes): this castle-like
rental makes for a royally luxurious retreat in North Cornwall.
Renovated in 2022, the former folly has been given the kind of
revamp that makes you wish all buildings were designed like this.
Tucked cleverly around an ascending spiral staircase, light-filled
rooms are quirkily curved, with exposed stone walls, beautiful
wooden floors and – in the kitchen at the top of the tower – lordly
views across the coastline. Portreath’s sandy shores are just a
ten-minute walk away.
What it costs: From £1,625 for seven nights
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Wagtail
Greenhead, Northumberland
Seeking celestial confirmation of your compatibility? Hot-foot
it up north for a romantic retreat beneath the vast, inky skies of
Northumberland. Far removed from light pollution in a certified
Dark Sky area, the remote Wagtail shepherd’s hut is the perfect
spot from which to consult the stars, and comes equipped with a
state-of-the-art telescope, a beginner’s stargazing guide and
big-enough-for-two copper bathtub set beneath a heavenly glass
ceiling. Any astrologically influenced arguments can be put to bed
by booking a dark skies safari with an astronomer (which involves a
midnight picnic), but if your other half’s Capricorn tendencies get
too much, all 40 hectares of surrounding farmland are yours to
explore.
What it costs: From £1,045 for seven nights
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