The art of the short break

For us, a short break is any escape that gives you enough time away from ordinary life to feel like you've actually been somewhere. But ideally, a minimum of two nights is where the magic starts to happen. 

Two nights gives you a Friday evening to arrive, a full Saturday to explore and a Sunday that doesn't have to be spent staring mournfully at the clock. You get back Sunday evening feeling like you’ve slightly beaten the annual leave system. And when you take regular short breaks across the year rather than putting all your annual leave into week long holidays, there’s less of that niggling pressure to make every moment extraordinary and fill in every second, which is usually when you get what you actually need – time to switch off and feel regulated again.

We often reserve the word "adventure" for things involving hiking boots, mountain ranges or an unnecessary amount of specialist equipment. But an adventure can be much smaller than that and the scale really doesn’t matter. What matters is that you're somewhere slightly outside your usual pattern. 

A Friday night at home can disappear annoyingly fast. There's dinner to sort out, laundry that still needs doing, something you forgot to reply to and the small but persistent knowledge that Monday is waiting around the corner. A Friday night somewhere else has a completely different feel to it. You arrive, find the wood for the fire, put the kettle on or pop a bottle of something, look out at the trees and suddenly realise you haven't checked the time for an hour. 

There's no pile of things waiting to be dealt with and for a couple of days, you get to exist somewhere else. And the anticipation is part of the holiday too. In fact, one of the most underrated things about a short break is that the mental benefits of it start before you leave. The exciting first conversation about where you want to go, looking at the map and choosing somewhere that makes you want to jump in the car right away – it's all part of the escape.  

Sometimes anticipation is simply knowing that on Friday evening, instead of ending the week on the sofa surrounded by the remains of the working week, you'll be somewhere feeling relaxed and surrounded by nature, and that's a pretty good thing to have waiting for you!

Every season changes the shape of what your short break will look like and choosing the right set up to match the time of the year will make your stay all the better. Summer might mean finding a stay with your own private wild swimming lake, al fresco dining set ups for eating outside, outdoor projectors for cinema nights and viewing platforms for staying up late to watch the sky change colour.  

Autumn is made for joyful muddy walks, woodsmoke and the first proper excuse for an evening around the fire, so you want somewhere with walking trails covered in plenty of crunchy leaves and a good fire pit set up.  

Winter is made for cosy cabins where owners leave you hot chocolate kits, thick socks, big comfy beds and discovering that darkness arriving at 4pm is actually rather convenient when you're already planning to be in a hot tub followed by board games by the wood burner. It’s also perfect for off-season group getaways, like getting the girls together for a winter cabin stay. 

And spring has that unique feeling of everything waking up again, with longer days and the first hint that you can start drinking your morning coffee outside on a deck without regretting it. For this time of the year, it doesn’t get much better than a treehouse with a glass panel in the floor for you to watch nature up close. You don't need perfect weather, you just need the right weekend for the weather you've got.

The easiest way to plan a short break is probably not to start with where you want to go but with how you want to feel. Sometimes you need a weekend where nobody expects anything from you, where you can just be in mute mode in a hot tub and nap in a hammock. Other times you need to get outside and do something with your pent-up energy that makes you feel gloriously alive, and there are weekends you simply need to see a friend and enjoy their company for longer than the length of a coffee. Here are a few of our favourite types of short break weekends: 

The I need sleep weekend 

There is a particular kind of tiredness that a good night's sleep at home doesn't seem to fix. For that, choose somewhere quiet with a comfortable (preferably King-sized) bed and DO NOT set an alarm or go planning sunrise hikes. Wake up when you wake up and don’t feel guilty about it. 

The I need silence weekend 

If you’re seeking the kind of quiet where you can literally hear the trees moving in the wind, a weekend at one of our remote stays has a funny way of making you realise just how much background noise you’ve been carrying around with you on autopilot without noticing. 

I need to reconnect weekend 

Sometimes the best thing you can do with a weekend is give somebody important your uninterrupted attention. A short break with a partner, a cabin weekend away with friends that doesn’t break the bank, or family member creates the kind of space that is increasingly difficult to find at home. There are no trains to catch after dinner, and no one has to leave because they've got work in the morning.  

I need a micro-adventure weekend 

For when you've spent too long in the same four walls and your brain needs something to happen. Go somewhere with a lake, a coastline, a forest or a particularly promising footpath. Swim, walk, cycle, climb a hill, get muddy, get rained on. Then find a pub and eat something enormous.

I need to celebrate weekend  

A short break gives a small occasion somewhere to land. A birthday, an anniversary, a new job, an engagement, a friendmoon (yes, this is a thing), getting through something difficult. Or simply the fact that you've all managed to find a weekend when you're free at the same time. And there is something rather lovely about waking up the next morning and realising the celebration hasn't finished yet. 

