Go Wild In The Country
Holidays should be a break for all the family – mums and dads included. So rather than simply transporting your childcaring chores, try checking into one of these restorative rural getaways and enjoying a staycation for parents, teens and tiddlers, too.
Curated and written by Jo Rodgers
Image: Durslade Farmhouse, Somerset
A note from travel journalist, Jo Rodgers
“We’re in shouting distance of the school holidays, and the moment is approaching for backseat KitKats and a lighthearted stance on baths (you dunked in the pool, right?). Here’s a pick’n’mix of child-friendly countryside escapes – from home rentals with design-mag flair to blissfully helpful hotels – where everyone can unwind.”
Durslade Farmhouse
Durslade Farmhouse
Durslade Farmhouse, Somerset
The Mood
An 18th century, exclusive-use farmhouse on the grounds of Hauser & Wirth Somerset (the art exhibition space/farmstead) in Bruton, walking distance from the indie-packed high street (break for carrot cake at the Stripy Duck Café & Bookshop) and the big-sky Somerset countryside. The art collection is unsurprisingly first rate (Guillermo Kuitca and Pipilotti Rist both created original work for the house) and the six bedrooms are all stylistic belters, which should neutralise any infighting.
The Food
Across the courtyard from the house is the Durslade Farm Shop, stocked with a honed selection of everything from chipolatas to gin, and The Roth Bar & Grill (go for the burgers; there’s a smaller kid’s version too). You can pick up wood-fired pizzas from At The Chapel on the high street (try The Inferno, with friggitelli peppers and local moz), or check out the daily chalked menu outside The Old Pharmacy, an Italian-leaning bistro and wine bar.
Kids’ Stuff
There are tours of the 1,000-acre Durslade Farm, where you can visit the beehives to sample the honeycomb. Chef Kenny Jeffs makes a range of foraged products for the shop, and also runs foraging trips for guests.
Frampton Court
Frampton Court
Frampton Court, Gloucestershire
The Mood
With a 20-acre village green and the Herefordshire hills on the horizon, Frampton-on-Severn, on the western fringes of the Cotswolds, is the type of riverside hamlet that sparks rationalisation about how much you could get done on the train. The local stately home is Frampton Court, a Grade I-listed mansion that looks like a schoolroom drawing: four-square symmetry; a towering Baltic oak front door; a lion-faced gong to call everybody to dinner. The interiors are bewitchingly unmodern (books are tattered, sinks have chain plugs, armchairs are broken in) yet luxurious where it counts – namely the mattresses and the gardens. Its available for exclusive-use rentals of up to 14 people.
The Food
One of the owners of the Frampton Estate, Peter Clifford, makes a pear cider that he shares with family and friends… and with guests, if you put your hand up. A short drive away, the Eastington Farm Shop has both essentials (look for their self-serve, award-winning milk next to the crate of glass bottles) and trimmings (their bake-at-home pizzas are great for game night).
Kids’ Stuff
There’s a playhouse and tree swing in the grounds, and a room for games and movies inside, complete with popcorn maker.
Middleton Lodge Estate, Yorkshire
The Mood
A green-thumbed, 200-acre residence-turned-hotel that the Allison family have been developing piecemeal over the past 16 years. Now Middleton Lodge has 30-odd bedrooms and several self-catering properties (including the main house, a Palladian beauty where the owner grew up), arranged throughout the grounds and connected by paths. The sprawling, here-and-there accommodation offers privacy, as well as and the pleasing sense that everybody is rocking around a bucolic summer camp. Restorative work and expansion continues: a spa and swimming pool have opened just this month.
The Food
There are two destination restaurants on site – a casual one (The Coach House) and a fancy one (The Forge), and everybody bumps into each other at the former because that’s where the excellent breakfast is served (get the huevos rancheros).
Kids’ Stuff
Larger rooms can accommodate children, but I’d book one of the self-catering properties, for the extra space and access to a refrigerator. There are free bicycles to borrow and woodland walks to go on (make sure you bring along the flapjacks you’ll find in a Kilner jar – refilled daily – in your room).
