The Great British Mini-Moon: 10 Amazing Places For Your Mini Honeymoon
So you tied the knot and now it is time for your honeymoon but you don't have enough time, these enchanting places will forget that you are having a stay-cation plus no baggage allowance is always a bonus!
Fancy a mini-moon ? Let's go!
1. The Bath House, Warwickshire
An 18th-century spa
The Bath House, at the end of a long and gated drive, has just one main room to live in but this is a room you may never wish to leave. The shells and decoration are so extraordinary that trips to nearby Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick or the Cotswolds may be deferred as this 18th-century spa entrances you with its fine views across the valley, a wood alive with wildlife and the pleasure of simply existing within this exuberant space.
The benefits of a cold bath were held to be almost limitless by medical opinion of the 18th century and many country houses were equipped with one. The Bath House here, it is thought, was designed in 1748 by the gentleman-architect Sanderson Miller for his friend Sir Charles Mordaunt. Good historical fun was had by all: the rough masonry of Antiquity, used for the bath chamber, is contrasted with the polished smoothness of the new Augustan age seen in the room above, where the bathers recovered.
Coolly dripping icicles and festoons of shells
The dome of the main room is hung with coolly dripping icicles and the walls have also been frosted with shells, arranged in festoons as if ‘by some invisible sea-nymph or triton for their private amusement.' This was the idea of Mrs Delany, better known for her flower pictures, who advised the Mordaunt daughters on where to find the shells. Their work was skilfully reproduced by Diana Reynell, after terrible damage by vandals.
2. Soho Farmhouse, Oxfordshire
These options are the best! You can stay in riverside cabin or maybe a bell tent.
Largest cabin has three double bedrooms, one upstairs and two downstairs, each with rainforest showers, freestanding baths and balconies. There’s a separate lounge with a kitchenette and dining area, and a large balcony on the lake.
Each tent comes with a six-foot bed, a wood burning stove, rugs and a pair of armchairs. Bathroom, shower and sauna facilities are located in the Boathouse, less than 100 metres away. There’s also an outdoor living area, with tea and coffee around a fire pit, perfect for toasting marshmallows.
3.Bodger The Shepherd's Hut, Dorset
Bodger the Shepherd's Hut is in a clearing high up in the woods looking over the pond. It has a big double bed, an electric blanket and heated towel rails to keep everything toasty (those shepherds lived very well). It's smaller than the other spaces onsite – and some might say the cosiest!
On top of your own terrace with BBQ, in the central covered kitchen there's plenty of room for everyone to cook and eat, and 'help yourself' breakfasts of Dorset teas and cereals (just bring a pint of milk). Chefs can light the wood-fired pizza oven (kindling, logs and dough are for sale), observers can watch with a local cider from the honesty bar in hand. You can follow the softly-lit wooden walkways to a big sofa yurt with games to play, the sauna yurt for utter peace, or the woodland workshop, heart of Crafty Camping. On weekdays, try your hand at green woodworking by booking a two-hour taster course from Guy and the team: make a spatula, pot, or learn to whittle. It's the perfect mixture of complete rest, with optional activity.
Put simply, the Crafty Camping effect is magical: you will leave relaxed, rested, and maybe even fired with creativity! You can do as much or as little as you please, with chances to try your hand at green woodworking, spoon and bowl carving or lathe turning with Guy and the team, then return fired with creativity to your own little camp. (See Things to Do for more information including taster courses on weekdays.)
4. Inverlochy Castle Hotel, Fort William
Inverlochy Castle Hotel is a beautiful 19th century castle surrounded by the luscious green of the evergreen trees and the sparkling blue from the nearby loch. Being in Scotland's finest Country Hotel, you will enjoy the holiday of a lifetime, where every detail for your comfort and enjoyment has been carefully considered and one which you are sure never to forget.
The area surrounding Inverlochy Castle is rich in landscape and history, to name but a few of these breath-taking places - the falls at Glen Nevis, the monument at Glenfinnan and the mountains of Glencoe. During a trip to Balmoral in 1873, Queen Victoria spent a week at Inverlochy sketching and painting where she wrote in her diaries 'I never saw a lovelier or more romantic spot'. Nestling in the foothills of the mighty Ben Nevis, Inverlochy Castle sits amidst some of Scotland's finest scenery.
