the times Saturday April 9 20222Weekend
Details One night self-catering for two
from £150 (dragonflycamping.co.uk)Little Eden
Loch Lomond, Stirling
For a quiet swim on Loch Lomond, stay
in this luxury self-catering house, a
former grain mill refurbished with a
stylist’s eye (reindeer pelts on armchairs,
a log-burner, walls a symphony of soft
greys). Go past the fire pit on the lawn,
through a woodland, and you arrive at
a private beach on a remote bay.
Details Seven nights’ self-catering for
four from £2,395
(uniquehomestays.com)Daffodil Hotel
Grasmere, Cumbria
Grasmere is a friendly spot — only a
mile long, quite sheltered, with a wooded
island as a goal for a dip and nary a
motorboat to worry about (they’re
banned). Daffodil Hotel is the only stay
on its shores (it has private access).
The rooms of this historic house are
bright and modern, with a taste for sharp
metropolitan style and a luxurious
spa too.
Details Doubles B&B from £163
(daffodilhotel.co.uk)The Lakeside Cabin
Ditchling, Sussex
In the South Downs National Park,
through the indecently pretty villagewater the colour of kingfishers. A beach
appears and vanishes with the tides.
Details Seven nights’ self-catering for
eight from £2,981 (boutique-
retreats.co.uk)Eilean Shona
Acharacle, Argyll
So magical is this small paradise of
mountains, moors and forest on the
private island of Eilean Shona that it
inspired Neverland in JM Barrie’s Peter
Pan. You’re here, though, for the wildest
of wild swims: Loch Moidart empty,
the ruins of Tiroam castle and
mountains ahead as you dip in the
silver bay. Book rustic-posh
Tioram Cottage, which has a
private bay just outside the door
— so you can nip back sharpish
for hot showers.
Details Seven nights’ self-
catering for eight from £2,500
(eileanshona.com)Dragonfly Camping
Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire
If this is camping, count me in.
Kingfisher is a beautiful Scandi-style
floating cabin. Wherever you are —
whether eating in the open-plan living
area or lazing in a hammock on the
deck — the lake winks, “Come on in.”
(Shepherd huts and a wood cabin also
have lake access.) Factor in the ripe hills
of Pembrokeshire and it’s pure escapism.Burgh Island
Bigbury on Sea, Devon
The Burgh Island hotel’s Mermaid
Pool is a bracing spot — a natural
saltwater pool with cliffs behind and
views ahead of the ocean and whaleback
Devonian hills. Instead of a cabin, you
return into an art deco hotel, with
period furnishings in bright rooms.
Details Doubles B&B from £325
(burghisland.com)Another Place
Ullswater, Cumbria
This crisp modern hotel offers cabins
and rooms of understated luxury, and
has access to a private beach on the
shores of Ullswater, where Lake District
mountains drop to beaches. They also
run sessions with the wild-swim expert
Colin Hill, a regular competitor in the
International Winter Swimming World
Championships. He’ll take you aquatic
stargazing at night, chaperone you or
help you to dip a toe in for the first time.
Wetsuits are provided free of charge.
Details Doubles B&B from £200
(another.place)Bert’s Kitchen Garden
Trefor, Gwynedd
On the Llyn peninsula, new Trefor huts
bring soft chic to what was already one
of the most escapist stays in the region.
I say “huts” — with French linen on
king-sized beds and marble-tiled shower
rooms, they make an average luxury
hotel look budget. There is also a private
pebble beach a five-minute walk away
through the estate’s meadows. Swim
out and you may see seals and
dolphins. Magic.
Details One night’s self-catering for
two from £175 (bertskg.com)Budock Vean
Falmouth, Cornwall
Roger Deakin, the late, great champion
of wild swimming (his 1999 book
Wa t e r l o g popularised the activity),
thought there were few more inspiring
places to get wet than the Helford River.
He adored its mossy oaks and jade-green
water. It’s at the bottom of the garden of
this family-owned four-star whose 65
acres include a private river-beach.
The hotel also launched a foreshore
fire pit, pizza oven and bar this month.
Details Doubles B&B from £152
(budockvean.co.uk)Nagden House Graveney
Marsh, Kent
By all means book for the smart
modern-country interiors and cinema
room of this creekside house, or for the
easy access to nearby Faversham andWhitstable. But book too to swim from
a private jetty from mid to high tide. If
I were you, I’d dive in a half-hour before
high tide to drift upstream. When the
tide turns you’ll drift straight back again
into a cedar hot tub on your deck.
Details Seven nights’ self-catering for
ten from £1,969 (coolstays.com)The Swan at Streatley
Berkshire
You’re near The Wind in the Willows
territory in this recently refurbished
hotel on a Thames backwater. It’s
a calm spot with few boats, making
it ideal wild-swim territory for
novices. Join an introductory
session if you’ve got the jitters —
the instructor Jo has swum the
Channel twice so you’re in safe
hands. There’s a post-swim
steam room and sauna in the
spa, plus river views from the
breakfast table.
Details Doubles B&B from £85
(theswanatstreatley.com)Ropehawn Fowey
Cornwall
Is there a more romantic wild-swim stay
than this? Beyond the pretty woodland
is a former fisherman’s home on the
seashore. Within is low-key hotel-
standard luxury: muted chalky colours,
understated bedrooms. Outside is a
private natural sea pool with glassyTake a dip, stay the night The
COVER IMAGE SHOWING DRAGONFLY CAMPING: JACQUES BOISSEVAIN. BELOW: EDVINAS BRUZAS; JACQUES BOISSEVAIN; BEN CARPENTER PHOTOGRAPHYBook a cottage with
a private seawater
pool, or a f loating
cabin on a lake.
By James Stewart
p
inspired N
Pan. You
of wild
the r
mo
sil
T
p
—
fo
D
ca
(eilDra
Kilgett
If this is c
Ki fihws
dgAnother Place, CumbriaFritton Lake, Norfolk15 wild
we ekends
Dragonfly Camping, Pembrokeshire