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Country living at the Peak District’s poshest estate
Revamped last summer by interior designer Nicola Harding, the Cavendish hotel on Derbyshire’s Chatsworth Estate is a mix of antique flounce (Harding was allowed to raid the “big house”, a 1.5-mile walk away) and contemporary sharpness (jolly stripes, pops of colour). A new exhibition, The Gorgeous Nothings: Flowers at Chatsworth (15 March-5 October), celebrates the estate’s blooms in all their forms, from artworks to rare botanical volumes.
Seasonal events include botanical embroidery workshops (5 and 6 April) and evening lambing sessions (4‑7 April). Even more enchanting is the family-size shepherd’s hut, Mr McGregor’s Garden, which comes with its own (rabbit-free) walled garden.
Doubles at the Cavendish from £204 B&B, cavendishhotelbaslow.co.uk. Mr McGregor’s Garden, sleeps 4, two nights from £280, chatsworthescapes.co.uk
Stargazing shepherd’s huts in Northumberland
Wagtail on Low Tipalt Farm is no ordinary shepherd’s hut. For a start it’s two, cleverly conjoined so there’s space for a kitchen and an indulgent claw-foot bath – positioned beneath a glass roof for bath-time stargazing. High up in Northumberland national park, the farm enjoys England’s most pristine dark skies and you may be lucky enough to catch the northern lights dancing overhead – a telescope is on hand to take a closer look. By day, spot calves and lambs in the fields, and wander down to Tipalt Burn for a riverside picnic – hamper and rug provided – or stride on to the Hadrian’s Wall path and the Pennine Way.
Sleeps 2, two nights from £325, crabtreeandcrabtree.com
Seaside escapes in Cornwall
SeaSpace is a cheery new aparthotel near Newquay from the folk behind the popular Watergate Bay hotel and Another Place, The Lake. Options range from studios to three-bed apartments, some with bunk rooms for kids, all in a perky colour palette. There are wheelchair-friendly studios on the ground floor, while the indoor pool has a hoist and adaptable equipment, and accessible surfing can be arranged at Watergate Bay. There’s a calendar of family activities, plus outdoor padel courts and a play area. The walk from West Pentire to Polly Joke beach is easy going for little legs and, in May, gives soul-stirring views of the headland covered in red poppies.
Studios from £100 a night, sea.space
Back to nature in the Dorset countryside
Hogchester’s wildflower meadows played a starring role in David Attenborough’s Wild Isles series, featuring in its grasslands episode. By May, they will be rippling with buttercups, red clover and daisies, and rustling with bees and butterflies. This former dairy farm is just inland from Charmouth and there are meadows, bluebell woods, pygmy goats, nosy guinea fowl and chicks. Families love the two-bedroom cottage, and each morning owner Rob invites kids to feed the animals.
Sleeps 4, three nights from £450, hogchester.com
Striding out on the Isle of Wight
Thanks to its microclimate, spring stirs early on the Isle of Wight, making it the ideal time to wander the 68-mile coastal path and many more that crisscross the island. The Isle of Wight walking festival (10-18 May) has guided, free-to-join hikes, including a loop around the Red Squirrel Trail with a Nordic walking instructor, and a music-lover’s wander to the site of the island’s infamous 1970 festival.
There are also plenty of paths to trudge solo, including a six-mile route from Shanklin to Ventnor across the downs celebrating Charles Dickens, who summered on the island. Kick off those boots at the Albion hotel overlooking Freshwater Bay, which reopened last summer. Or bed down in one of the yurts at the Garlic Farm, with hammocks out front.
Walking festival hikes can be booked at isleofwightwalkingfestival.co.uk. The Albion hotel has doubles from £139 B&B, albionhotel.co.uk. Yurts at the Garlic Farm sleep 2-4 from £180 for two nights, thegarlicfarm.co.uk
A wild retreat in Norfolk
Watching wildlife from the comfort of your bed is just one of the perks of staying at Wildscapes, a pair of larch-clad cabins at the heart of Wendling Beck, a nature recovery project in Norfolk, which resulted from several neighbouring farms joining together to rewild their land. The varied habitats – including wet woodland, heathland, meadows and fens – are now home to 2,500 species, including more than 70 types of birds.
