Farm Stays UK: Wake Up on a Working Farm

Farmhouse, cottage or canvas: which suits your family?

Ask five people what a farm holiday is and you'll get five answers. Some mean a room in the farmhouse with a cooked breakfast, others a self-catering cottage or converted barn by the yard, and a growing number mean glamping in a field with the sheep. At the top end are farm hotels with spas.

We focus on one of them: farm glamping in Feather Down lodges, pitched on farms where the farmer still runs the place day to day.

Why that one? Because it's the closest you'll get to living on the farm rather than looking at it. Your lodge sits out in the fields, the chickens wander past the veranda and the farm tour starts a short walk from your door. A B&B keeps you in the house, but a tent puts you right in the middle of farm life and nature. If it's a hotel with hands-on extras you're after, our guide to luxury farm breaks covers those, and what glamping actually means explains the tent side.

What farm stays in the UK are really like

Here's the honest version, and it's a big part of the experience. There's no Wi-Fi and no electricity in the lodges, so evenings run on oil lamps, candles and the wood-burning stove, which heats the lodge and cooks your dinner too. It takes a while to get going. Light it as soon as you arrive, put the kettle on top and unpack while it warms up.

You sleep in proper beds, there's a fully equipped kitchen and every lodge has its own loo. Showers come in three kinds depending on the farm and the lodge you pick: a farmhouse shower a short stroll away, an en-suite hot shower, or a private outdoor hot shower beside the tent. With toddlers the en-suite is worth paying a little more for.

Bring wellies. Farms are muddy, gates need shutting and tractors come and go, because the farming comes first.

That's exactly why kids love it, and why it's such a good way to get them closer to nature. At Treganhoe Farm near Penzance they can help feed the sheep, pigs and goats twice a day, and at College Farm near Beccles the hay barn turns into a play den, with a trampoline and swings outside. Most farms have a small honesty farm shop for essentials and local produce, and many run a pizza night, when the farmer fires up the oven. Our guide to cooking on a wood-burning stove helps with the rest of the week's meals.

Pick a farm by what matters most to you

Some farms have one standout thing you won't find anywhere else in the group. Prices are the lowest "stays from" figures in the current Feather Down feed.

More than half the farms take pets, and our dog-friendly farms guide lists them with the house rules. For the rest, see farms with animals to meet, farm glamping with a hot tub and farms with play areas.

Farm holidays across England, Wales and Scotland

The South West has the most farms. In Cornwall, Gwel Teg near Looe and Treganhoe near Penzance are both a short hop from the beaches, and Gwel Teg keeps beef cattle as well as its dairy herd. Devon has Billingsmoor near Butterleigh and Fountain Violet above the River Dart, both on our Devon farms page, while Somerset's Warren Farm sits up on the Mendips near Charterhouse.

East Anglia is flat and big-skied. College Farm is in an official Dark Sky area, so pack a star chart, and Heydon Grove has two miniature donkeys called Diva and Digby! Both are on our Norfolk farm holidays page.

Head west and north for hills. Pant y March near Bala is a sheep farm with around 300 Welsh Mountain ewes and a wild swimming beach about 1.5 km away, while Berthlwyd near Aberaeron has dolphin trips nearby. Compare both on our farm holidays in Wales page. In Scotland, Chesters near Jedburgh has just four tents spread across a private estate, with deer, owls and badgers for wildlife spotting, fishing for the kids and a walled garden where you pick your own fruit and veg.

In the South East, Manor Farm near Alton is on our New Forest and Hampshire page, with its own coffee roastery and a fire pit and pizza oven at every tent, which no other farm in the group offers. Our farm holidays near London page covers the farms within easy reach of London, such as Sunninglye near Tunbridge Wells and Layer Marney Tower near Colchester. Both make a weekend from the city feel like a proper break.

When should you go, and what does it cost?

Easter is the sweet spot, as most lowland farms are in full swing with lambing by then, and at College Farm the farmer might even ask if you'd like to help feed the newborns. Our lambing season guide and bottle-feeding lambs page go farm by farm.

The long summer holidays bring light evenings and Moor Farm's pool. It's the busiest time, along with every half term, so check your school holiday dates on gov.uk early.

Autumn is quietly brilliant, and our October half term ideas include plenty of farm days.

As for price, stays start from £176 in the current feed, for a two-person lodge with an outdoor hot shower at East Shilvinghampton Farm in Dorset. A family lodge for six starts from £230 at College Farm, and the lowest-priced hot tub lodge is £320 at Layer Marney Tower. Hollings Hill starts from £570 with its tub included.

Prices change with dates and lodge type, so check live dates and prices with Feather Down before you plan. Every farm is side by side on our all farms compared page.

Good to know before you arrive

These are workplaces in the rural countryside, and a few simple habits keep everyone safe, from the farmer to the wildlife. Wash hands after touching the animals, keep pets on a lead near livestock and leave gates as you find them, as the Countryside Code asks. Then pack for mud, cold mornings and dark evenings:

Our full what to take glamping list covers the rest. Then pick your farm, pull on your boots and get ready to collect your first egg.

Farm stay questions