HEAD GARDENER’S COTTAGE, FLOORS CASTLE, KELSO, SCOTLAND
It’s never ideal arriving anywhere at night, particularly a country house estate where GPS is unreliable and the roads are narrow. But, come morning, the pay-off can be breathtaking, as it was recently when a friend and I donned our tweed jackets and headed to Head Gardener’s Cottage at Floors Castle for a weekend in the Scottish borders. Drawing back the shutters on the first morning, we were stunned: the cottage has private access to the estate’s impressive walled garden and formal ‘Millennium’ terrace, which shimmered like a mirage in the frosty dawn light.
The cottage itself is shaped like a mini castle and has two enormous bedrooms (made cosy with thoughtful touches like nosegays by the bed and hot water bottles), an elegantly appointed living room, plus a kitchen stocked with every appliance a self-caterer could need (non-caterers can visit the adjoining castle café to pick up something delicious from the deli). After a hearty breakfast, we set out on a long walk down to the River Tweed (off-season, with Floors closed to visitors, we had the estate almost entirely to ourselves) before day-tripping 20 minutes down the road to Abbotsford House, to the eccentrically decorated home of Sir Walter Scott. After, we could have easily stopped by the Mainstreet Trading Company in nearby St. Boswells for a warming cuppa, or called in at the Collingwood Arms in Cornhill-on-tweed for a tasty pub supper, but the lure of our own wood-burning stove proved too strong and we beetled back for homemade pasta. Two couples could easily rent the cottage for a weekend of whisky and dinner parties, but it proved equally perfect for two tired city slickers in need of fresh air. We left with hearts lifted and Instagram accounts full to bursting.
TRIP NOTES From £544 for four nights, or £680 for a week’s stay, on a self-catered basis; Crabtreeandcrabtree.com, 01573 226711
A cottage hideaway in castle grounds