Expect to see raptors, kestrels, goldfinches and kingfishers, or go out with the project’s head ecologist to learn more about edible plants while looking for otters and wild orchids (two hours; £40pp). Back at the cabin, soak up the surroundings from the copper tub on your private deck.
Cabins sleep 2, from £170 a night (dogs stay free), wildscapesnorfolk.com
Beautiful barns in the North York Moors
Early risers at West Cawthorne may catch sight of the resident barn owl hunting. This time of year is especially lovely in Yorkshire’s Vale of Pickering, where two chic converted barns and two A-frame cabins sit among 10 hectares of farmland and wildflower meadow. About 45 minutes’ drive away is Whitby Abbey – where Christian missionaries gathered in the seventh century to agree how to determine the dates of Easter.
The Farndale daffodil walk is 30 miles inland from the abbey – aim for a weekday morning to beat the crowds. Less busy is the hike to Mallyan Spout, a 21-metre (70ft) waterfall reached through ancient woodland filled with bluebells and wild garlic.
The West Range sleeps 4, from £160 a night; the South Range sleeps 6, from £185, northyorkshirehideaways.com
Culture in the South Downs
In the folds of the South Downs, the Alfriston hotel opens at the end of this month – just in time for bluebell season. On the edge of the East Sussex village from which it takes its name, the revamped country retreat has 38 rooms, a brasserie serving seasonal classics, a spa and outdoor pool.
The South Downs Way passes through Alfriston – pick up the trail for a bracing ascent of Firle Beacon, riverside walks through the Cuckmere valley and into Friston forest for a sea of bluebells. At nearby Charleston farmhouse, once home of the Bloomsbury group, you can sign up for seasonal workshops from natural pigment making (29 April) to botanical painting (13 May), or book ahead for the Charleston festival (14-26 May), which this year features Deborah Levy and Richard E Grant.
The Alfriston opens 27 March, doubles from £150 B&B, thealfriston.com. Charleston house tickets £24 (adults), garden visits free, events and workshops individually priced
Exploring Herefordshire and Gloucestershire’s Golden Triangle
Along the border between Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, the Golden Triangle is one of the few places to see a profusion of wild daffodils in Britain. For the most beautiful drifts, Vell Mill, near the village of Dymock, is the area’s best surviving daffodil meadow. Or take the circular nine-mile Daffodil Way walk from Dymock woods through orchards and fields studded with yellow. Back in Dymock, the School Room is a smart Grade II-listed converted schoolhouse with oak-beamed ceilings, a short stroll from the community-run Beauchamp Arms pub.
Sleeps 4, seven nights from £535, cottages.com
Celebrate the spring equinox in Somerset
Just outside Glastonbury, the Apothecary Garden is a peaceful working garden, tended by a team passionate about medicinal plants and soil science. Spring equinox is marked by tapping birch trees for their sap. It is the garden’s first harvest of the year, beginning another cycle of growing and tending, working in harmony with nature. Visitors can stay among the Damask rose bushes, potent organic herbs and an apple orchard in a handful of cabins, sturdy tents and a bigger barn.
Contemplate a more personal reawakening in the garden’s stone circle or join visiting experts, such as alchemist Charlotte Pulver, whose past workshops have included rose or mistletoe medicine-making days.
