From a sleek Highlands retreat to a cabin with a hot tub on a Somerset vineyard, our pick of self-catering accommodation offers plenty of inspiration for a UK autumn short break. These 15 cottages and cabins range from a former fisher's cottage on Anglesey to a restored laundry in Dumfries and Galloway.
Cottages by the coast and countryside
Pen Bonc in Moelfre, Ynys Môn (Anglesey) is as close to the sea as you can get without setting sail. This newly renovated cottage sits between a shingle beach and the village, with its lifeboat station, pub, fish and chip shop, cafe and ice-cream parlour. A former fisher's cottage, it's decorated in nautical blues and whites, warmed by antique chests and an inglenook fireplace once used for smoking herring. The circular garden spins out towards the sea; hop over its low stone wall and you're on the Anglesey Coastal Path, with views of Puffin Island and Eryri beyond. Sleeps eight, two nights from £746, boltholesandhideaways.co.uk.
Heronden Lodge in Eastry, Kent is a doll's house-like, red-brick cottage sheltered by trees, 10 minutes' drive from Sandwich and 20 from Deal. It has buttermilk walls and wooden floors, two bedrooms (one king, one twin) and a bathroom with a tub. Downstairs there's a country kitchen, a double-windowed dining room and a sitting room with an open fireplace. Walks lead into surrounding farmland and to the village pub, 20 minutes' away. Sleeps four, two nights from £472, keeperscottages.co.uk.
Mountain bases and farm stays
Ty Bach in Beulah, Powys is a recently launched holiday cottage just north of Llanwrtyd Wells, a good base for exploring the Cambrian Mountains or the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons). The smaller of two cottages on a site that was once a village school, it had been empty for more than three decades before the current owners took it on. It took them eight years to restore it, and now it features flagstone floors, putty walls, a slate roof, a plush raspberry sofa and copper kitchen appliances. Sleeps four, two nights from £260, tosholidayhomes.co.uk.
Basecamp North Lakes in Troutbeck, Lake District is a farm shop, cafe, community garden and wetland restoration site a few miles west of Penrith. It's also home to Alpacaly Ever After, a charitable enterprise that rescues llamas and alpacas and offers meets, walks and camping experiences. This summer it launched seven new cabins beside the site's lake, each with a glossy green-tiled shower room, galley kitchen, wood-burning stove and private outdoor bath. They each have one bedroom but can sleep two more on a sofa bed. Sleeps four, two nights from £300, basecampnorthlakes.co.uk.
Shepherds' huts and woodland hideaways
Peatlands Retreat in Ballybogey, County Antrim offers two restful shepherds' huts with en suite shower rooms and king-size beds, set between Ballymoney and Portrush. You're within easy reach of Old Bushmills Distillery, the Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle and some of the UK's most stunning sandy beaches, but many guests stay to spot resident hares and light wood-burning stoves. The owners run an artisan micro-bakery on site; Saturday sourdough workshops can be booked (£90pp), bakery breakfasts can be delivered to your door (£16pp) and twice a week there's a hyper-local pizza-to-hut delivery service (£15 each). Sleeps two, two nights from £320, peatlandscausewaycoast.com.
Pippin Cottage in Bude, Cornwall is one of three cottages set on a working orchard outside Bude, run by a former Vogue producer, her chef partner and their farming family. It mixes heirloom pieces with Studio Ore taps and Hay lighting, with works by local artists on the walls (many for sale) and apple juice pressed from the orchard's trees in the kitchen. This autumn, the site has opened a new custom-built sauna and cold plunge, and guests can book add-on wellness experiences such as yoga and sauna sessions that end with hot cocoa around a fire pit. Sleeps four, two nights from £256, cannorchard.com.
Historic conversions and modern retreats
Montagu Cottage in Drumlanrig, Dumfries and Galloway was built in the 19th century as the laundry for the Queensberry estate. It has a peppermint cream colour scheme, three bedrooms, a clawfoot bath and a double-aspect wood burner. Drumlanrig Castle is easily reached on foot (guests get free access to the gardens and adventure playground until the end of October), and you're close to the village of Thornhill for pubs, bakeries, shops and cafes. Sleeps six, three nights from £750, drumlanrigcastle.co.uk.
