19 charming British cottages to rent in 2025
Is there anything more charming than watching the sun rise over frost-covered, rolling hills? Or a warm cup of tea on arrival after a brisk long walk through the woods? Autumn and winter, which offer both of these joyful experiences, are really when the British countryside comes into its own, and certainly these are the times when a weekend away can be the most restorative and beneficial. So get ahead of the game and book your staycation now. From Devon to Cornwall, Scotland to the coast of Wales, there's something for everyone here in this edit of holiday cottages to rent and who doesn't want to spend an autumn or winter break in this most idyllic of British settings? Pick a Cotswolds cottage with a pub across the village, a secluded hideaway on the Isle of Skye or a picture perfect thatched cottage in Norfolk and get cosy by the fire, under the cocooning effect of beamed ceilings and lime wash walls.
MAY WE SUGGEST: The loveliest remote hideaways for UK holidays
The best holiday cottages to rent in 2025
Dean Hearne1/19Little Pembroke, Cornwall
Masterminded by Bianca Fincham, founder of PR company Fincham Communications, Little Pembroke is a cosy tribute to the natural beauty and history of Cornwall. ‘We wanted to make it like a modern boat shed,’ says Bianca, founder of PR company Fincham Communications. The nearby village of Newlyn provided much inspiration, with its rich boating and fishing heritage, but coastal buildings around New England and in Norway also inspired the renovation. White French doors by local business Camborne Joinery lead visitors into the inviting interior, where they are immediately met with a Contura log burner and that incredible vista, facilitated by enormous wooden windows.
Sleeps: 2 guests
Price: From £230/night
Will Slater2/19Plum Cottage, Cornwall
With uninterrupted views of the Cornish coast as it hits the rocky side of Trevone Bay, this collection of holiday cottages – Atlanta Trevone – plays host to some of the best we've stayed in, which now includes its most recent addition, Plum Cottage. Using earthy colours and layers of antiques and textiles, HÁM Interiors has transformed this once-pokey cottage into a charming holiday rental. ‘The house had a lot of fantastic original features which we preserved,’ says Tom Cox of HÁM. ‘The Cornish Delabole slate floors downstairs and the staircase were beautiful, but working within the framework of a listed building is inevitably tricky.’ Upstairs the bedrooms are decorated in a happy confluence of coloured paint and patterned textiles. Rusty walls in the master bedroom are complimented by woodwork in a knocked-back sage and the ticking bed tester is balanced by headboard on ‘Lavandou’ by Nicole Fabre. ‘Each project is a way for us to explore the place and its history,’ Kate Cox, of HÁM says. ‘To create something that feels authentic and lived-in, with a bit of folklore woven in.’
Sleeps: Sleeps 4 guests + cot
Price: From £3,000
The Knapp © Unique Homestays3/19The Knapp, Slad
The platonic ideal of a house in the Cotswolds surely lies in the Laurie Lee valley, where the undulating hill slope into the green valley and the views and countryside are impossible to beat. With Slad as the main village in the area, it also feels more authentic than neighbouring villages, less ‘honey-hued perfection’ and more country life as you'd expect to find it. In this idyllic area, there can be no finer house to stay in for a break than The Knapp, allegedly the oldest house in the Slad valley, dating back in some parts to the 13th century. The house itself is set over two floors, with the main entrance opening into a spacious boot room and adjoining utility space, which flows into the sitting room, clearly in the oldest part of the house and centred around an original fireplace. The Slad Valley is a special place and within it, this hidden house is perhaps its finest asset.
Sleeps: 8 guests
Costs: From £3,950 per week, £2,950 per short break
Christopher Horwood4/19Charlotte's Folly, Weston-under-Lizard, Shropshire
A good rental cottage should transport you a million miles from home into something of a fairytale holiday, and given that Charlotte's Folly immediately looks like something from your favourite childhood story in the best possible way, it immediately does just that. The three-bedroom guest house, with fabulous interiors by Emma Ainscough, is part of Bradford Estates, with Weston Park just next door and its extensive grounds. The surrounding landscape is bucolic and a trail right outside the gate leads you serenely to White Sitch Lake, where fisherman laze on pontoons that make perfect picnic spots and two further guest houses (Hansa and an old boathouse which will soon be redeveloped) look straight out of a Brothers Grimm tale.