Big Barn sleeps 5 from £190 a night, cabins sleep 2 from £125 a night, tents sleep 2 from £95 a night (all two-nights minimum stay), apothecarygarden.co.uk
Go on safari near Hay-on-Wye
Down a wiggling track near the Welsh border, Drovers Rest offers farm stays with added alpacas and the spirit of South Africa, where the owners hail from. Six super-size safari tents would not look out of place in Kruger national park, while Saturday nights sizzle with three-course braai feasts. Of the three stone cottages, Drovers Cottage is the most remote, sitting high above the River Wye surrounded by a sheep-grazed common. Back at the farmyard, there are guided animal safaris (at 9am four days a week; free for guests), organised campfire experiences (complete with marshmallows and cookies for s’mores) and Easter egg hunts during the holidays.
Cottages sleep 4, three nights from £525, droversrest.co.uk
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Run wild in the woods of Aberdeenshire
Glen Dye’s colour-splashed collection of cottages, cabins and an old showman’s caravan are upbeat whatever the Scottish weather.
The newest is the three-bedroom Gamekeeper’s Cottage, though all have the run of the estate, where wood sorrel carpets the forest floor and yellow, sweet-smelling azaleas brighten up the banks along the River Dye.
There are all sorts of activities to get the heart pumping at the recently opened Discovery and Adventure Centre (axe throwing, bushcraft, archery tag), as well as an adventure trail that winds through woodland. Afterwards, warm up in the wood-fired sauna or with a beer by the fire at the BYOB pub the Glen Dye Arms.
Gamekeeper’s Cottage sleeps 6, from £375 a night, glendyecabinsandcottages.com
A farm stay in the Inner Hebrides
On the north-west coast of the Isle of Mull, Treshnish is home to an award-winning wildlife-friendly hill farm with self-catering cottages. Four of them, plus a shepherd’s hut, are near the farmhouse, while the others – including three historic black houses – are a mile further down a bumpy track. In April, owners Somerset and Carolyne Charrington will be preparing for lambing, while puffins arrive on the uninhabited Treshnish Islands and white-tailed eagles hover along the coast. Check out the Mull music festival in Tobermory (24‑28 April; about 45 minutes’ drive). By May, spring has caught up with Mull: the swallows return as the sailing season begins and yachts, as well as seabirds, swoop past on the water.
Cottages sleep 2-4, from £400 a week, treshnish.co.uk
Treehouse living in Galloway
The woodland floor beneath Brockloch Treehouse turns into a bobbing sea of bluebells in May. This off-grid hideout is on Brockloch Farm in Galloway – an overlooked corner of Scotland. On a sunny day, the treehouse’s dozens of tiny windows mimic the effect of dappled sunlight pouring through the trees, and at night the skylights above the bed and the sunken bath frame the treetops and stars. Beyond this nest, arty Kirkcudbright is interesting, particularly during the annual Spring Fling open studios (24-26 May, across Dumfries and Galloway): check out sculptor Kerry Samantha Boyes’s mind-bogglingly realistic fake food workshop. While further inland, cosmic-inspired Crawick Multiverse is a massive land art installation by the late landscape architect Charles Jencks.
Sleeps 2, from £180 a night, canopyandstars.co.uk
Sleep on a cider farm in Fife
On the south banks of the River Tay in Fife, Hyrneside farm has been fertile ground for centuries, providing timber for shipbuilding, stone for monks to build nearby Lindores Abbey, freshwater springs and hillsides to graze livestock. Today, apple trees line the fields, and the fruit is turned into Aipple – part of Scotland’s emerging cider scene.
The blossom will soon start to open around Old Parkhill Cottage, a converted byre on the farm. There’s a bottle of Aipple and one of Argle Bargle sparkling apple juice in the welcome basket – just the thing to take on a stroll along the Fife Coastal Path, where the coconut scent of the bright yellow gorse (known as whins in these parts) heralds the arrival of spring.
