New year...new yurt

See in 2014 in style with these last-minute getaways

13 December 2013

HEAVENLY TENTS Dorset

What A woodland site in West Dorset on which woodworker extraordinaire Guy Mallinson has erected a series of luxury yurts, tents, a tipi and a shepherd’s hut — plus a sauna yurt and a communal pizza oven. And if winter camping sounds a bit of a challenge, there are wood-burners, reindeer skins, electric blankets and heated towel rails to keep you toasty, and boardwalks between each tent to avoid getting mud on your designer wellies. Order in enough cases of local Otter Ale and Black Cow vodka and you won’t feel the cold anyway.

What to do With the Jurassic Coast nearby, bracing seaside walks beckon. Head further west and you’ll hit the peerless peace and quiet of Exmouth.

How to book Over New Year, Crafty Camping is available for whole site bookings, which include use of the field kitchen, sauna and games yurt, from 30 December 2013 to 3 January 2014 for £4,435. It’s adults only, with each of the seven spaces containing a king-size bed, so 14 of you can come along. (mallinson.co.uk)

HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY Northamptonshire

What

Flore Manor is a properly huge, Grade II-listed country house — and the ten double bedrooms are the least of its grandeur. After you’ve crunched up the gravel drive, glide through the chandeliered hallway and up the stairs to take an elegant roll-top bath before dinner (of course there’s an Aga). Make sure one of your friends is an expert mixologist — cocktails are the only accompaniment to frolics in the billiards room, surely; although if you’re tired, you can zonk in front of the drawing room’s open fire.

What to do Wander through the 19 acres of formal gardens, or head for Bicester Village to snap up those New Year’s Day bargains.

How to book Flore Manor is available for three nights over New Year for £5,995 (sleeps 20).(thewowhousecompany.co.uk)

TEMPLE RIGHTS Shropshire

What

A small but perfectly formed Doric temple in Shropshire, built at the end of the 18th century as a folly on the Badger Dingle estate of coal and iron magnate Isaac Hawkins Browne. Designed as a viewing point for the dramatically landscaped grounds, the two-person bolthole with its own tree-lined approach is bijou but delightfully decorated. Its features include a colonnaded balcony, spiral staircase and vaulted wetroom.

What to do Enjoy the silence, but then set off to explore the historic Ironbridge Gorge and the walks of Wenlock Edge in Housman country.

How to book The Temple is available for seven nights from 27 December for £880. For a shorter stay, the Vivat Trust, which restored the property, also offers The Summerhouse at nearby Eyton-on-Severn for three nights for £572. (vivat-trust.org)

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Camping

Sauna

Seaside

Trekking And Hiking