Shropshire Holiday Cottages: Hills and Border Towns

Top Holiday Cottage Destinations In Shropshire

The most popular cottage locations in Shropshire include, Ludlow with 61 properties, Eardiston with 33, Church Stretton 31 and Bishop's Castle with 29 self catering holiday lets.

Shropshire Areas of Outstanding Beauty

Shropshire Hills

Shropshire

382

Featured Properties

Thumbnail for holiday cottage Shrawardine House

Shrawardine House

Shrawardine, Shropshire

7 nights from £7081

Thumbnail for holiday cottage Panorama Palace - Luxe Country Retreat

Panorama Palace - Luxe Country Retreat

Prees, Shropshire

7 nights from £5747

Thumbnail for holiday cottage The Hall at Bryn Tanat

The Hall at Bryn Tanat

Llanyblodwel, Shropshire

7 nights from £5694

Thumbnail for holiday cottage The Boatman’s Cabin Netley Hall

The Boatman’s Cabin Netley Hall

Dorrington, Shropshire

7 nights from £5590

Self Catering Destinations in Shropshire

Shropshire has over 900 self-catering cottages on selfcatering.co.uk, from stone cottages under the Long Mynd to riverside boltholes near Ironbridge Gorge. This is quiet border country of market towns, hill walks and castles, and more than 600 of those cottages take dogs while over 200 have a hot tub.

Best areas and towns in Shropshire

Shropshire splits into two moods: the food-and-castle market towns of the south, gathered around the Shropshire Hills, and the county town and Severn Gorge to the north. The largest cluster of cottages sits in the south, near Ludlow and the high ground of the Long Mynd.

Ludlow: a handsome south Shropshire market town below its castle, known across the country for its food
Church Stretton: a walking base tucked between the Long Mynd and Caer Caradoc, midway from Shrewsbury to Ludlow
Bishop's Castle: a small hilltop town in the far south-west, with two long-running breweries
Clun and Craven Arms: a sleepy old town and a railway crossroads, both deep in the southern hills
Shrewsbury: the county town, looped almost entirely by the River Severn and packed with timber-framed streets
Much Wenlock: a small medieval town with a ruined priory, on the road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth: a two-tier town split by the Severn, joined by a cliff railway and the start of a steam line
Ironbridge: the riverside village at the heart of the gorge where the iron bridge still spans the Severn
Cleobury Mortimer: a quiet town under the Clee Hills in the south-east corner
Whitchurch: a market town in the north, handy for the meres and the Cheshire border
Minsterley and Dorrington: small villages south of Shrewsbury, close to the Stiperstones ridge
Chirbury: a village out west by Offa's Dyke and the Welsh border
Eardiston and Leighton: smaller settlements near the county edges, both an easy drive from the Severn

The south suits anyone after hills and good food, while Shrewsbury and the gorge make better bases for history and easy days out.

The Shropshire Hills and Severn Gorge

The southern third of the county is the Shropshire Hills National Landscape, a sweep of heather moor, bracken and old hillforts that rarely gets crowded. The Long Mynd above Church Stretton is the best known, a long whaleback of common land cut by steep valleys, with the jagged quartzite tops of the Stiperstones close by. Stokesay Castle near Craven Arms is the finest fortified manor house in England, while Ludlow Castle holds the southern skyline above the River Teme. North of the hills the Severn carves the wooded Ironbridge Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the cradle of the Industrial Revolution, where Blists Hill Victorian Town recreates a working community of the 1900s. Walkers also have Offa's Dyke along the Welsh border and the Clee Hills, the highest ground in the county.

Things to do in Shropshire

Beyond the hills there is plenty for a week. Attingham Park is a grand Regency mansion and deer park just outside Shrewsbury, and The Quarry is the town's riverside park, home to the Dingle gardens. The Severn Valley Railway runs steam trains from Bridgnorth down to Kidderminster, and the town's own Bridgnorth Cliff Railway climbs the sandstone between High and Low Town. Families head for Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World near Telford or the open-air Shropshire Sculpture Park outside Oswestry, while Alderford Lake near Whitchurch offers paddleboarding and open-water swimming. Add Ludlow's food festivals and the gorge museums and the county fills a holiday easily.

