The Italians mastered the art of the agriturismo decades ago, popularising rural escapes on tranquil farmsteads where guests could mingle with the livestock and dine on ingredients produced right there on-site. Now it’s the turn of UK farms to cultivate their offerings and introduce design-led, luxury accommodation to tempt city dwellers out to the sticks.
From self-catered hideaways boasting gigantic bath tubs to serene stays with all farm-to-table food included, this new generation of UK farmstays are more ‘wow-factor’ than ‘WWOOFing’ (where students and travellers help out on farms in exchange for accommodation). They combine the comforts of a luxury hotel (turndown services, drinks delivered to your room, personalised touches) with rural surroundings, homegrown produce and animal interactions. Read on for five getaways that’ll have you flocking to pastures new.
Restaries
Suffolk
Gem Boner (ex-Soho House) and her husband Thom retreated to the Suffolk countryside two years ago to open their slow-paced, self-catering retreat, Restaries. It’s centred around a five-bed, 16th-century farmhouse painted a distinctive earthy red, surrounded by five recently refurbished outbuildings, all styled by London-based studio Design & That, which sleep between two and six guests. Bathrooms with Ca’Pietra tiles , beds topped with woollen Floks duvets, and a fusion of Farrow & Ball and Bauwerk paints on the walls perfectly complement Gem’s curation of locally sourced antiques, creating tranquil spaces that spark inspiration.
Creature comforts
There’s no compromise on luxury at this bucolic bolthole. A covered swimming pool sits metres away from the pig pen (surrounded by loungers upholstered with custom, striped Colours of Arley fabric), each hideaway has a huge soaking tub in its stylish bathroom, and the Gate House has a private hot tub where you may be visited by alpacas mid-soak. Plus, Restaries’ concierge can arrange anything from massages in your room and private yoga classes in their renovated barn to delivering a bottle of wine from the cellar for sipping around the firepit.
Animal encounters
Every animal at the hotel’s Paradise Farm is practically a pet who you’re invited to get to know during your stay. The two Kune Kune pigs emerge from their pen each morning for a rootle around the pool, the Valais Blacknose sheep are always curious about new visitors, and the free-range chickens provide eggs for breakfast. Guests staying at the Cider Store have three pygmy goats on their doorstep, while the fence of the Gate House patio is designed to allow guests to greet the alpacas each morning.
From the land
Guests are greeted with locally sourced staples for their pantry and a welcome drink from the Restaries bar. All accommodation is self-catered, but Gem and Thom regularly host farm-to-table dinners, ranging from woodland feasts cooked by their guest chef to pizza evenings on ‘The Tiles’ (their events space). Guests can consult the sommelier to pre-order wine or arrange a tasting at nearby Flint Vineyard.
Fowlescombe Farm
Devon
All your food and most experiences are complimentary with your stay in one of Fowlescombe Farm’s 10 unique suites. You’ll receive a personalised itinerary on arrival, which might include a morning drive to the coast for a refreshing swim, yoga in the greenhouse, pressing flowers gathered from the kitchen gardens or more from the array of rural pursuits on offer.
Based in a tranquil valley at the heart of a regenerative, 500-acre working farm, Fowlescombe’s bedrooms and communal areas are spread out over former barns and a farmhouse, all of which have been sensitively restored using natural, local materials, including stone from the estate’s own quarry.
Creature comforts
Fowlescombe’s suites feel more like apartments with their kitchenettes (although a full concierge service is available, too), and most bathrooms have deep freestanding tubs that are ideal for long soaks after exploring the farm. Pick up at the local train station is included with your stay, too.
Animal encounters
A highlight of staying at Fowlescombe is jumping in a jeep and being driven around the estate on a guided tour, visiting all the rare-breed livestock. Help to feed the goats, gather eggs from the chickens, and — if you’re visiting during lambing season — cuddle a bottle-fed lamb. The farm is also a dog-lovers paradise, with an array of resident hounds to befriend.
From the land
The Refectory restaurant is the heart of Fowlescombe, where guests gather around the communal dining table for hearty breakfasts and four-course dinners. Menus change daily to reflect the bountiful produce grown in the adjacent kitchen garden, with meat sourced from the farm. A simple menu is available during the day for lunch and snacks, and coffee and cake is served in the Farmhouse each afternoon. Guests can request picnic lunches, learn to bake bread in the kitchen, help gather ingredients for dinner, or have a meal kit delivered to their room. Drinks are available at all times — cocktails fragranced with herbs from the garden are best sipped beside a roaring fire in the greenhouse.
