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Photo credit: Makk Lynham

Book a Holiday Cottage at The End of The Line

Fancy somewhere different? Be a little spontaneous! Discover new corners of the UK when you book a weekend or midweek break in a holiday cottage somewhere at the end of the line.

Juliet Cottage, Stratford-upon-Avon - the end of the line for Shakespeare? View cottage

There must be hundreds of excuses to book a weekend break, from the desire to get away from it all in a rural retreat to a couple of nights being lulled asleep to the sounds of waves crashing on a nearby beach in a seaside cottage.

But how about a voyage of discovery to a less-travelled corner of the UK?

For travellers with a sense of adventure, here’s the perfect idea for a weekend or midweek getaway. Find and book a holiday cottage at the end of the line. Leave your car at home (or the station car park) and book tickets to a station at the end of a line. For those not sure where ‘the end of the line is’, there’s a list of thirty-one termini stations below. Each link towns to a page of cottages within taxi distance of the station to catch your fancy. 

Top Tip: The earlier in advance, you book your train tickets, the cheaper they will be. 

Save money or pamper yourselves with affordable First Class tickets. For train times and prices, go to Trainline.

Discover Loch Duich at Tigh An Aullt, 15 minutes from The Kyle of Lochalsh. View Cottage

As well as being an environmentally friendly way to travel, there’s the joy of the journey as you race or trundle through magnificent scenery (the sea wall at Dawlish en route to Cornwall in Devon or Highland views on the way to The Kyle of Lochalsh. You can eat, read, snooze, and even surf the internet when not window gazing.

Explore The Monsal in the Peak District. Trail. Stay at Derwent House, Matlock. View Cottage

Most trains will accept bikes if you plan a cycling weekend, but you may need to reserve a space for them in advance, so check before you leave home. Check the train company website you’ll be using for their bicycle policy. For cycling holidays, try The Tarka Trail from Barnstaple or The Monsal Trail, reached via Buxton in the Peak District.

You can take pets on holiday by train too, and you’ll find plenty of pet-friendly holiday cottages to tempt you. They can travel free of charge, usually a maximum of two pets per passenger, and must be on a lead at all times.

Discover the everyday delights of small market towns or seaside resorts from St. Ives in Cornwall to the Kyle of Lochalsh on the West Coast of Scotland – and enjoy the journey through the Great British countryside.

The UK bristles with little destinations not known as visitor hotspots but perfect for walking weekends, such as moorland walks in Matlock and Blaenau Ffestiniog or beach-comber walks in Falmouth and Exmouth. 

Turn every day into a bit of adventure, discover the delights of local produce markets (what self-catering holidays were designed for), or visit art galleries such as The Tate in St. Ives. Make it a culinary weekend and discover superb delicatessens and restaurants from Llandudno to Whitby.

 

The My Favourite Holiday Cottages Railway Terminus List

Here is our list of thirty-one UK station termini where you’ll find cottages advertised on this site. We’ve selected those stations where the only way out is back the way you came in.

Here you can find large, small, grand and cosy holiday cottages to rent for a short break or more extended holiday. Click on the link to view the cottages advertised in each location. You will find a description of the town and suggestions of things to go-see-do on each page.

  1.  Kyle of Lochalsh 
  2.  Oban
  3.  Windermere
  4.  Skegness
  5.  Scarborough
  6.  Whitby
  7.  Saltburn
  8.  Ilkley
  9.  Buxton
  10.  Matlock
  11.  Stratford-upon-Avon
  12.  Llandudno
  13.  Lympstone
  14.  Holyhead    
  15.  Pwllheli
  16.  Blaenau Ffestiniog
  17.  Fishguard Harbour
  18.  Pembroke Dock
  19.  Barnstaple
  20.  Exmouth
  21.  Paignton
  22.  Looe
  23.  Falmouth
  24.  St. Ives
  25.  Penzance
  26.  Newquay
  27.  Weymouth
  28.  Lymington
  29.  Alton
  30.  Ryde
  31.  Shanklin
  32.  Felixstowe
Please email us (info@mfhc.co.uk) a tale of your trip, sharing what you discovered and in which cottage you stayed. We’ll publish it on our News pages.

For more on sustainable travel, holidays read: Sign The FlightFree Pledge: Enjoy Holidays That Don’t Cost the Earth.