The I need romance weekend 

Some weekends are for remembering you actually quite like each other. A romantic short break doesn’t need a four-course dinner, champagne or rose petals. Sometimes a cabin in the woods and some uninterrupted time together does the job a whole lot better.  

The just-me weekend  

A solo short break gives you complete control over the pace of the weekend. Sleep until you wake up, walk for as long or as little as you want. Read all afternoon, eat what you like and change your plans halfway through the day because you can. Sometimes a couple of days without having to accommodate anybody else's timetable is exactly the reset you didn't realise you needed.

The bring-the-dog weekend 

For some of us dog parents, a weekend without our four-legged shadow can feel like less of a break and more a couple of guilt-ridden days wondering what they’re up to. The good thing about stays in nature is that they’re extremely dog-friendly. Find somewhere with good walks on the doorstep then spend the weekend exploring together.

Not every short break needs to be about switching off. Sometimes it's about switching something back on. 

When did you last make something nobody asked you to make? We find this an increasingly good question to take away for the weekend. A weekend away gives you permission to do things simply because you want to. Paint badly, try out a new recipe you can cook over fire, pick up the notebook that’s been sitting empty and get all those thoughts that have been living in your head onto paper. Or take the camera you spent lots of money on but haven’t picked up in months and take photos because the light is beautiful.  

A short break in nature is the perfect place to loosen the knots in your brain and revisit the hobby you used to love before life became a series of things you needed to get done. For writer and editor Liv Little, that meant taking a break from the whiplash of writing on trains and rushing towards the next thing. During her own stay in nature, she found something rather valuable in the space to slow down, think and write. Read about Liv Little's writing retreat in nature and her experience of working from a cabin, or WFC, as we're calling it. Creativity doesn't always need more discipline. Sometimes it needs a change of scenery, a couple of days of quiet and enough time for your thoughts to wander somewhere they weren't expecting to go.

The best parts of a short break aren't always the big ones. Here are some of our favourite little rituals that somehow keep our strange human brains happy: 

• The first coffee sat outside in the morning, wrapped in a jumper because it's colder than expected 
• Lighting the fire before dinner 
• Putting a record on while everyone cooks 
• Taking a book outside and reading until you realise you've been led in the hammock reading for two hours 
• Playing cards at the table 
• Walking somewhere just because the path looks nice 
• Changing into dry clothes after a chilly walk and making something hot to drink 
• Having a second cup of tea because nobody is in a hurry

And if the weather has other ideas, even better. Embracing a rainy day glamping weekend opens up a whole world of cosy rituals that make us feel all glowy and warm inside, with rain against the roof, muddy walks and an afternoon spent somewhere cocooned away from the world.  

A good short break creates its own little rhythm, and before long you find yourself thinking, we should always do this every weekend. Then you get home and realise you probably could make a lot more time for moments like these.

Can you take a short break without using lots of annual leave?

Yes and that's part of the appeal. A Friday evening to Sunday stay can give you a proper change of scene without using a whole week of holiday. And if you work outside the traditional Monday-to-Friday routine, a mid-week escape can work just as well. The idea is to make use of the little pockets of time you already have rather than waiting for the perfect week-long holiday.

How can you make a weekend in nature feel more memorable?

Give the weekend a few tiny rituals rather than a packed schedule. Have your morning coffee outside, light the fire before dinner, go for a swim, read somewhere beautiful or get into the hot tub as the evening gets colder. These small moments are what you remember afterwards.

Can you have a good short break on your own?

Absolutely, a solo weekend gives you complete control over your time. You can wake up when you want, walk for as long as you like, read all afternoon or change your plans halfway through the day without having to consult anyone. Sometimes a little uninterrupted time in your own company is exactly what you need.

How do you make a two-night stay feel like a proper holiday?

Don't try to turn two nights into a miniature week-long holiday. Choose somewhere you actually want to spend time, keep the travel relatively short and leave plenty of space in your plans. A slow breakfast, a long walk, an evening around the fire or a morning in the hot tub can be more restorative than a packed itinerary.

What can you do on a short break if the weather isn't perfect?

Bad weather can actually make a short escape feel more like a holiday. Find a stay with a fire and spend the afternoon reading, cook something slowly, pull on your boots for a muddy walk or settle into a hot tub while the rain falls around you. You don't need sunshine to make a weekend away feel special.

Why does getting away for just two nights feel longer than two nights at home?

Because you're breaking your usual rhythm. Even a short change of scenery can make the days feel fuller, especially when you're not spending them on errands, chores and the familiar routines of home.