Sleeps: 6
Price: from £1,650 per week, £1,250 per short break
5/19Little Bennetts, Burford, Oxfordshire
The interiors of this house – done entirely by the owners – make it worth a visit alone, for the cosiness, colour and general lovely feeling they have created. The garden too is a delight, brimming with flowers and with ample space for children to run around. There are four bedrooms, sleeping up to 11 guests – including four children – two living rooms and a separate dining room and country kitchen. The cottage is near Bloxham, offering the best of the Cotswolds on your doorstep.
Sleeps: up to 11 guests
Price: from £725 per night
6/19Garthgell, Snowdonia, Wales
Overlooking the Welsh mountain range Cader Idris, isolated Garth Gell sits at the top of a steep, rocky track. The restored farmhouse offers a wonderful 'back to basics' experience: there are zero mod cons and a poor telephone signal, but the setting and decoration are as authentic and charming as you could wish. With nothing to jolt them back to the 21st-century, guests can enjoy a respite from the stresses of the modern world. From £1,400 a week.
Sleeps: 6 guests
Price: From £240 per night, min four nights
Unique Homestays / David Curran7/19The Fable, Perranporth, Cornwall
For those who idealise the idea of a cottage but prefer a few more modern comforts, The Fable in Perranporth, Cornwall is the place to book. It's a collaborative effort between Unique Homestays and The White Company, meaning the interior is a neutral haven of calm, swathed in soft blankets and cosy sheepskins. A sunken hot tub makes the garden attractive no matter the weather, and there's a summerhouse too for keeping warm and dry while enjoying the garden. It's truly lovely and a luxury experience.
Sleeps: 4 guests
Price: weekly stays from £1,550 and shorter breaks from £1,150
Dean Hearne8/19Tolstoy Cottage, Oxfordshire
Alexandra Tolstoy's cottage is the archetypal country bolthole, filled with beams, flagstone floors and antiques. It opens onto a pretty, flower-filled cottage garden and plenty of walks to nearby pubs and villages. Inside, English and Welsh antiques fill the cosy rooms and the interior is truly delightful. Alexandra spent time restoring the cottage and reimplementing lime wash and all the aspects that give it its higgledy-piggledy charm.
Sleeps: 6 guests
Price: £1960 - £3500 per week
Paul Massey9/19Well Cottage, Ramsden, Oxfordshire
Well Cottage could just be the prettiest cottage in the Cotswolds, with utterly charming interiors by interior designer Laura Stephens, a very good local pub just down the road and enough bedrooms to easily accommodate six people. There are two living rooms, both with fires; one is more of a snug and the other an airy space for reading a book. Both open onto a light-filled farmhouse-style kitchen that will be the focal point of your stay. The bedrooms are equally lovely, though the master does have a bath in it which is an added extra that we loved. All in all, it's the type of cottage you wish you owned. It's on the eastern edge of the Cotswolds, so close to London and Oxford.
Sleeps: 6 guests
Price: from £325 per night
10/19Bridge Cottage, Peppercombe, North Devon
Bridge Cottage is a hidden gem in Devon, built from local materials and every inch as lovely inside as it is from the outside. There's a double bedroom and a single upstairs, with a kitchen-diner and cosy living room with a fire below. The interiors are simple and homely and truly make the most of the cottage lifestyle. Woolacombe, Barnstaple and Bude are all in easy striking distance, or there are many coastal walks to enjoy nearby.
Sleeps: 3 guests
Price: £360 per four nights
11/19Inkwell Cottage, Burford, Oxfordshire
Made from the same honey stone that characterises the prettiest cottages in the Cotswolds, this two bedroom abode is a delight. It's within the village of Burford in the area's AONB and is surrounded by lovely walks, pretty villages and plenty of things to keep you entertained in Burford itself. There are exposed beams, huge fireplaces and all the textiles you need to make it cosy as can be when you repair back after a walk in the local fields.