Sleeps 6, four nights from £1,540, hyrneside.co.uk
An architect’s Highland hideout
From their studios in Glasgow and the Highlands, architects Baillie and Baillie (founded by Colin and Megan, partners in work and life) create minimalist, sustainable homes. Iorram, their self-built holiday cottage in the village of Plockton, is no different, crafted from Scottish Douglas fir and clay block walls, finished in natural clay plaster and traditional lime harling. It’s a celebration of simplicity, and the perfect place to watch the changing colours across the hillside above Loch Carron. Walk the track lined with gorse and birch trees that leads from the house through the village to the secluded Coral beach – where the sand is made from tiny pieces of calcified seaweed called maerl. If it’s too chilly for a dip, you could head out on the water without getting wet with Calum’s Seal Trips.
Sleeps 2, from £200 a night (based on a three-night stay), baillie‑baillie.co.uk/iorram
Pottering around in a former mill, Pembrokeshire
Y Felin at Dolaumaen Isaf, a former mill on the edge of the Preseli Hills, was restored by artists Robin and Yoshi Dale-Thomas. Robin’s glazed bowls line the shelves in the kitchen. Upstairs, there’s an antique writing desk in the corner of the bedroom, so you can turn any stay into a creative retreat. It’s an inspiring spot at any time of the year – views stretch out to the jagged top of Carn Menyn – but especially now when the surrounding meadows are coloured with primroses. Guests can use Robin and Yoshi’s garden sauna and plunge pool, or head to nearby Mwnt beach, one of Wales’s loveliest stretches, for a swim to blast away the last of the winter cobwebs.
Sleeps 2, three nights from £353, underthethatch.co.uk
Biking and hiking in Eryri
North Wales has a fantastic adventure scene. However, before the adrenaline junkies arrived, this was slate-mining country, and the carved-out landscape was granted Unesco world heritage status in 2021. Now, the former Llechwedd mine has been reinvented as Zip World, with subterranean obstacle courses and a 60mph zip line, while the quarry owner’s mansion is now the Plas Weunydd hotel.
It has just had a facelift, adding five family suites, as well as a boot room for drying muddy gear. The biking and hiking trails in the Eryri national park (Snowdonia) will be quieter before the summer swarm, and the hotel organises monthly guided mountain walks (16 April and 15 May). At Coed y Brenin forest park you can whiz down gravel tracks on mountain bikes past banks of bluebells and wild garlic, while Llyn Mair is a pretty, lesser-known lakeland walking loop.
Plas Weunydd reopens 11 April, doubles from £100 B&B, plasweunydd.co.uk
In search of Narnia in the Mourne Mountains, Co Down
Northern Ireland’s Mourne Mountains were the inspiration for CS Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia – the Belfast-born author wrote in a letter to his brother: “That part of Rostrevor which overlooks Carlingford Lough is my idea of Narnia.” This epic range – home to the region’s highest peaks topped with dramatic granite tors – rolls all the way down to the Irish Sea.
There, right on the promenade in Newcastle, the Avoca hotel is the place to step through the wardrobe (or out the front door) into this mythical realm. Conquer 852m Slieve Donard, or for something less giant, loop the Narnia Trail at Kilbroney Park. And while there might not be any fauns, Tollymore Forest Park has trails through magical beech woodland.
Doubles from £150 B&B, avocahotel.com
A foodie escape in Co Antrim
On the north-eastern tip of the Causeway Coast, Yarn is an ambitious new project transforming Ballycastle’s old Danske Bank into an exciting creative hub (in a previous life the building was a wool exchange, hence the name). Upstairs are five apartments, each decorated with handmade furniture, mid-century finds and Irish design – Field Day toiletries from County Down, mugs from Belfast potter Gillybean and wool blankets by McNutt of Donegal.
Downstairs, Ursa Minor Bakery School runs holistic Soil to Soul cooking workshops (starring seasonal nettles, wild garlic and Armagh asparagus) and pastry classes (the next one focusing on rhubarb and strawberries). The final piece of the puzzle, Yarn Arts Project, kicks off in April with art classes, monthly film screenings and live gigs – there’s also a summer comedy festival and harvest banquet to look forward to.
Apartments sleep 2, from £130 a night, yarnballycastle.com
