The world of elevenses (a shooters' morning tea break) and the Glorious Twelfth (of August: the start of grouse season) is an enigmatic one that typically requires either an invitation or a stately home address at birth. If neither of these apply, and a pigeon-emoji’d Whatsapp group has failed to materialise, rest assured, toff pursuits can be accessed via a string of country hotel stays. The posh set even indulge at the same retreats.
North of the border, seasoned stalkers (the deer genre) and novices alike can head into the hills to track roaming stags, while falconry, archery, fishing and clay pigeon shooting are served up at any self-respecting country hotel up and down our Isles. Pack your tweeds and your plus fours — these are the best UK hotels for country pursuits.
Glenmorangie House Hotel, Tain Scotland
Best for: Bee keeping
Glenmorangie House Hotel - just 15 minutes from the fabled distillery - has blush pink exteriors which are a fantastical mix of tartans on florals on Missoni. When not sampling drams or chomping toast in a whimsically-wallpapered morning room, guests can test their accuracy with a round of clays, archery or even have a go at Tossing the Caber, Scot’s Hammer and other Highland Games. But a more niche (and increasingly popular) country pursuit awaits in Glenmorangie House’s soft, pretty gardens — a row of hives to approach in full moonwalking suits, and swarms of bees to tend to.
Doubles from £325. glenmorangie.com
The Beckford Arms, Fonthill Estate, Wiltshire
Best for: A group shoot
The Beckford Arms is one of those proper Georgian pubs with overhanging ivy and the welcoming whiff of ale as you enter. It’s not all muddy flagstones though — the pub has had gentle refurbishment, with the floors and Ercol chairs suggesting a fancier establishment than your average boozer. The pub-with-rooms aspect is worth a look, too. There are earthy rooms adorned in contemporary prints upstairs or whimsical-wonder ‘the great Arch’ on the Fonthill Estate to hunker down in.
Country sports run through this Wiltshire estate’s blood, with fly fishing or deer stalking easily organised by the ghillies. And if ever there was a better opportunity to play country squire, shooting parties are Fonthill’s bread and butter, with groups taking over the pub and whoever put in all the organisation hours bagging the novel-worthy Arch.
Doubles from £105. beckfordarms.com
Bovey Castle, Devon
Best for: Family country pursuits
Lording over its 275 acres of wild, windswept countryside, Bovey Castle is a sprawling Elizabethan pile with almost as many country pursuits as bedrooms. Families (*read, bored children) have been woven into the estate’s layout and activity menu, with a ‘whatever-the-weather’ attitude to casting a rod into the rushing Bovey or refining your hand-eye coordination with a rifle, as the clays spin into the sky.
Spread across Devon’s Dartmoor National Park, with soft valleys and rocky, rust-hued countryside, the estate puts on some epic off-roading experiences, and guests (along with their excited broods) can join the estate’s deer keepers on guided tours of the deer park, and to feed the estate’s fawns.
Doubles from £325 per night, self-catered lodges from £750 per night (up to 6 people). boveycastle.com
Lucknam Park, Wiltshire
Best for: Riding
A lesson in building suspense – Lucknam Park’s Palladian good looks only fall into sight after a mile-long beech and lime-flanked drive. The 18th century house packs all the period drama appeal you’d hope for in a country stay. It boasts unapologetically classic interiors, plus there are Jane Austen-style backdrops at every turn and gardens teeming with topiary. Such commitment to tradition is reflected in the country sports on offer, the likes of clay pigeon shooting, archery and falconry, though Lucknam Park is particularly well known for its equestrian centre – one of the country’s finest. Brisk canters into the surrounding parkland are the stuff of country bolt reverie for the seasoned rider (rounded off with a trip to the cavernous spa), while novices can jump in the saddle at the riding school, whatever their age.
