You know what day is coming up next week don’t you? No?
Then you’re in big trouble, my friends. It’s nearly Valentine’s Day, so you’d better hurry up and start making some plans.
How about spending a couple of days in one of these romantic cottages, where you and your other half can spend some ‘quality time’ together (wink, wink)?
We’ve found one that’ll suit every kind of couple.
For the adrenaline junkie couple
Where: Blaendyffryn Fach, Wales.WHY: Not the type of couple who want to sit about staring into each other’s eyes and smooching all day?
Book your V-Day weekend at Blaendyffryn Fach in Wales.
It’s a converted stone barn in a gorgeously scenic spot, with views of Llanllwni mountain. But forget about gazing through the windows at it.
Get the blood pumping with a pony trekking or hiking session, or cycle the nearby Brechfa Forest mountain bike trail.
When you’ve worn yourselves out, there’s a pub less than a mile away, The Talardd (talardd.com), where you can recuperate with a few pints of their award-winning ales.
The Damage: From £70pn.
Book it: welsh-retreat.co.uk
For the boozy couple
Where: Apple Cottage, Dorset.
Why: If you and your loved one prefer romantic evenings to involve being half-cut – and who could blame you? – the best bet is to book Apple Cottage in Lyme Regis.
The stone cottage used to be a cider barn, and if that knowledge whets your appetite for a pint, there’s a pub falling distance (200m) down the road.
During the sober hours, you can go for hangover-easing walks in the fresh air along the Jurassic Coast – Charmouth Beach is just fifteen minutes’ drive away.
There’s also a paddock outside where chickens, sheep and pigs are kept, giving the place a real country vibe.
The damage: From £225 per week.
Book it: wimdu.co.uk
For the bookish couple
Where: Balleswidden Cabin, Cornwall.
Why: Words rather than the wildlife get you going? Literary lovers will adore the quirky Balleswidden Cabin.
It has floor-to-ceiling shelves of books for you both to get stuck into and was originally built as a writer’s lodge – perfect for living out your Hunter S Thompson fantasies of scribbling away in a remote cabin with your muse in sight.
In the evening, weather permitting, you can sit out under a blanket on the deck and see down to Land’s End.
Need to warm up again? Run a bubble bath for two in the huge claw-foot tub – now that’s romantic.
The owner always throws in a hamper full of organic goodies, such as honey from her own bees and homemade blackberry jam. Sweet as.
The Damage: £80pn.
Book it: canopyandstars.co.uk
–
For the soppy couple
Where: Cottage on Loch Feochan, Scotland.
Why: This remote cottage in west Scotland has a roaring fire and a huge soft sofa, so bring along a bottle of red wine and you’ll have all the ingredients for an extremely old-school, romantic evening in.
The property is surrounded by some seriously heart-stopping romantic scenery, so you can take walks across the Glen Ogle and the Falls of Dochart at Killin, or further west to the Cowal Peninsula’s fjords and wild forests. If you get sick of the sight of each other, Oban is the nearest town at 9km away, where you can visit the Oban Distillery and historic Scottish castles.THE
Damage: £140pn.
Book it: wimdu.co.uk
For the surfy couple
Where: Holiday Flat, Cornwall.
Why: Porthtowan is a cute village on the Atlantic coast with terrific surf and this flat looks right onto the beach.
Picture it now: frolicking in the waves together, the bracing sea water, impressing each other with your surfing prowess … if all that doesn’t get your hearts racing, warming yourselves up will.
The damage: £50pn.
Book it: airbnb.co.uk
Photos: Thinkstock