Sleeps: 2 guests
Price: From £1,195 per week, £950 per short break
12/19Bush Cottage, Bridgnorth, Shropshire
Bush Cottage sits in a lovely Shropshire valley, with pubs less than an hour's walk away – the perfect distance for a bracing stroll before warming by the fire. Inside, it's as characterful as they come with skirted sofas and wood panelling. The exterior is a pretty as they come, and the interior is replete with wooden, beamed ceilings and limewash walls. It's an idyll, but it is compact and the kitchen is especially diminutive.
Sleeps: Up to 4 guests
Price: £296 per four nights
AirBnB13/19Capel Iwan, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Rural Carmarthenshire is a well sought out holiday spot and for good reason. Within the area, this is one of the best rentals, fusing modernist architecture with cottage charm. It's an extended cottage with a new section added on and has been sympathetically furnished to suit both sides of its persona – brutalism and rural living.
Sleeps: 6 guests
Price: From £73 per night
14/19Treverra Cottage, Rock, Cornwall
With its thick whitewashed walls and elegant decoration, Treverra Cottage in Rock is pretty idyllic, with no hint of nautical naffness. The 18th-century stone building overlooks the Camel estuary, a short boat ride from Rick Stein’s Michelin-starred restaurant in Padstow. A swimming pool and hot tub offer warmer options if the sea proves too bracing.
Sleeps: 8 guests
Price: From £1,800 a week
15/19Coastal Cottage, Ceredigion, Wales
With the coastal path of Ceredigion on the doorstep and a rustic, beamed interior inside, this cottage is the dream for a winter weekend. Windswept walks on the beach followed by tea and cake by the woodburner – it sounds quite dreamy. Unlike many cottages, the living space is single storey and so benefits from a soaring, vaulted ceiling and exposed roof joists. The bedrooms are then on either side, tucked into mezzanine levels to keep them cosy and cocooning while affording more space to spread out downstairs.
Sleeps: Up to 4 guests
Price: From £725 per week
16/19The Crofter's House, Portree, Skye
The wild landscape of the Isle of Skye is enough of a draw on its own but when you add in this traditional cottage as lodgings, it's too hard to resist. The interior is soothingly clad in white beadboard, allowing the views to shine. A log burner keeps the cold at bay for when you return from bracing walks.
Sleeps: 2 guests
Price: From £155 per night
Airbnb17/19Ploughmans Cottage, Furnace, Argyll & Bute
This is how to do a rustic retreat in style. Looking out over Loch Fyne – the views are best enjoyed from the outdoor hot tub, terrace or roll top bath – Ploughman’s Cottage has sympathetic interiors that give a country feel but ample space, with a vast bedroom and bathroom, as well as generous living spaces. It’s a real find.
Sleeps: 2 guests
Price: From £225 per night
18/19The Riddle, Dartmoor, Devon
This two bedroom house sits on the picturesque village green of North Bovey in Dartmoor and is certainly one of the nicest of the thatched cottages in the village. Moors, glades and sheep-strewn fields surround it, with the village pub just across the green.
Sleeps: Up to 4 guests
Price: From £1,995 per week, £1,495 per short break
© Rachael Smith Photography Ltd19/19Crabtree Cottage, Norfolk
Architectural and interior design ingenuity have come together at this Norfolk property, just two miles from the North Norfolk coast. Originally two 18th-century, brick-and-flint cottages, it has been made into one unusual house by the addition of a larch-clad, Crittall-glazed extension by architect Kathryn Manning.
Inside, designer Anna Haines has devised harmonious interiors that marry old and new. She has layered calm colour, subtle pattern and carefully chosen antiques, enhancing the individual character of each part of the house and creating a lovely lived-in look. The industrial-style kitchen/dining room now sits happily alongside the cosy sitting rooms and four bedrooms.
Sleeps: 6 adults or 4 adults and 4-5 children
Price: from £2,250 per week
Comments
Back to Top
