An octagonal, stone-built toll house shaded by trees.

Book Self-Catering Holidays in Quirky Holiday Cottages

Fancy a self-catering holiday in a quirky and unusual holiday property? Who wouldn’t say no to a holiday with friends in a luxury lighthouse or a beautifully restored Napoleonic Fort?

Search here to find an architecturally unique holiday cottage for a more than usually memorable holiday with family or friends. The UK has a splendid choice of distinctive and unusual character cottages appealing to those looking for something slightly different from a traditional house. 

While quirky cottages are not the ‘everyday’ holiday property, they still offer the same standards, facilities, and amenities you would expect to find in any decent holiday property worth its salt. Types of out-of-the-ordinary holiday lets include (but are not limited to):

  • Lighthouses
  • Windmills
  • Restored railway stations and carriages
  • Castles and Forts.
  • Shepherds Huts
  • Narrow Boats
  • Tree-houses
  • Signal boxes
  •  Follies 

View this collection of distinctive holiday properties to find one with that ‘must-stay’ funky factor for a long holiday or just a weekend break.

Sleeps
4
Bedrooms
2

For a family-friendly self-catering holiday in the Derbyshire Peak District countryside, the 2-bedroom Clematis Cottage in Baslow will sleep 4 guests in comfort after days out in the great outdoors. With a village shop next door and a pub nearby - what more could you want?

  • Active Holidays
  • Agency Cottages
  • Countryside Cottages
  • Cycling Holidays
  • Short Breaks
  • Small Cottages
  • Walking Holidays
Sleeps
10
Bedrooms
5

Amidst the Cornish countryside, Chapel Green is a large countryside cottage in the former mining village of Polgooth featuring a swimming pool, gym, sun deck, and five cosy bedrooms to comfortably house groups of up to 10 looking to holiday in the splendour of St. Austell Bay. Pets welcome.

  • Agency Cottages
  • Child-Friendly Cottages
  • Coastal Cottages
  • Countryside Cottages
  • Dog-Friendly Holiday Cottages
  • Large Holiday Cottages
  • Short Breaks
  • Walking Holidays
A contemporary house with a large 1st-floor terrace and ground-floor deck.
Sleeps
10
Bedrooms
5

A luxury holiday cottage on Anglesey, Bwthyn Awel, is large enough to comfortably accommodate ten guests in five bedrooms. This secluded rural cottage with panoramic sea views over Church Bay is perfect for walking, cycling and beach holidays in North Wales.

  • Active Holidays
  • Agency Cottages
  • Child-Friendly Cottages
  • Coastal Cottages
  • Countryside Cottages
  • Large Holiday Cottages
  • Remote Cottages
A gable end with French windows open onto a low-walled terrace withdining furniture and a sea view.
Sleeps
4
Bedrooms
2

Vale View Apartment is a light, airy, spacious first-floor holiday apartment in Porlock Weir within the west wing of a beautiful Edwardian hunting lodge. Patio doors open onto a private balcony with a table and chairs overlooking the front of the property. Sleeps 4 guests.

  • Active Holidays
  • Agency Cottages
  • Child-Friendly Cottages
  • Coastal Cottages
  • Countryside Cottages
  • Short Breaks
  • Small Cottages
  • Walking Holidays
Exterior of a Scottish Manse overlooking s large tree-line lawn
Sleeps
12
Bedrooms
5

This large, spacious, pet-friendly holiday home with a hot tub in Perthshire is set in beautiful countryside near Crieff. The Old Manse has a wealth of period features: an open fire, a large garden with a croquet lawn and a trampoline. Perfect for a get-together with friends and large families.

  • Active Holidays
  • Child-Friendly Cottages
  • Cottages With Games Rooms
  • Cottages with Hot Tubs
  • Countryside Cottages
  • Cycling Holidays
  • Dog-Friendly Holiday Cottages
  • Eco Cottages
  • Fishing Holidays
  • Large Holiday Cottages
  • Remote Cottages
  • Short Breaks
  • Walking Holidays
An Exmoor Longhouse overlooks a quiet, steep-banked country lane
Sleeps
8
Bedrooms
4

Situated deep in the heart of the Exmoor National Park on the outskirts of the riverside village of Exford, Somerset, you’ll find Greenslades, a large, child-friendly holiday cottage offering gorgeous countryside views, four bedrooms (two en-suite), beamed ceilings, and two wood-burner stoves.

  • Active Holidays
  • Agency Cottages
  • Child-Friendly Cottages
  • Cottages With Games Rooms
  • Countryside Cottages
  • Cycling Holidays
  • Dog-Friendly Holiday Cottages
  • Large Holiday Cottages
  • Short Breaks
  • Walking Holidays
Sleeps
6
Bedrooms
3

A quiet, charming rural holiday getaway in Llwyngwril on the Gwynedd coast in Snowdonia, Brynteg Cottage is only minutes from the sea. This bright, welcoming, spacious holiday cottage in North Wales sleeps six guests. An excellent base for exploring a gorgeous coastal area.

  • Active Holidays
  • Agency Cottages
  • Child-Friendly Cottages
  • Coastal Cottages
  • Countryside Cottages
  • Cycling Holidays
  • Short Breaks
  • Walking Holidays
Exterior of a vine-clad Cotswold honeystone cottage in Chipping Norton.
Sleeps
5
Bedrooms
3

Lowfields is a quiet country cottage near Chipping Norton set on the edge of a peaceful hamlet in the heart of the Cotswolds. This spacious, child-friendly holiday cottage offers lovely rural views of the Oxfordshire countryside and welcomes pets.

  • Active Holidays
  • Agency Cottages
  • Child-Friendly Cottages
  • Countryside Cottages
  • Dog-Friendly Holiday Cottages
  • Farm Cottages
  • Short Breaks
  • Walking Holidays
Adouble-fronted holiday cottage witha covered porch overlooks a mature front garden.
Sleeps
4
Bedrooms
2

This semi-detached cottage is in a courtyard in the hamlet of Allanton just outside Chirnside in the Scottish Borders and can sleep four people in two bedrooms.

  • Active Holidays
  • Agency Cottages
  • Child-Friendly Cottages
  • Countryside Cottages
  • Cycling Holidays
  • Dog-Friendly Holiday Cottages
  • Short Breaks
  • Small Cottages
  • Walking Holidays