Aller Dorset
Dorset
Owners of Aller Dorset, Cat and Ant Earp, relocated from London in 2017 to open four luxury hideaways on Ant’s family’s farm in the heart of the countryside. Each cabin and shepherd’s hut was built by the local carpenters at Plankbridge, and each features floor-to-ceiling windows in the bedrooms and living spaces, allowing light to flood in. Cat, who has since launched her own interior design studio, has designed each cabin in her signature whimsical style. Each has its own colour palette and custom designs from some of the UK’s finest independent homeware brands, such as Bettina Ceramica and Bias Editions. Many of these pieces are available in Aller’s online shop, from frilly cushions to striped glassware.
Creature comforts
Humble huts, these are not. Each cabin comes with its own alfresco bath tub (those at Kittylands and Zoulands are surrounded by Aller’s signature chequerboard tiles) and Kadai fire pit with a grill for cooking. Your hosts can also organise reflexology in your room or yoga by the wild-swimming lake.
Animal encounters
The huts are separate from the estate’s farm, but guests are likely to meet the house chickens, who are usually pecking around, and the pair of swans who call the lake home.
From the land
Every guest receives a welcome hamper stocked with local and homemade produce (including Cat’s delicious granola). Although your stay is self-catered, there’s no need to rush to the local supermarket as you can order from a choice of breakfast hampers, supper kits to cook on the fire, and meat and veg boxes from local farms. Fancy a tipple? Each hut has its own honesty bar complete with a variety of spirits, mixers and martini glasses; cocktail recipes are accessible via a QR code.
Elmley Nature Reserve
Kent
The only national nature reserve in the UK where you can spend the night, Elmley is a 3,300-acre, family-run farm committed to restoring nature and increasing biodiversity. Cows and sheep graze on the land, but it’s the birds who really draw in visitors here: it’s frequented by rare species, including lapwings and harriers. Located on the Isle of Sheppey, Elmley Nature Reserve offers accommodations ranging from an 17th-century, six-bedroom farmhouse to a scattering of cabins, shepherd’s huts and bell tents, many off-grid and all sustainably run. Twitchers will delight in the floor-to-ceiling windows that open up at the end of the beds, giving uninterrupted views of the wetlands as you’re snuggled up in Romney Marsh wool blankets.
Creature comforts
All cabins and the larger huts have outdoor bath tubs for romantic soaks beneath the stars. Guests can book massages, facials and treatments by Votary and Verden in the Swale Studios spa overlooking the river. And all guests have access to a private beach exclusively for those staying at Elmley.
Animal encounters
Grab a pair of binoculars and watch the wildlife from the comfort of your bed or join an organised walking or jeep tour of the reserve to seek out some of the more elusive creatures. Birds of prey and wading birds are those most commonly spotted, but with patience you’re also likely to spot owls and hares.
From the land
During the colder months, Elmley teams up with local business Wasted Kitchen to offer wholesome DIY suppers in hampers, while the pizza shack is open from May until the end of September. Seasonal breakfast hampers and picnic lunches are also available on request. If you’re staying in Kingshill Farmhouse, private dining can also be arranged.
Louma Country Hotel
Dorset
Dorset has been leading the charge with farmstays, and we haven’t even got to Louma Country Hotel yet. The current stewards acquired the land in 2019 and have gradually made it better than ever, continuing to cultivate 30 acres of vineyards (first planted in 2006), adding shepherd’s huts, a playground, a yoga barn and a super spa, and championing soil health, biodiversity and animal welfare.
Creature comforts
Guests who seek rustication — but with limits — will be pleased to hear the stables and barns now housing hotel accommodation haven’t got a hay bale in sight. Instead, there are cabins with outdoor showers and wood-burning stoves, walls of windows framing the countryside, and plenty of pastels, from scalloped pink headboards to pistachio cushions.
Animal encounters
There are lots of farmyard friends waiting to be made on tours of the farm and stables — the Louma acreage is home to Red Ruby cattle, Oxford Sandy and Black pigs, hens, sheep, horses and ponies. For equestrians, trail rides are available and there’s a sand school if you need to hone your skills first.
From the land
The all-inclusive rates at Louma Farm encourage guests to embrace the local bounty three times a day — anything that isn’t home-grown or house-made will have been sourced from hyper-local producers. And the enthusiastic winemakers will gladly show you around their cellar, the perfect excuse to try the estate’s sparkling rosé, chardonnay and pinot noir. Caroline Lewis
Find out where the grass is greener with our collection of rural retreats, or flock to a hotel with shepherd’s huts