rasmesfin

Looking for self-catering cottage in Peak district. Anyone actually stayed in one that they can recommend? Know that many of them will only rent for a week until about 3 weeks before arrival date and then will rent for shorter terms. I'm wondering if it's feasible to wait to secure accomodations for that area, such a short time before visit. Our dates are May 19-22. Thanks.

Carolina

Have a look at Peak Cottages, they are a reliable company. Also, Rose Cottages at Youlgreave are lovely (I have stayed there twice). Welcome Cottages / Country Cottages are also good but I don't know about individual properties. You may find difficulty getting a cottage for 3 days, even at short notice. You could consider bed and breakfast. There are a lot of good bbs in the area. One I stayed in whcih was lovely is the Plough at Hathersage.

MissPrism

We have always found English Country Cottages to be good
http://www.english-country-cottages.co.uk/

They seem to have quite a lot of cottages in the area.
I like the way that the site gives you virtual tours of the cottages

rasmesfin

Thanks Carolina. I'm sure you are right about the short term stays. I was also thinking that the prices for week stays are so good that we might rent for the week and just leave early, after 4 days. Doing B&B's for most of our three week stay so we were just looking to enjoy a different experience. Your info about reputable companies is just what I needed and I'll look at those properties. Thanks.

rasmesfin

Great info MissPrism. Thanks to you too.

janisj

Many cottages do short breaks - but few will do them between the beginning of May and the end of Sept.

Waiting to see if a short break would be available at the last minute would likely mean not finding a place at all. And needing specific dates makes it harder yet.

For that short a stay at that time of year, I'd recommend a B&B instead of searching for a needle in a haystack.

If you were talking about 5 or 6 days - you could rent a cottage for the week and "eat" the extra days and still probably come out cheaper than an upscale B&B. For just 3 or 4 days - it depends on how much you want a cottage whether paying for unused days is "worth it".

Is there a way to revise your itinerary to get more days in the area?

janisj

we were posting at the same time . . . . .

rasmesfin

janisj, we do have the option to spend another day there if we take from our time in York, which at this point is also 4 days and I certainly want to book those accomodations as soon as possible. Nothing is set in stone, maybe that's the problem? So many wonderful possibilites. From York, we'll do Fountains Abbey, Castle Howard, and maybe Durham. Then on to Edinburgh for 3 days. And you are right we will probably "eat" some of those days in Derbyshire if we decide to go the cottage route. I've noticed that some of the National Trust cottages which are few in that area are booked for our time already. That's why I'm gathering information from Fodorites in order to make more informed decisions. Thanks.

janisj

National Trust Properties tend to book up far in advance because 1) they are often unique, and 2) Trust members get the catalog and an early jump on bookings.

But there are lots of others. None I can specifically recommend since the only one I've used in the Peaks is now back to being a private home.

Google specific villages/towns in the Peaks area w/ the terms "self-catering cottage", or "holiday cottage". Like "Castleton self-catering cottage", "Bakewell self-catering cottage", etc.

The sites mentioned above are also good.