Middleton Lodge
Middleton Lodge
Chewton Glen, Hampshire
The Mood
This all-rounder country hotel sits on the edge of the New Forest, just a short walk from the beach. There’s a famously pretty croquet lawn beneath the 18th century façade, where you might expect to see parasols rather than polo necks. The interiors are broadly contemporary, particularly the sleek, multi-bedroom treehouse suites, which are catnip for families.
The Food
Two restaurants both lean heavily on the kitchen patch, and aim to please rather than instruct (who wants to be schooled on holiday anyhow?). It’s worth tracking down the weekend carving trolley (lamb on Friday, pork on Saturday, beef on Sunday) and the dining hall puddings like knickerbocker glory and steamed sponge with rhubarb.
Kids’ Stuff
A free kids’ club, The Beehive, is quartered in a beadboard playhouse on the grounds. Activities change daily and include things like den building and making your own dream catcher. Children’s cookery classes, falconry and foraging tours can be booked at an additional cost. Scenic indoor and outdoor swimming pools are also available for family use.
The Rectory, Wiltshire
The Mood
In the less-developed south Cotswolds, this 18th century former rectory (to All Saints Church next door) is an unsnooty hodgepodge of heritage architecture and later additions. Many of the bedrooms have painted boiserie, four posters, and footed baths, plus they’re decently priced and run by easy-going folks who seem happy to be there. This is an approachable, back-pocket place that you’ll want to return to, especially if you’re a rambler (the walking round here is some of the country’s most spirit-lifting).
The Food
Eating has always been a focus at The Rectory (the owners also operate The Potting Shed pub in the village), but a Michelin-starred chef took over the in-house British restaurant earlier this year, signalling a gear change. It’s still a come-as-you-are dining room, reassuringly long on garden veg and local cheese, so if you arrive directly off the Cotswold Way, shins lashed in mud, you can sit down and get to business.
Kids’ Stuff
A three-bedroom cottage on the grounds is intended for families, and it’s conveniently near the heated pool. At breakfast, the buttermilk waffles are a tentpole of the menu – for good reason.
Chewton Glen
The Rectory Hotel
Cranbourne Chase Cottages
Cranbourne Chase Cottages
Cranborne Chase Cottages, Kip Hideaways, Dorset
The Mood
A side-by-side pair of Victorian grooms’ cottages on the grounds of a 17th century stately home, slotted next to some spick and span working stables (the situation is country-quiet and smells fine, but if you don’t care for horses, this is not the place for you). Inside, chalky exposed brickwork sets off copper roll-top baths and brass beds. The kitchens are stylishly rustic, with electric Agas and discreet dishwashers. Vases of flowers picked from the riotous estate gardens decorate the tabletops.
The Food
Wimborne St Giles and its picturesque village green is within walking distance, but the dining options are limited. Plan to shop and cook, or drive to eat out.
Kids’ Stuff
The horses next door often pop their heads out of the stables to see what’s what, something that delighted my four-year-old on a loop. Exploring the private grounds and gardens surrounding the cottages on the estate is a benefit of staying here, and you’ll often have them to yourself.
Gidleigh Park, Dartmoor
The Mood
Beside the River Teign in Dartmoor National Park, strewn with Bronze Age stone circles and wild ponies, Gidleigh Park’s surroundings are painterly, with an exciting whiff of the occult. The hotel is propped in a jaw-dropping clearing, overlooking raked gardens and rushing water. It’s a timeless setting, and the interiors are comfortably untrendy. There are walks from the doorstep, including a four-hour circular route that takes in Kestor Rock and Scorhill Stone Circle (the hotel will gladly make packed lunches).
The Food
Surprisingly, given the national park address, the headliner at Gidleigh Park is the sure-footed restaurant, newly Michelin-starred this year. There’s a casual restaurant too, with outdoor tables that overlook the river (get the cheese soufflé covered in hazelnuts and black truffles. Get two). The nearest village is chocolate-box Chagford, a forty minute walk from the hotel, which has a handful of casual cafes for lunch.
