Forests forever: holidays to take you deep into Britain’s woods

Undercastle Cottage, New Forest, Hampshire

Wild ponies and deer will be your neighbours in this remote, dog-friendly two-bedroom New Forest thatched cottage with wood burner, hidden at the bottom of a woodland track. Two more guests can stay in the Fishing Lodge across the terrace, with rolling gardens overlooking the River Avon, home to otters. Close to the village of Fordingbridge, walk or cycle into the magical New Forest straight from the front door.
One-week stay from £1,570 in low season; undercastlecottage.co.uk; thenewforest.co.uk

The Templar Treehouse, Pembrokeshire

Hidden in the woods along an old water mill valley, this is definitely one that the kids will love. The rustic treehouse has leather armchairs, a wood burner, underfloor heating and a twisting slide to get you back to the hot tub on ground level. Part of Melin Mabes, this fantasy, four-acre glamping park is also home to an antique Gypsy caravan called Mabel, complete with runaway horse, and a UFO pod that lights up at night.
Sleeps four, two nights in November cost £436; hipcamp.com

Garden Cottage, Wootton, Derbyshire/Staffordshire border

Nestled in Staffordshire’s remote Dove Valley, 10 minutes from the Peak District, this former pump house is now a quintessentially English three-bedroom cottage on the Wootton Hall Estate on the borders of Derbyshire and Staffordshire. A hidden gate leads from the cottage garden into Wootton Hall’s romantic Woodland Gardens, a 12-acre ericaceous arboretum that owner Johnny Greenall has been creatively restoring since 1998. Rousseau spent a year writing the Confessions in the original 18th-century Wootton Hall; there’s a footbridge named in his honour, despite him being an irascible house guest. The stunning gardens possess a fairytale, otherworldly tranquillity, mixing indigenous oak and ash with more exotic planting – Vietnamese wingnuts and a rare Wollemi pine or dinosaur tree that dates to prehistoric times. It is closed to the public, but diners at the exceptional Duncombe Arms gastropub and boutique inn can gain entry for a fiver.
Garden Cottage sleeps six, minimum three-night stay, from £725; duncombearms.co.uk

Hudnalls Hideout, St Briavels Common, Gloucestershire

Splash out on this quietly luxurious A-frame treehouse with floating gas fire inside and a huge deck with outdoor copper bath tub and firepit. The treehouse is tucked away in badger-living woodland near St Briavels Common. Nearby, a wildflower meadow leads to the Offa’s Dyke trail and River Wye. In-tree entertainment is provided by a bird feeder hanging at eye level opposite the king-size bed on the mezzanine, reached via a spiral staircase. Binoculars for birdwatching and a telescope for star-gazing are provided, as is a welcome hamper of local products.
Stay from £450 per night, minimum two nights; hudnallshideout.co.uk

The Treehouses at Lanrick, Perthshire

Five family-friendly eco-treehouses on the banks of the River Teith blend into the private woodland of Lanrick Estate, an hour from Glasgow and Edinburgh and situated on the edge of the Trossachs national park. Watch red kites and ospreys from your outdoor bath on the deck or cosy up inside with a wood-burning stove.
Treehouses sleep two adults and two children (on sofa bed), two nights from £320; lanricktreehouses.co.uk

The Bothy, Knepp Castle Estate, Horsham, West Sussex

This bothy, a former three-cow dairy, sits in ancient woodland in the rewilded park surrounding Knepp Castle. Sleeping two, the rustic cabin includes a small living area with big country-house style, including antique dressers, four-poster bed and wood burner. The cedarwood walls were planked from 300-year-old trees that did not survive the 1987 storm. Owls and stags will keep you company, and a network of walks through the 3,500-acre Knepp estate offers five tree-viewing platforms.
Minimum one-week stay, £140 per night; knepp.co.uk

The Forest Side Hotel, Grasmere, Cumbria

A secluded 20-bedroom Victorian Gothic mansion, the elegant Forest Side Hotel just outside Grasmere in the Lake District sits in 43 acres of woodland above Alcock Tarn. Home to roe deer and red squirrels, foxgloves and wood sorrel grow on its fellside and you can see trees through every window and even on the bird wallpaper in the bar of this award-winning, Michelin-starred arboreal retreat.
B&B from £199 per night; theforestside.com

Woodland tipis and yurts, Hereford

Eleven acres of ancient woodland and a grassland valley are home to three yurts and two tipis in this car-free campsite with full facilities near the Forest of Dean and the Malvern Hills. Hunker down with sheepskin rugs and a wood burner, or toast marshmallows by the campfire, or if you are feeling more energetic you could tire yourself and the kids out on rope ladders and swinging ropes.
Tipis and yurts range in size, sleeping between two and six people, from £125 per night; hipcamp.com

White Willow, Delamere Forest, Frodsham, Cheshire

White Willow Premium treehouses offer on-grid creature comforts in two- and three-bedroom luxury cabins with log burners. Floor-to-ceiling windows open on to decks with hot tub, pizza oven, fridge and barbecue. Each well-equipped and modern cabin has wifi and a fully integrated kitchen, and is immersed in the largest area of woodland in the UK, so you are totally unaware of the other 66 cabins on the camp, set over 2,400 acres on the Cheshire Plain. Enjoy walks or e-bike jaunts (available to hire) around Old Pale Hill, a 6.5-mile circular trail, or to Black Lake quaking bog.
Four-night midweek stay, from £615 for a two-bedroom White Willow Premium cabin; forestholidays.co.uk

Log Jam, Little Menherion, Redruth, Cornwall

A writer’s retreat complete with typewriter inside and shelves of books for inspiration, this atmospheric log cabin for two is set in 12 acres of fledgling woodland near Redruth in West Cornwall. Inside you will find a toasty wood burner, leather sofa and kingsize bed, while on the deck outside there’s a fire pit, swing-chair and hammock. Wrap yourself in a blanket and sit outside and listen for plentiful owls, cuckoos and woodpeckers.
Sleeps two, minimum three-night stay, from £135 per night; hipcamp.com