Doubles from £295 per night. pobhotels.com
The Fife Arms, Cairngorms Scotland
Best for: Riding and pony trekking
Art titans, Iwan and Manuela Wirth’s Highland hotel (featuring laird-like decor with a twist) puts on a country pursuit show as impressive as the contemporary works lining the walls. Along with salmon fishing in the Dee, Don or Tay rivers and off roading with a Ghillie through the Invercauld Estate, guests can hop in the saddle for a trot through the ancient pine forests and heather-clad hills surging either side of Glen Tanar. There’s also an illicit stills pony trek, revisiting the Highlands’ distilling era (on hooves), with a picnic lunch fastened onto MacNab the Pony’s saddle, and, naturally, plenty of whisky.
Doubles from £434 per night. thefifearms.com
Glenapp Castle, Ayrshire
Best for: Field sports
Surrounded by ancient woodland that drifts on to meet Scotland’s rugged west coast, Glenapp Castle is as authentic as they come. Its turreted, spired, baronial splendour bears down on those crunching into its drive, and inside the rooms are formally dressed. Outdoors, field sports enthusiasts are in their element. Top-tier shoots and stalking days (or individual guided trips) are routinely organised here and on surrounding estates — you’ll slot into a tradition that’s as old as the hills and silent forests themselves.
Doubles from £424 per night. glenappcastle.com
The Retreat at Elcot Park, Berkshire
Best for: Local shoots
Entering the redbrick Retreat at Elcot Park is like stepping into a taste-maker’s Pinterest board, where muted hues have been ditched for flashes of colour. The red striped stools and blue lacquered bamboo lampshades may feel a little Mayfair member’s club for the countryside, but it’s a playful divergence from the stuffy drawing rooms and opulent libraries of many of the UK’s country hotels. That’s not to say they’re not au fait with country tradition. The Retreat has collaborated with the local shoots at Tidgrove, Sutton Estate and Rookes Nest for a top-tier day of shooting pheasants in the Kennet Valley. Transport and mid-drive tipples are sorted, along with picnics (on request), and a deep, mural-coated tub winking at you back at base, as you peel off those sweaty plus fours.
Doubles from £250 per night. retreatelcotpark.com
Gleneagles, Perthshire
Best for: The lot
Gleneagles blend of Scottish outdoorsy spirit and Jazz Age energy make it well worth chugging above the border for. It’s sporting caché is well known, as the original ‘Glorious Playground’ with championship golf courses, a salmon-brimming River Tay and endless heather-carpeted hills to trudge through in search of an elusive stag. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a country pursuit it doesn’t offer, with its top-to-toe renovation having turbocharged the activities menu. Whether it's beginners archery, an afternoon trying to pelt clays from a warm wooden box or seasoned riders mastering their show jumping skills with expert tuition, Gleneagles guests rarely suffer from boredom. Their outdoorsy efforts are duly rewarded with a long stint in the hotel’s vast spa or a sharp cocktail in the roaring twenties-style bar.
Doubles from £575 per night. gleneagles.com
Ashford Castle, County Mayo
Best for: Lake cruising
It may not sound like a high energy sport, but once you’ve ticked off falconry and fly fishing, stepping onboard one of the famous liner QE2’s lifeboats (yes, they were bought at auction by the owner’s father in 1975) and cruising the Lough Corrib is by far the best way to soak in the mist-strewn beauty of this magnificent Irish estate. Here, absurdly green woodland meet flat glassy lakes and the landscape all heeds to its melancholic master, a vast, battlement-silhouetted figure with all the draped, gilt-leaf, chandelier excess you could wish for inside.
Doubles from £506 per night. ashfordcastle.com
Chewton Glen, Hampshire
Best for: Falconry
Chewton Glen is located on the fringes of the New Forest and a brisk walk away from the Hampshire Coast. A weekend here is all about getting outside for a blast of fresh air, then retreating into traditional fire-lit drawing rooms or the hotel’s string of contemporary-luxe treehouses. Having pierced the bull’s eye of the archery board and thrashed the whole family at croquet, why not tone down the competitive energy with a humbling stint at falconry? Falconers will take guests through the bird of prey’s history, with flight demonstrations before they can slip on a glove and tune into that big bird energy.
Doubles from £375 per night. chewtonglen.com
