Globe-Trotter’s Top Country Retreats

We deserve a break after what we’ve all been living through, so this month we have rounded up our favourite places for stylish staycation hideaways.

They not only fulfil our demands for relaxing comfort and epicurean interest, but each offers incredible gardens and grounds in which to reconnect with nature and chase away the cobwebs. Start packing your Globe-Trotters…

The Hotel at Thyme, Lechlade, Gloucestershire

The Hotel at Thyme is a beautifully restored historic Cotswold manor and farm that has been elegantly recreated into a boutique hotel with individual, refined but cosy rooms, featuring specially curated antique pieces. Rooms are arranged throughout the houses, barns and cottages that comprise the property’s ‘village within a village’, which includes an on-site cookery school on Southrop Manor’s estate. Outside, 150 acres offer a sylvan escape in which to slow down and immerse yourself in nature – then relax in style. thyme.co.uk

Coworth Park, Ascot, Berkshire

Located on 240 acres of parkland, Coworth Park, part of the Dorchester Collection, is a luxury hotel spread over a reimagined Georgian manor house and its now-elegant out-buildings. It’s the ideal getaway for a rural detox or sybaritic romantic escape among rolling hills and ancient woodland, with an inviting menu of activities to get involved in, from country pursuits to polo. Or just do your own thing by ambling through the scenic rose garden and gazebo, the shady lime grove, or the estate’s original sunken garden, then indulge in pampering spa treatments and a delicious meal. dorchestercollection.com

Heckfield Place, Hook, Hampshire

A Georgian gem in the Hampshire countryside, Heckfield Place has been lovingly restored into an eco-friendly estate. The kitchens are overseen by star chef Skye Gyngell, making delicious use of the best of the estate’s farm. The rooms are mellow and classically contemporary, made ultra comfortable using natural materials and quality craftsmanship. With 400 acres on its doorstep, this country haven offers ‘gently wild’ rolling beauty with woodland and meadows in which to reconnect with nature. heckfieldplace.com

Hound Lodge, Goodwood, Chichester, West Sussex

Hidden away in the famous 12,000-acre Goodwood Estate is the Goodwood Hound Lodge, a 10-bedroom country retreat (a former doghouse), which is more about country house living with personal service than being a hotel guest. Take friends and rent the whole Lodge – with your dogs – for the ultimate rural getaway deep in the Sussex countryside. If you want to be physically active, the exciting offer of Goodwood experiences, from shooting to learning to fly, are on your doorstep. If you want to just step out and chill in nature, you can enjoy the unrivalled expanses for bucolic pastoral pleasures. oetkercollection.com

The Newt Castle Cary, Somerset

Look no further than The Newt in Somerset for the intersection of luxurious contemporary comfort, delicious food majoring on produce from their own kitchen backyard, and famous gardens, now entirely redesigned and replanted by architect Patrice Taravella. The Palladian-fronted red limestone Hadspen House stands in a big working estate, and its grounds include the Parabola walled garden, now planted with 460 trained British apple trees, a treetop walk, and wild swimming ponds — in addition to the luxury spa — and not forgetting the hotel’s namesake, the colony of great crested newts. thenewtinsomerset.com

Cliveden House, Taplow, Berkshire

Set in 376 glorious acres, the historic and storied Cliveden House, standing high over the Thames in Berkshire, provides an impeccable luxury escape to the great outdoors. Its impressive National Trust gardens and majestic woodlands beckon you to enjoy time spent in the formal gardens and verdant secluded glades, or a riverside walk, returning to the grand hotel for rejuvenation with indulgently traditional comfort and de luxe cosseting. An idyllic retreat to get back to nature. clivedenhouse.co.uk