The English countryside in the winter is enchanting: bare trees form lacy silhouettes against misty skies and crystal lakes while walking trails on the coast and in the hills shimmer with frost under the stunning low winter sun.
In recent years, England’s hotel offering has begun to veer further into slow tourism, with hotels and old country houses opting for chic luxuries, sustainability, and back-to-basics comfort over overt formality and classicism.
The scent of smoke from fireplaces, fire pits, and open-fire cooking permeates the air of the average countryside hotel, making stunning sanctuaries elevated yet further by world-class spas and extras like outdoor baths and fire-heated terraces — ideal for recovering after long winter hikes.
Whether you’re searching for the perfect lakeside hiking spot in the north of England or hoping for Michelin-level food and a flower-trimmed cottage with a private hot tub, these are our favorite spots for a cozy winter in the English countryside.
Between The Moor and the Sea: Saltmoore, Yorkshire
Sandsend Road, Whitby YO21 3ST
New for 2024, Saltmoore takes all the pieces of the eastern coastline and the moors and blends them to stunning effect, with the opportunity for countryside walks and chilly winter dips in the North Sea combined with exceptional spa facilities and a sublime curation of room types: everything from simple rooms with minimal flare to stylish suites with outdoor baths. The location is fantastic, too, set between sea and land and far from the historic heart of Whitby if civilization beckons.
But a place like Saltmoore is at its best when you embrace its entirety. Start with a full Saltmoore (English) breakfast in the brasserie before a walk along the long windswept curve at Sandsend Beach. From there, a break at the spa to unwind in the steam room, or if you’ve spent the morning on a challenging hike, step into the Cryo Chamber for a full-body cryotherapy treatment. There’s also an ice bath, a spa pool, and an indoor pool surrounded by attractive landscaped gardens.
Each of Saltmoore’s rooms conjures a specific element from the surrounding area, such as the Gorse-colored Divine Rooms, the natural emerald hues of the classic rooms, designed to bring the Yorkshire moors indoors, and the Heather Suite’s reflection of the famous heather-draped moors of summertime.
The rooms are spread across multiple houses, many of which are in the main house, but for an escape with added solitude, book a room in the soon-to-open Beach House (for 2025), which has a bar and separate reception.
The spa’s wellness cafe is a light-filled space serving smoothies and light lunches, but for heartier fare, The Brasserie, headed up by Adam Maddock, celebrates local produce in dishes such as homemade sausages, local crab and seafood pies, all bolstered by ingredients plucked fresh from the garden.
Room prices at Saltmoore start at approximately $441 per night.
Outdoor Pursuits at The Fish, Cotswolds
Farncombe House, Campden Ln, Farncombe, Broadway WR12 7LH
The Fish, hidden in a 500-acre private estate with woodlands and lakes in the beautiful Cotswolds, offers not just rooms but a collection of cabins, suites, huts, and treehouses with an emphasis on outdoor living and adventure. Of the rooms, the outdoor huts are a favorite. There are three varieties; each has interior wood burners and chimineas for chili winter evenings, as well as a private terrace with a hot tub.
Our favorite is the Boaty Mc Boatface hut, which is hidden at the end of a leafy garden trail and has a private lake and a rowing boat. At the center of the lake, there’s a small but lush private island with a small gazebo, ideal for drinks and accessible only by boat. For families, the Bigger Suites have enough space for four across several rooms and a wood-burning stove in the living area.
To truly get back to nature, the three treehouses offer treetop seclusion with rope bridges for access, minimalist furnishings, and terraces built around grand oak trees, each with two outdoor baths from which to view the woodland.
The onsite restaurant, Hook, specializes in British seafood: Cornish mussels served with white wine and chili and halibut on the bone served with red wine and bacon. You can order from the bar to any of The Fish’s snug lounges, and there’s a room service option for drinks and pizzas, which arrive in a rustic picnic hamper.
Outdoor pursuits are numerous, and take advantage of the stunning private woodlands, including things like falconry, axe throwing, and pigeon shooting, and guests can access the nearby Dormy House Spa.
Room prices at The Fish start at approximately $250 per night.
A Literary Escape at The Acorn Inn
28 Fore Street, Evershot, Dorset, DT2 0JW
If your ideal winter escape is all rustic rooms with vintage furniture, heavy-draped fabrics, and cozy snugs for reading a book, then The Acron Inn should fit the bill perfectly. Not only are the rooms vintage and charming, some with large four-poster beds, but each is themed after Thomas Hardy — as the inn was featured in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles.
The building is divine, a 16th-century coaching inn nestled into a quaint village in Dorset’s bucolic countryside crisscrossed by wonky wood beams, with oak paneling on the walls and a homely lounge with a crackling open fire and rows of books to pick from. The four-poster rooms are the best, with their king-sized four-poster beds, but each is unique and has a slightly different inventory.
If you’d like a room with a fireplace, then request the Silverthorn room, which has a window seat and fireplace, or take the Hardy room, which, along with a cast iron fireplace, has a 350-year-old hand-carved oak four-poster bed. Truly the stuff of fairytales.
The dining options are found in the Acorn Inn and its sister property, Summer Lodge, with fine dining and afternoon teas at the Summer Lodge and two traditional bars and a restaurant in the Acorn Inn. The location gives access to local country houses with sublime gardens and the cinematic expanse of the Jurassic Coast.
There’s no spa at the Acorn, but the Summer House has a sauna and an indoor pool inside a sublime glass conservatory.
Room prices at The Acorn Inn start at approximately $189 per night.