Kids’ Stuff
A predictably well-executed kids menu is available in both restaurants (get the bolognese). There’s a popular, apartment-style family suite in the hotel, but my vote is for the Pavilion, a standalone thatched cottage next to a bluebell wood, a five-minute walk from the property. When the dawn chorus warms up, it feels like you’re on your own stretch of Dartmoor.
Gidleigh Park
Gidleigh Park
Fowey Hall, Cornwall
The Mood
A coastal manor built by a Victorian lumber titan, overlooking the seaside town of Fowey. Unlike the rest of the hotels on this list, Fowey Hall is specifically aimed at families. Stay with me: following a soup-to-nuts refresh, the interiors are bright and pared-back, with mid-century modern touches framing the Cornish coastline views. Fowey (“rhymes with Joy,”) offers beaches, kayaks and rock pooling at the deliciously named Readymoney Cove.
The Food
Straightforward, moreish and swift. Expect dependable classics like fish and chips and shepherd’s pie. Children have the option of eating supper early (on unsmashable kiddo tableware made from organic bamboo) and going to bed (there are monitoring systems rigged up in every bedroom, allowing carers to go downstairs for an adults-only sticky toffee if they like). Kids’ menus are ubiquitous, and homemade pureed baby food is on offer from the kitchen all day. Room service will deliver fresh milk in the mornings and evenings for free.
Kids’ Stuff
The hotel offers 90 minutes of free childcare per day in the on-site creche, with additional babysitting available. Two pools, a library dominated by children’s books, and a games room with vintage arcade staples are open during the day. Throughout the summer there will be forest school and bushcraft lessons, covering things like natural fire lighting and cooking outdoors.
Fowey Hall
Fowey Hall
Beckford Arms
The Fife Arms
The Beckford Arms, Wiltshire
The Mood
A rural, Georgian pub with rooms on the Fonthill Estate, in a shoot-for-the-pot stretch of Wiltshire. On the weekends, there are a lot of regulars (canine) catching up on sleep beside the log fires.
The Food
Eating is the main event here. Get your appetite back between meals by walking, fishing, biking, exploring the grounds at Stourhead and Longleat, and touring the art galleries at Messums Wiltshire. The food is traditionally British, bumped up with plenty of acidity and crunch (a dash of pomegranate molasses here, a handful of pumpkin seeds there).
Kids’ Stuff
Travel cots can be added to many of the rooms for £10. For children older than three, The Arch – a unique self-catering house tucked into one side of a Grade I-listed, 18th century building – opened last year. It’s a few minutes from the pub by car, and has bunk beds on the top floor as well as board games and a woodburning stove.
The Fife Arms, Scotland
The Mood
The mountain town of Braemar, in the thick of the Cairngorms National Park and long associated with the royal family and nearby Balmoral Castle, has been hot-as-toast since the reopening of The Fife Arms in 2018. With two rivers (the Clunie and the Dee) running through it and the Grampians rising in the north, the setting is paperback-romantic, as are the hotel’s purposefully overegged interiors (half-tester canopy beds, tasseled lampshades, swooping tartan curtains). A world-class art collection, developed by the gallerist owners Iwan and Manuela Wirth, hangs lightly through the property – catch the Lucian Freud in the lobby, and the Martin Creed photograph in a corridor.
The Food
It’s Scottish-nostalgic at The Flying Stag pub – think fish-finger sandwiches, sausages and mash, and treacle tart. There’s been a push to ingratiate the pub with locals as well as guests, so prices are pitched a sliver more reasonably than expected and you’ll spot watercolour portraits of contemporary Braemar residents on the walls. The Clunie Dining Room is more formal, and dominated by handy local ingredients like duck and venison.
Kids’ Stuff
The children’s playroom is a good-looking hideout, with chalkboard walls, a foosball table, piles of boardgames and a discreet XBox. For an additional fee, you can book family-friendly activities like guided stargazing, wild swimming and pony picnics, wherein your beast of burden will carry sausage rolls and ginger beer in wicker saddlebags.