There are two types of cabins: the beautiful, internally designed cabins that appear in any number of coffee table books and glossy magazines – and the other, straight out of the horror movies, with dark corners, draughty bedrooms and creepy landscapes. Unfortunately, both are available on vacation rental websites, so to guarantee a cabin vacation that’s more magical than Wrongwe’ve gone through the country’s offerings to bring you a definitive list of the best.
Down duvets, wood-fired hot tubs and even personal chefs provide a wonderfully cuddly feel during these cozy escapes, while the views from the windows are pure rural wonderland.
Classic Americana, Cumbria
The name Hidden River Cabins brings to mind remote North America, and this collection of lodges on the Lyne River comes straight from an Appalchian backwater. A 20-minute drive from Carlisle, the six log cabins are also American-sized, with four bedrooms each, as well as enormous baths, hot tubs and gleaming kitchens. Not that you have to cook: the on-site Hidden River Café serves critically acclaimed haggis and scotch eggs and beef and blue cheese pie.
The newest hut, Snowdrop, hidden by a stream, is named after the bank of flowers behind it which starts to bloom in early January, making it particularly beautiful for a mid-winter stay.
Book It: Snowdrop sleeps up to eight people, from €1,680 for a two-night stay, but the price drops to €840 for just the two of you (01228 791318).
Rustic retreat, Northumberland
Forget the new breed of minimalist lodges: Joe’s Place at Hillside Huts and Cabins is a proper, old-fashioned place where the woodland interior is kept toasty warm by a wood-burning stove using local logs, even when there’s snow on the fields outside (the decor was inspired by when owner Phillip ran a safari company).
It is the newest of four Hillside Huts and Cabins properties overlooking the dramatic Northumberland coast. It is insulated with sheep’s wool and finished with an outdoor hot tub from which you can gaze at some of Britain’s most beautiful starry skies. With a good hob, hob and combi boiler, this place is perfect for a longer winter stay. The empty shifting sands at Druridge Bay are a five-minute drive away.
Book It: Joe’s Place sleeps two people, from £350 for a two-night stay (07767668400).
Bijou escape hole, Kent
The vast wilderness of Elmley Nature Reserve, a surprising find on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, seems to go on forever – and is even more dramatic with a sugar coating of frost. Although visitors can explore the area on a day trip, it is much better to wake up immersed in the landscape under a huge pink sky, in one of Elmley’s eight cabins and cabins.
A recent renovation by famed designer Francesca Rowan-Plowden has added a touch of cottage core and made little Vanellus the cutest of them all, done in pistachio and strawberry milk tones. Heating, hot water bottles and blankets made from wool from nearby Romney Marsh ensure coziness even on the coldest nights.
Book It: Vanellus sleeps three, from £189 per night (01795 664 896).
Beautiful isolation, Shropshire
Insulation doesn’t get better than with Nipstone, one of the most recent additions to the Kip Hideaways portfolio. Hidden in the Stiperstones Nature Reserve, about half an hour’s drive from Shrewsbury, it offers purple-hued views of misty moors and craggy peaks that stretch as far as the eye can see.
In winter, there’s no better place to curl up in bed and watch the day go by, although hiking trails lead directly from the cabin, giving guests the temptation to explore the area. A wood-fired hot tub awaits you to enjoy after the hike.
Book It: Nipstone sleeps two from £170 per night.
Hidden glamour, Snowdonia
Surrounded by conifers and decked out in recycled railway sleepers, Hinterland Cabin is a Christmas card come to life – especially when the surrounding mountains of the Snowdonia National Park are covered in a sprinkling of the white stuff. But the rustic exterior is a counterbalance to what lies inside: a rather glamorous combination of metallic fabrics, crystal lamps and the odd objet d’art that makes this place feel more like a five-star hotel than a hideaway in the woods.
A Hungarian goose down duvet keeps guests wonderfully cozy in bed, while underfloor heating warms the iciest toes after walking. And if you really want to enjoy the good life, the hosts can even arrange a private chef for you.
Book It: Hinterland Cabin sleeps two people, from £1,350 for a three-night stay (01637 355857).
Lakeside living, Argyll
There’s no need for elaborate furnishings at Kabn 2, a tiered, off-grid hut on the edge of Loch Fyne on the Ardkinglas Estate: the landscape provides all the decoration you need. On winter mornings, a mist rises from the water and winds through the forest, while dusk turns the landscape amber.
Wet your boots with a paddle on the beach at Lake Kabn, or venture a little further through the estate on the 40-minute walk to the Cairndow Stagecoach Inn. From March, Wild Kabn Kitchen returns for its second season, in which chef William Hamer can prepare a Scottish feast for you over an open fire.
Book It: Kabn 2 sleeps two people from £235 per night (07392 712465).
Cabins with hotel benefits, Cornwall
Snuggle up on the blanket-draped bed and watch the storms roll over the water from one of the huts at Tolcarne Beach Village in Newquay. They are the closest to the Atlantic waves that pound this sandy stretch while staying warm and dry.
The small huts are located along the front of the hotel’s private beach, next to the rooms and apartments, and feature private shower rooms, televisions and furniture collected during the owners’ travels around the world. Unlike many other huts, you don’t have to struggle with a fire pit or drive to the nearest town when dinner rolls around: Tolcarne Beach has its own restaurant, The Colonial, where you can feast on oysters and Cornish rib eye.
Book It: Tolcarne Beach Village huts sleep two people from £95 per night (01637 872489).
Woodland Shelter, Perthshire
In the ancient forests around Dunkeld, beavers build dams in the icy waters of Lunan Burn and large families of fungi flourish. This is a place where life seems uninterrupted through the ages, so it’s a surprise to find Glen Glack’s five modern huts hidden along a path on the edge of Cally Loch.
Part of the Atholl Estates, they are inspired by traditional ‘bothies’ but have all the modern conveniences, including televisions and Nespresso machines (the covered terrace of the Hazel hut is the ideal place for a coffee in the morning). If you want to go back to the old days, there is a button that allows you to turn off the WiFi and the modern world. Meanwhile, hiking trails cross the surrounding forest.
Book It: Hazel sleeps four in two bedrooms, from £490 per two-night break (01796510088).
Straight from a storybook, Norfolk
If Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother had called in the architects, they would have come up with this storybook hut. Set in 30 acres of private parkland, The Lakeside Cabin at Settle is actually the joint brainchild of John and Jo Morfoot, a salvage merchant and award-winning florist respectively.
That means repurposed radiators and a wood-burning stove help keep the place cozy, while delicate botanical prints elevate it from the mundane to the magical. Unlike many cabins, there is also more than enough room to swing a wolf (or two). There are even two pools: a cocooning indoor pool with a view of the lake and a wood-fired outdoor pool under its own pavilion.
Book It: The Lakeside Cabin sleeps two people, from £280 per night (01953 497030).
Designer’s Den, Sussex
Once a much-loved hideaway for children on the family farm, Cabin Under his leadership, this tiny hut is now a larch-clad wonder in the East Sussex countryside, with a special addition: an en suite bathroom with floor-to-ceiling windows so guests can take a steamy shower while seemingly immersed in nature. forest behind it.
A new outdoor sauna, inspired by a Chinese pavilion, has also proven very popular with visitors. Six more huts will appear in the woods next year, each slightly different (and, Gowland promises, the antidote to the ‘copy and paste huts’ popping up in Britain).
Book It: Cabin X sleeps two people, from £250 per night.