Lakeside Hiking at Another Place: The Lake, The Lake District
Lake District National Park, Another Place The Lake, Ullswater, Watermillock CA11 0LP|
While the lakes are a popular summer destination, in the winter, the hills and trails in the Lake District make for sublime, crunchy walking routes, ideal for slow travel and winter relaxation. At Another Place: The Lake, there’s a 20-mile circular of Ullswater Lake accessible from the hotel, with morning views of the glassy waters elevated by low clouds caressing the hillside, and for winter goers, there’s an ice skating rink — with free sessions included with every stay — as well as Christmas market stalls serving steamy cups of mulled wine.
The ambiance is informal, with several buildings to explore with nooks warmed by fireplaces, and there are activities like wild swimming in the lake. Accommodations include standard rooms in the wings of the main house and the local pub, as well as cottages, suites, huts, and a large treehouse with lake views. With amenities like roll-top baths, log burners, and outdoor baths, the treehouse and huts (draped in fairy lights for magical winter evenings) are best for a winter getaway.
There’s a collection of restaurants, making Another Place good for multiple days of living the slow life without leaving the hotel grounds. The Rampsbeck Restaurant has multi-coursed menus conceptualized around the available local produce, while the Living Space Bar has dreamy lake views from plush sofas set for private interludes.
The Victorian-style Glasshouse, on the other hand, is set amongst the vegetable gardens on the edge of the lake and serves pizzas amongst pots stuffed with herbs, and is a fabulous spot for an informal lunch.
The Swim Club spa benefits from a gorgeous setting with an indoor pool with floor-to-ceiling windows with important lake views, as well as a hot tub and sauna, which, when combined with personalized treatments like foot massages and body scrubs, are ideal for post-fell-hiking pain relief.
Room prices at Another Place: The Lake starts at approximately $246 per night.
A Bucolic Bolthole at Middleton Lodge, Yorkshire
Kneeton Ln, Middleton Tyas, Richmond DL10 6NJ
With honey-hued coachhouses and wisteria-clad cottages, charming farmhouses, and hidden huts, Middleton Lodge, an exquisite estate filled with orchards and parklands in the North Yorkshire countryside, makes an idyllic winter escape. Room types are numerous, but all accommodations exude warmth, and while each is a little bit different, there’s a cohesive design that exudes countryside luxe from room to spa (masterminded by creative director Rebecca Tappin) that lends the lodge a sanctuary-esque atmosphere.
Of the rooms, the Dairy Hot Tub Suite is a favorite, with its rustic chic style epitomized by heavy fabrics and antique furniture, and the best bit: large French doors leading to a terrace with a hot tub filled with spring water — beautiful when surrounded by frosty wintery landscapes. The Dairy Cottage also has an outdoor hot tub but pairs it with a huge round tin bath in the bathroom and a cozy log burner in the living area.
The Forest Spa delivers tranquility via beautiful woodland paths and has a large outdoor swimming pool and waiting areas heated by log burners. The treatments include things like invigorating Hot Stone Massages and rejuvenating treatment journeys with Indian massages, plunge pools, and saunas for unwinding.
There are two restaurants, with a casual approach at The Coach House and creative tasting menus at Forge, serving delicious creations like English mushroom biscuits and dry-aged roe deer with fermented plum. But the focus at both (and across the lodge) is on sustainability, and the estate recently earned its first Michelin Green Star for its efforts.
Room prices at Middleton Lodge start at approximately $206 per night.
Close to Nature at The Pig Near Bath, Somerset
Hunstrete House, Hunstrete, Pensford, Bath BS39 4NS
The Pig’s Bath bolthole is sublime, with the usual array of country house chic rooms and outdoor snugs in sheds, converted stables and cottages, and there’s a spa wagon perched on a small but idyllic private lake in the middle of the garden and a field full of deer right next to the house.
The main house is full of nooks and little rooms with burning fireplaces and the type of vintage furniture you can sink deep into with a glass of wine, and if you’re staying over the Christmas period, the house comes alive with traditional decor and the scent of mulled wine.
The Pig Near Bath has some wonderful rooms, but the best is The Hide, a two-floor cottage with a rolltop bath upstairs and a log burner next to the bed, as well as incredibly immersive views of the local deer herd, which often graise directly in front of the windows of the cottage. At the front, there’s a cozy terrace looking over the wildflower meadows, and you can join a variety of hikes directly from the cottage.
The Pig restaurant serves a simple but delicious menu of English-European dishes with almost all of the ingredients either sourced directly from the gardens or partners within 25 miles of the hotel. The spa has a similar ethos, using only VOYA seaweed products, with trackable provenance for each ingredient.
Room prices at The Pig Near Bath start at approximately $277 per night.
7 Cozy Winter Retreats in the English Countryside, UK
- Saltmoore, Yorkshire
Sandsend Road, Whitby YO21 3ST - The Fish, Cotswolds
Farncombe House, Campden Ln, Farncombe, Broadway WR12 7LH - The Acorn Inn, Dorset
28 Fore Street, Evershot, Dorset, DT2 0JW - Another Place: The Lake, Lake District
Lake District National Park, Ullswater, Watermillock CA11 0LP - Middleton Lodge, Yorkshire
Kneeton Ln, Middleton Tyas, Richmond DL10 6NJ - The Pig Near Bath, Somerset
Hunstrete House, Hunstrete, Pensford, Bath BS39 4NS - The Albert Arms, Southwark
1 Gladstone St, Elephant and Castle, London SE1 6EY