When to visit Shropshire

Late spring and early summer are lovely on the hills, with the Long Mynd green and the days long enough for an evening climb. Summer is the busiest stretch and the best time for the Severn Valley Railway and the riverside towns, though the southern hills absorb crowds well. Autumn turns the gorge woods and the Clee Hills to copper and is the season for Ludlow's food events. Winter is quiet and cheap, good for a fireside cottage with a hot tub and a frosty hill walk. Many owners drop their rates well below the summer peak out of season.

Dog-friendly and hot-tub cottages in Shropshire

More than 600 of the cottages in Shropshire take dogs, and more than 200 have a hot tub. Browse the cottages that welcome dogs or cottages with a hot tub to narrow your search.

Getting to Shropshire

Shropshire sits in the West Midlands against the Welsh border, roughly three hours from London and under an hour from Birmingham by road. The M54 runs in from the M6 to Telford and Shrewsbury, with the A49 carrying you south through Church Stretton to Ludlow and the A5 skirting the north. Trains reach Shrewsbury, Church Stretton, Ludlow and Craven Arms on the Marches line between Manchester and Cardiff, and Telford and Whitchurch are on their own lines. Birmingham is the nearest major airport, about an hour away.

Useful links

About Shropshire

Shropshire is a large, mostly rural county in the West Midlands of England, sharing a long western border with Wales. It is one of the most sparsely populated inland counties in the country, a patchwork of farmland, river valleys and hills with no coastline. The River Severn, the longest river in Britain, enters from Wales and winds across the county through Shrewsbury before cutting the steep, wooded Ironbridge Gorge on its way south.

The land falls into two broad halves. North of the Severn lies a gently rolling plain of dairy farms, meres and mosses running up to the Cheshire border. South of the river the ground rises into the Shropshire Hills, a designated National Landscape of heather uplands, including the Long Mynd, the rocky Stiperstones and the isolated Clee Hills, the highest points in the county. Shrewsbury, the county town, sits in a great loop of the Severn, while Telford is the largest urban area and Ludlow, Bridgnorth and Oswestry are the principal market towns.

Shropshire has a long and contested history as border country. The earthwork of Offa's Dyke, raised in the eighth century to mark the frontier between Mercia and the Welsh kingdoms, still runs along the western edge. Norman lords built a chain of castles to hold the march, and in the gorge at Coalbrookdale the first iron bridge was cast in 1779, giving the Industrial Revolution one of its founding monuments. Farming and tourism shape the county today.

Frequently asked questions

How many holiday cottages are there in Shropshire?

There are over 900 self-catering cottages in Shropshire on selfcatering.co.uk, with the biggest cluster in the south around Ludlow and the Shropshire Hills, and more in Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth and the Ironbridge Gorge. More than 600 accept dogs and over 200 have a hot tub.

Where are the best places to stay in Shropshire?

Ludlow and Church Stretton are the favourites in the south, set among the Shropshire Hills, with Bishop's Castle, Clun and Craven Arms for deeper countryside. To the north, Shrewsbury makes a characterful town base and Bridgnorth and Ironbridge sit along the River Severn.

What is the landscape like in Shropshire?

Southern Shropshire is hill country, much of it the Shropshire Hills National Landscape, with the Long Mynd, the Stiperstones and the Clee Hills. The River Severn loops Shrewsbury and carves the wooded Ironbridge Gorge to the east. There is no coast; this is an inland border county.

Is Shropshire good for a dog-friendly holiday?

Yes. More than 600 of the cottages in Shropshire take dogs, and the open access land on the Long Mynd and the quiet border lanes make it some of the best walking country in the Midlands, though stock graze the open hills so dogs should be kept close.

What is there to do in Shropshire besides walking?

Tour Attingham Park and Stokesay Castle, ride the Severn Valley Railway from Bridgnorth, explore the Ironbridge Gorge and Blists Hill Victorian Town, eat your way around Ludlow, or take the family to Hoo Zoo near Telford and Alderford Lake near Whitchurch.

When is the best time to visit Shropshire?

Late spring and summer are best for the hills and the steam railways, autumn brings colour to the gorge and the Clee Hills along with Ludlow's food events, and winter is quiet and good value for a fireside cottage with a hot tub.

How do you get to Shropshire?

By road on the M54 from the M6, with the A49 running south to Ludlow, or by train to Shrewsbury, Church Stretton and Ludlow on the Marches line between Manchester and Cardiff. Birmingham is the nearest major airport, about an hour away.