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Sometimes, you just want to be able to arrive in a place with the least amount of hassle and instantly switch off and relax. Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to think about potential traffic snarl-ups en route or missing connections? Just jump on a direct train and arrive fresh.
That’s what these brilliantly accessible boltholes in the UK deliver – they’re all within easy reach of a train station and with everything you might need for a stress-free break on the doorstep.
A wild swimming cabin in Essex
Ffion Francis and Ollie Speck quit their jobs in London to renovate a 15th-century former hunting lodge near the village of Thorpe-Le-Soken in north-east Essex. Alongside bringing the house back to life, the couple have built two cabins. The latest addition, The Lakeside Lodge, sits on the edge of a natural swimming pond surrounded by reeds and trees. From London, it’s a direct train (under 90 minutes) from Liverpool Street or Stratford, then a 20-minute walk down a quiet country lane.
The aim is to rest and reset, and there’s a host of pros to help: yoga and breathwork teachers, sound healing, reiki and reflexology (from £55). Simpler still is a cold plunge in the pond, followed by a session in the sauna pod, or a warm soak in the hut’s outdoor cast-iron bath. An English breakfast hamper with bacon and sausages from the local butcher and eggs from their rescue hens can be dropped off (£25 for two), and on chilly evenings snuggle down in bed to watch classic films on the projector.
Sleeps 2 (and a dog for an extra £20) from £210 a night, coolstays.com
An arty seaside hideout in Cornwall
With sweeping views out to St Michael’s Mount, it’s hard to believe that the (now) beautifully decorated, glass-fronted Little Pembroke was once a rundown garage. The cabin’s mezzanine bedroom is the spot to hole up and take in the seascape these days – there’s even an easel and art supplies, should inspiration strike (the big house, Pembroke Lodge, was home in the 1800s to Walter Langley, pioneer of the Newlyn art school).
Alighting in Penzance from the Night Riviera Sleeper from London to a morning blast of sea air is the loveliest way to arrive, even better followed by a dip in the Jubilee Pool (seasonal opening, check website), but the station is also served by direct trains from Cardiff, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds and even Edinburgh. It’s a 10-minute taxi to Little Pembroke, or there’s a bus that stops just down the road.
The cabin is tucked peacefully between Newlyn and Mousehole, and there’s gallery hopping and coastal walks to be had. Pick up a Beryl (the Cornish equivalent of a Lime bike) around Newlyn or Penzance to whizz off further afield. A welcome hamper includes Trink milk, local butter, sourdough bread (breakfast sorted) and it’s only a short stroll to Sunday lunch by the fire at historic maritime pub The Tolcarne Inn, or Mackerel Sky for lemon sole katsu and crab nachos.
Sleeps 2 (plus a baby and/or dog) from £230 a night, littlepembroke.com
Sand and castles in Northumberland
Anyone who has travelled on the East Coast Main Line will have glimpsed Northumberland’s spectacular coastline when the train curves towards the North Sea, giving those on the east side of the carriages a front-row seat. But rather than speeding on through, hop off at the village of Alnmouth (3½ to four hours from London, one from Edinburgh, two from Leeds) with its pastel houses and seabirds wading in the Aln estuary.
Overlooking the golf course to the sandy beach, two-bedroom Marine House Cottage is only a five-minute taxi from the station (or a mile’s walk; swing by Scott’s deli for supplies). Outside there’s a raised terrace that looks out to sea, while the window seat in the main bedroom is the spot for wave-watching and book-reading.
Bikes (standard or e-bikes) can be delivered to the house, and from there the traffic-free Aln Valley cycleway runs over to Alnwick (kids will love the Harry Potter-inspired broomstick training sessions at the castle) or pedal south to Warkworth Castle on the Coast and Castles route. North of England and southern Scotland cottage specialists Crabtree and Crabtree also have a little black book of extra services, from private chefs to spa treatments at home.
Sleeps 4 from £765 for seven nights, crabtreeandcrabtree.com
Funky country house spa in Berkshire
Hotel spa breaks can be unrelaxingly expensive or busy hen party conveyor belts, but not so The Retreat at Elcot Park, part of funky, affordable hotel group the Signet Collection. In the countryside between Hungerford and Newbury, it’s a direct train from London Paddington to Kintbury, two miles away (pre-book a taxi).
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There’s little need to leave, with hefty breakfasts and two restaurants, and the hotel has recently pumped up its wellness focus, adding outdoor cold plunge tubs, wood-fired hot tubs and a tented yoga studio to its Himalayan salt sauna, hydrotherapy pool and aroma steam room inside the spa (full use of the spa facilities is included in room rates; massages and treatments from £105).
Outside there’s a heated pool, tennis court and 6.4 hectares (16 acres) of grounds. Borrow some boots from the welly wall for autumn rambles through nearby woodlands, along the Kennet and Avon Canal or nearby vineyard Winding Wood. Dogs and kids are welcome; there are family bunk rooms, with home-baked cookies and snack pantries to raid for a midnight feast.
Doubles from £120 B&B, retreatelcotpark.com
Sustainable bothy near Stirling
With 400 hectares of semi-ancient woodland, heather-covered heath and wet meadows, the Brucefield Estate feels like deeply remote Scotland, although it’s actually less than an hour from Glasgow (direct train to Alloa, then a 12-minute taxi) and half an hour longer from Edinburgh (including a change at Stirling).
Squirrelled away in the woods are three sustainably built bothies, named after Scots terms for animals found there: Tod (fox), Brock (badger) and Mertrick (pine marten). Inside, the mezzanine bed has a duvet made from plastic bottles, and the sleek, all-Scottish design includes Amy Britton tweeds, SkyeSkyns sheepskins and organic Siabann body products.
The biologist-run estate has a 10-year plan to protect and enhance biodiversity, which visitors can learn about on a history and wildlife tour (£40pp). There’s oodles to do: cycling on gravel tracks, outdoor yoga sessions (from £65pp), walks through neighbouring Devilla Forest (look out for red squirrels) or through birch trees to a picnic set up in the woods (from £65 for two). After a day’s exploring, nearby Polly’s Pantry delivers hampers, or chef Douglas MacNair can pre-prepare a feast of local produce to cook over the bothy’s firepit (£75 for two).
Mertrick sleeps 2 from £145 a night, kiphideaways.com
New budget hotel in the Lake District
Compared with most rural regions, the Lake District is brilliantly accessible by public transport. Oxenholme, on the West Coast Main Line, is less than three hours from London, under two from Glasgow and just over an hour from Manchester, with plentiful local rail and bus routes from there. It’s 20 minutes by train from Oxenholme to Windermere, and just a two-minute walk to The Penn, a new room-only (no reception, no restaurant) hotel concept in a 19th-century stone house in the heart of the town.
Check-in by keypad keeps prices down; the smallest doubles are snug, but roomier ones with rolltop baths are only around £30 a night more. From cosy crashpads to a suite with an extra bed for a child, each is done out in earthy colours with jazzily tiled bathrooms. There’s a Nespresso machine, kettle and mini-Smeg fridge filled with soft drinks in bedrooms, but it’s only an amble to Homeground Cafe or Toast for breakfast, followed by the lake shore for a swim, or up Orrest Head (Wainwright’s first Lakeland hike). To venture deeper into the Lakes, Total Adventure Bike Hire is a couple of doors down from The Penn, or take the scenic 555 bus, which connects through Ambleside and Grasmere to Keswick.
Doubles from £102 room-only, the-penn.com