5. Belmond Le Manoir aux quat'Saisons, Oxfordshire
"As maître de maison, Raymond Blanc’s passion permeates through our hotel—from the individually-designed suites to the menus in our two Michelin-starred restaurant. Lush gardens are an abundance of colour in summer, while the honey-hued manor is warmed by open fires through winter. It is truly a house for all seasons."
6. The Old Railway Station Petworth
Guest rooms at the Old Railway Station hotel are in fully restored Edwardian Pullman railway carriages. The whole station has been converted into an unusual and elegant hotel with free Wi-Fi throughout.
The waiting room retains its 20 feet high vaulted ceiling and is now the guest lounge. It leads out onto the platform which is a summer breakfast venue.
In winter, breakfast is served, accompanied by a roaring log fire, in the booking hall. The dining area backs onto the station master's and ticket offices, now the station kitchen, and features the original ticket windows.
7.Gilpin Hote, Lake District
Elegant Gilpin Hotel & Lake House boasts fine dining and suites with sumptuous interiors, set amidst the scenery of the Lake District. The shores of Lake Windermere are just over 2 miles away.
All rooms have Lakeland views, with most rooms featuring direct access to the gardens. The suites feature their own hot tubs, and the lodges include private spa facilities, including rainfall showers and steam rooms. The Gilpin Lake House offers 6 suites with private access to gardens, a lake and a spa.
The hotel offers 2 on site restaurants. Guests can choose to dine at the 1-Michelin star awarded main restaurant, Hrishi. Dishes feature local Lake District produce with an Asian twist. Gilpin Spice provides the other dining option, with an open kitchen that creates meals from across the Indian sub-continent.
8. Seaglass, Cornwall
Seaglass is a stylish beach house overlooking Whitsand Bay in South East Cornwall flaunting awe-inspiring views which will captivate and delight. Perched on Tregonhawke Cliff and surrounded by enclosed spacious gardens, this sustainable home is the perfect self-catering hideaway for lovebirds looking for romance by the sea.
9. Brook House Hobbit Hut, Herefordshire
"I think I'm quite ready for another adventure" // The Hobbit // J.R.R Tolkien //
The Hobbit house is a wood cabin giving you a little bit of Hobbiton in the Shire (Herefordshire, that is). This sweet cabin features a king size bed, feather duvets and pillows, a wood burner, fairy lights and a sitting area around a private fire pit. The Hobbit house sleeps two people and makes use of the compost toilet, outdoor shower and use of the kitchen and living area in the Wilding camp, shared only with Goji. The kitchen has a fridge with freezer compartment, 4 gas hobs, BBQ, wood fired pizza oven, all the pots, pans, plates and cutlery you'll need to cook up a storm. We provide tea, coffee, milk, oil, sugar salt and pepper along with a selection of spices and herbs.
10. Queen Anne’s Summerhouse, Bedfordshire
Hidden away in a private wood is a 300 year old folly, Queen Anne’s Summerhouse. Queen Anne never visited it, but you can.
A misleading date stone for an 18th-century folly
This satisfyingly foursquare folly bears a date stone for 1878 and the clasped gauntlet of the Shuttleworth family – but this is misleading. Its exceptionally fine rubbed brickwork is far too good for the 1870s and its name gives the clue to its origins. In 1712, Queen Anne knighted Samuel Ongley, who owned the estate at Old Warden, an event that provides the most likely explanation for the building of the folly. The summerhouse earned its date stone when it was renovated in 1878 by Joseph Shuttleworth, who added the pale terracotta balustrade. It then seems to have served as a pavilion and summerhouse through the estate’s golden years, but was left without purpose in reluctant dereliction after the Second World War. Landmark restored it as a bedsit with kitchen, dining, sitting and sleeping on the ground floor. A spiral staircase leads down to the bathroom. You have access to a roof terrace.
At the hub of radiating avenues of trees
Surrounded by the flora and fauna of beautiful woodland, this is a magical spot. Sitting on the crest of the warren, the summerhouse once stood at the hub of radiating avenues of trees. One of these avenues provided views of the mansion, and we are working with the estate to re-open most of them. The Shuttleworth Estate at Old Warden is best known today for its collection of vintage aeroplanes, but its history stretches back far earlier. In the Middle Ages, the area belonged to Warden Abbey on the other side of today’s village (its remnants are another Landmark). In the early 18th century, Sir Samuel Ongley, a wealthy London linen draper, bought what would become the Shuttleworth Estate and it was his descendant who, in the 1820s, created the famous Swiss Garden and began the model village of Old Warden.