Molly's Cabin in Sutton Bonington, Nottinghamshire is a corrugated former hay barn at Bonington Farm, which has four distinctive holiday cottages including a blackened timber cabin with dorm-style bedrooms and a circular grain store. Molly's Cabin is a gallery-walled hideaway about to undergo a gentle refurb. Single-night Sunday stays include a private movie night in the farm's grain silo cinema. Sleeps two, one night from £200, boningtonfarm.com.
Highland and Welsh escapes
Fjord in Ullapool, the Highlands is one half of Corylus Retreats, twin self-catering apartments opened outside Ullapool in May. Designed sustainably with stripped-back timber walls and floor-to-ceiling windows with views of Loch Broom, it's a minimalist counterpoint to the rugged scenery. On clement days, the harbour and restaurants of Ullapool are easily reached, and there are craggy hikes around Assynt, Coigach and the Summer Isles. Sleeps four, three nights from £661, premiercottages.co.uk.
Hafod Gwyllt in Cwmystwyth, Ceredigion translates as "wild summer dwelling" but this renovated cottage deep in the Cambrian mountains is equally good for an autumn escape. On the Hafod Estate in the Ystwyth valley, it has no neighbours besides ponies, and easy access to hiking and wild swimming. Newly available as a holiday rental, it has whitewashed walls, slate and wood floors, and a collection of ruffled lampshades, tapestry blankets and old pine dressers. Outside, there's a wood-fired hot tub with mountain views, and the owners can arrange dark skies photography sessions or visits to local potters. Sleeps four, three nights from £690, sandandstoneescapes.com.
Artistic and off-grid stays
Cae'n y Bwlch in Talsarnau, Eryri (Snowdonia) is a newly launched cottage in a secluded mountain setting north-east of Harlech. Owned by a ceramicist and an artist, it has slate floors and limewashed walls warmed by glowing fires and a collection of antique dressers, art, textiles and carved wooden love spoons. Drive down the hillside for a windswept walk along Black Rock Sands, or explore Portmeirion and Plas Brondanw, or hike straight out into the rugged wilds of Eryri national park. Sleeps six, three nights from £509, underthethatch.co.uk.
Riders Lodge in Ballycastle, County Antrim is one of two self-catering cottages at Stay Lagom, a small estate set around a Georgian rectory. With bike hire on site and a programme of add-on wellness experiences (think yoga and seaside saunas), it's popular with visitors hiking, surfing or cycling the Causeway Coast. Riders Lodge has surfboards and bikes suspended on the walls, its own courtyard hot tub and a stash of board games for evenings around the wood burner. Sleeps six, two nights from £524, staylagom.com.
Final picks for a cosy autumn
Hoolet Bothy in Beauly, the Highlands is a remote, off-grid farm cottage in the hills above Beauly, 12 miles west of Inverness. It has timber-panelled walls, a log-burning stove, a double bed tucked into the eaves and a wood-fired Rayburn for cooking and supplying hot water to a small cast iron bath. Guests have access to a fridge and charging point down at the farm, three minutes' walk away, and a cool box is supplied for essentials, but there's no electricity on site. Sleeps two, three nights from £477, airbnb.co.uk.
Labour in Vain Cottage in West Bexington, Dorset is a semi-detached rental set back from the 18-mile shingle of Chesil Beach, newly renovated by the National Trust. Its name, like the lane beside it, is thought to refer to a year of crop failures in the middle ages. Hike a stretch of the South West Coast Path, go swimming or fossil-hunting, watch for migratory brent geese and head into Bridport for shops, cafes and pubs. The attic has been converted into a games room with a TV, telescope and space for jigsaws or toys. Sleeps four, two nights from £561, nationaltrust.org.uk.
Thornfalcon Winery in Taunton, Somerset offers the Vine Hut, one of two wooden cabins on a working vineyard (there's also a more spacious barn conversion suitable for families). It blends rustic timber walls with apple green paintwork and a red gingham sofa, and comes with its own outdoor copper bathtub and firepit, plus access to the neighbouring swimming lake and Finnish sauna. Earlier this year the owners renovated a barn and launched a wine school there, plus a series of monthly supper clubs pairing the vineyard's wines and juices with seasonal menus; October's is a culinary caper through the hedgerows, fields and waves via pheasant, hake, mussels, squash, radicchio, puntarelle and quince (from £65pp). Sleeps two, two nights from £340, thornfalcon.com. Prices are for October-November and were correct at time of publication.
