West Country Cottages Information

West Country Cottages to Rent! Farm and Country Cottages Available! Coast and Country Cottages To Let!

Such phrases stimulate the imagination, pulling you into an adventure you would never experience in the city. Let’s explore the possibilities of what holiday cottages you can find in the West Country of England, in Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall, and in the New Forest.

The western stretch of England has the mildest sunniest climate in the United Kingdom and full of very popular holiday destinations. Snow and frost are very rarely seen on the coast, and are a rare occurrence in the central uplands. Summers, though warm, are not as hot as other areas of southern England, due to the proximity to the cool Atlantic winds.

Cornwall, surrounded by the English Channel and the Celtic Sea, has many strolling beaches, with those gorgeous overhanging cliffs. Be brave, and walk along the cliff tops for magnificent views of the sea in all its glory. Inland, you’ll find country gardens, moors, wooded streams and valleys, and sites both prehistoric and of national historic significance. There are many beautiful West Country cottages available in this region.

The Eden Project near St Austell in Cornwall has become a very popular tourist destination. It’s not just the world’s largest greenhouse — it’s a pair of artificial biomes (short for BIOlogical dOMES), the first with a tropical environment, and the second, Mediterranean.

West Country Cottages In Cornwall

Try the Cornish country cottages on Bodmin Moor, and find Dozmary Pool, supposedly the lake into which Sir Bedivere, of Arthurian legend, threw the sword Excalibur to The Lady of the Lake. You will find many self catering cottages to choose from in this region.

Then, on the very tip of the Penwith peninsula west-southwest of Penzance, visit Land’s End (Cornish name, Pedn an Wlas) to see the famed last piece of land seen by English mariners as they sailed away from England across the Atlantic in centuries past.

Let’s move on to the New Forest in southern England, which contains the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed forest, heathland, and pasture in all of the UK. How about staying in a detached medieval barn that sleeps eleven people?

West Country Cottages In Devon

Or what about your choice of Devon country cottages, on Dartmoor. The oldest and most popular leisure pursuit on Dartmoor is still hill walking. The 19th century tradition of letter-boxing (where walkers come upon stout boxes containing a rubber stamp and a visitors book, stamp their own book with the box’s stamp, and stamp the location’s book with their own stamp) has been transformed by GPS technology into geo-caching.

The sailing events of the 2012 Olympics will take place in Dorset at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in Portland Harbour. Many international sailing events will also be taking place there in preparation for the Olympics, so a visit to the coast of Dorset any time this year or next will be rewarded by fantastic views of sail races. Or, go inland to find  West Country cottages to rent.

Then there’s the Somerset cottages on Exmoor, adjacent to the National Park. Walk the Coleridge Way on Exmoor! There’s also mystical Glastonbury — Cadbury Castle there in Somerset is identified by some as the original Camelot! And don’t forget the annual outdoor rock festival in nearby Pilton.

West Country Cottages, a family-run business for two generations now, has the finest selection of English country cottages to rent in villages in Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall, and in the New Forest. Experienced staff, part of the company for over a decade, visit every property and are always on hand to help you with your stay. They are one of the best sites on the internet for West Country cottages in this region.

Cottage holidays with one week minimum stays are the norm during the high season, with a maximum of four weeks. Your stay begins at 3 pm on your day of arrival, and ends 10 am on your day of departure, although other arrangements can be made. Look for the specially-advertised packages of shorter stays, with four nights charged at two-thirds of the weekly rent, and five nights at five-sevenths of a week’s rent. Reservations  at these West Country Cottages will be held for twenty-four hours before any payment is due. An additional security deposit may be required by some owners for use of their cottage.

Some West Country cottages may be several hundred years old, pre-dating wall insulation and damp-proofing, and so, they may tend to feel damp — this may also be true for older properties with natural stone walls. Our advice  is not to bring the extremely old or the extremely young to these older properties, especially during the winter.

When looking at country cottages online, take a second look for those properties marked HIGHLY RECOMMENDED — these West country cottages incorporate our highest quality standards for furnishings, atmosphere, decor, and style.

We regularly update our site with websites offering the best deals on West Country cottages so do check back often.