Holiday Cottages In Leicestershire

Leicestershire has around 140 self-catering cottages on selfcatering.co.uk, from rugged Charnwood Forest to the gentle Vale of Belvoir and the new woodlands of the National Forest. The county pairs ancient parkland and ridge-and-furrow farmland with handsome market towns, and more than 80 of those cottages take dogs while over 50 have a hot tub.

Best areas and towns in Leicestershire

Leicestershire's cottages are spread thinly across the county rather than clustered on a coast, with small groups in the Vale of Belvoir to the north-east, the National Forest in the west, and the market towns and villages south of Leicester. Most bases are quiet villages within easy reach of open country.

• Melton Mowbray: the rural capital of the area, a market town famous for its pork pies and Stilton cheese, set among hunting country
• Redmile and Bottesford: villages in the Vale of Belvoir below the castle, all big skies and quiet lanes
• Croxton Kerrial: a village on the high wold between Melton and Grantham, good for walking the ridge
• Ashby-de-la-Zouch: a handsome market town in the National Forest, with a ruined castle made famous by Walter Scott
• Coleorton, Thringstone and Oakthorpe and Donisthorpe: former coalfield villages now wrapped in the young woodland of the National Forest
• Breedon on the Hill: a village under a landmark limestone hill crowned by an ancient hilltop church
• Anstey: a large village on the edge of Charnwood Forest, a short hop from Bradgate Park
• Earl Shilton: a market town in the south-west, between Hinckley and Leicester
• Billesdon, Burton Overy and Stoughton: rolling-country villages in the Harborough district south-east of the city
• Lubenham and Laughton: quiet parishes near Market Harborough in the far south

Leicester itself makes a city base on the county's centre, with cottages on its fringes for anyone wanting culture and country in one trip.

Leicestershire countryside, Charnwood Forest and the Vale of Belvoir

Leicestershire is classic English Midlands country, but with more variety than its gentle reputation suggests. North-west of Leicester rises Charnwood Forest, a rugged upland of some of the oldest rocks in England, where bracken-clad crags and ancient oaks survive in places such as Bradgate Park, the deer park where Lady Jane Grey grew up. To the west, straddling the old coalfield, the National Forest is one of the largest new woodlands in the country, planting millions of trees across former mining land between Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire. To the north-east the land softens into the Vale of Belvoir, a broad, low farming vale of ridge-and-furrow fields watched over by the towers of Belvoir Castle on its escarpment. Canals, disused railways and quiet lanes lace the whole county, making it easy walking, cycling and boating country.

Things to do in Leicestershire

Bradgate Park near Leicester is the county's best-loved open space, 800 acres of ancient deer park and rocky heath with a ruined Tudor house at its heart. Belvoir Castle rises over the vale to the north-east, a Regency fantasy palace with grand state rooms and gardens, while Twycross Zoo in the west is known for its primates and family days out. Steam fans ride the Great Central Railway between Loughborough and Leicester, the only double-track main-line heritage railway in Britain, and the CONKERS discovery centre brings the National Forest to life for younger visitors. In the south, Foxton Locks is a famous staircase of ten canal locks near Market Harborough, and Twinlakes Park near Melton offers rides and animals for families.

When to visit Leicestershire

Late spring and summer are the easiest seasons, when Bradgate Park, the National Forest trails and the canal towpaths are at their best for walking, cycling and boating. Summer brings agricultural shows and the Melton Mowbray food calendar, with the town's pork pies and Stilton at its heart. Autumn lights up Charnwood and the young National Forest woodlands in russet and gold, ideal for crisp walks. Winter is quiet and good value, a season for castle visits, log fires and a hot tub under clear Midlands skies. Out of season many owners drop their prices.

Dog-friendly and hot-tub cottages in Leicestershire

More than 80 of the cottages in Leicestershire take dogs, and more than 50 have a hot tub. Browse the places that take dogs or places with a hot tub to narrow your search.

Getting to Leicestershire

Leicestershire sits at the centre of England, around two hours from London by road. The M1 runs north to south through the county, the M69 links Leicester to Coventry, and the A46 follows the Fosse Way past Leicester towards the vale. Trains reach Leicester, Loughborough and Market Harborough, with fast services from London St Pancras to Leicester in around an hour and a quarter. East Midlands Airport sits within the county near Castle Donington, with Birmingham about an hour away by car.

Useful links

• Visit Leicester and Leicestershire
• The National Forest
• Leicestershire County Council

Leicestershire is a county in the East Midlands of England, lying in the upper valley of the River Soar at the centre of the country. It is bordered by Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warwickshire to the south-west, Staffordshire to the west and Derbyshire to the north-west. It is a mostly rural county of gentle farmland, but with pockets of older and wilder ground that give it surprising variety.

North-west of the city of Leicester rises Charnwood Forest, an upland of ancient pre-Cambrian rock where rocky crags, bracken and old oaks survive in places such as Bradgate Park. The western edge of the county sits on the old Leicestershire coalfield, now being transformed by the National Forest, an ambitious modern planting scheme that has covered former mining land with millions of new trees across three counties. To the north-east the country opens into the broad farming Vale of Belvoir, watched over by Belvoir Castle on its ridge, while the south is rolling ridge-and-furrow grazing country around Market Harborough.

The city of Leicester, one of the oldest in England and the place where the remains of King Richard the Third were found and reburied, is the county town, with Loughborough, Melton Mowbray, Hinckley and Coalville among the principal settlements. Melton Mowbray is celebrated for its pork pies and Stilton cheese, and the county's long sporting tradition includes some of England's most famous fox-hunting country. Farming, food production, manufacturing and logistics shape its modern economy.