Lodges with private hot tubs in Lancashire

Lancashire pulls in two directions. Inland, it climbs into the Forest of Bowland, a quiet upland of moor and stone villages that most people drive past on the way to somewhere more famous. West and north, it runs out to the Fylde and Morecambe Bay, all big skies and tidal sand. Where you base yourself sets the tone of the whole break.

The good news is that the county is small. Wherever you land, the other side is rarely much more than an hour off, so a coast cottage can still reach the fells and a valley barn can still get to the beach.

The Forest of Bowland and Ribble Valley

The Forest of Bowland is a National Landscape, one of the emptiest in the north, set in the gap between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. It is less a forest than a sweep of heather moor, with the Trough of Bowland road threading over the top and birds of prey overhead.

Along its southern edge runs the Ribble Valley, gentler and greener, gathered around the market town of Clitheroe and its small Norman castle. Stone villages dot the valley floor, among them Chipping, Sawley, Bolton-by-Bowland and Waddington. Most look across to Pendle Hill, which rises on the far side.

This is walking and eating country, and the valley has built a real name for its kitchens. The self-catering stays here are mostly cottages and barn conversions, well suited to couples and walkers, with a few larger farmhouses for groups who want the fells from the door.

The Fylde and Morecambe Bay coast

The Fylde is the flat coastal plain west of Preston, with Blackpool midway along its coast and quieter resorts to either side. Lytham and St Annes hold the genteel end, Cleveleys and Fleetwood the workaday one, and behind them the Over Wyre villages of Pilling and Stalmine swap the seafront for farmland and birds.

North of the Wyre, the coast bends into Morecambe Bay, a vast sweep of sand that empties for miles when the tide drops, the Lakeland fells rising beyond. Morecambe looks out across it; round the estuary, Overton and Carnforth keep to the quiet edge, the southern Lakes a short drive on.

Coastal stays lean towards roomy houses and cottages near the sand, many with enclosed gardens. That makes this the easier side for families, and a dog-friendly one. The beaches are long, and a west-facing deck makes the most of the sunset.

Pendle and the eastern valleys

East Lancashire is the county at its most underrated. Pendle Hill rises over it all, a long whaleback ridge you can see for miles. Around it stand old cotton towns and the deep valleys of Rossendale and the Cliviger gorge.

This is gritstone and moor, the South Pennine country that rolls on towards the Yorkshire Dales above Earby and Colne. It stays quieter and cheaper than the Ribble Valley, and makes a strong base for walkers who like their hills with an edge.

Out here, you'll find a log cabin in the Rossendale hills and barn conversions on the moor fringe, including a couple of adults-only retreats built around the view.

Hot tub breaks, whatever the sky does

Lancashire weather is honest about itself. The fells catch the rain coming in off the Irish Sea, and even a summer week can turn in an afternoon. A hot tub matters more here than it would on a dry coast.

It helps that so many of these stays are run with the weather in mind. The best have moved the hot tub under cover, into a sun room, a summer house or a timber cabin of its own with bifold doors. Sit in one with the rain coming down and the doors thrown open, and there are few better places to be.

The same is true once the weather turns cold. A hot tub holiday is hard to beat on a sharp, still night, after a day on Pendle or along the bay. These hot tubs are kept warm and ready whatever the month, so an evening soak is on the table in any season, not just the dry weeks.

Adults-only barns to family coast houses

Who is coming decides most of it, and the type of stay tends to follow both the trip and the part of the county you pick.

Couples and adults-only

For two, the choice is widest inland. Out on the Pendle side, barn conversions and a shepherd's hut are kept deliberately small and adults-only. A wood-fired hot tub and a long view, with little to do but enjoy both.

Down in the Ribble Valley, couples' cottages put a pub and a walk within reach, which suits a slow weekend better than a clean break from everything.

Families and the coast

Families tend to gravitate to the coast, where the houses are bigger and the gardens are enclosed. A stay within reach of Blackpool, Cleveleys or the Morecambe seafront keeps the days easy, sand and amusements one way, a fenced garden and the hot tub the other.

Inland has its family options too, chiefly farmhouses with a games room and space for cousins to work off a long lunch. They suit a multi-generation week, when not everyone wants the same day out.

Big groups and celebrations

For a celebration, Lancashire has a real spread of large houses and luxury barns, several with a games room, a bar and a long banqueting table. The biggest sleep well into the twenties and thirties, the sort of place a big birthday or anniversary takes over for a weekend.

Most gather in the Ribble Valley and the eastern hills, close enough to Manchester and the motorway for a group arriving from all directions. The Morecambe coast keeps a large house of its own as well.

From Pendle Hill to the Blackpool front

Part of the appeal here is how much sits within an hour's drive, from theme-park thrills to empty fell tops. These are the days out worth pulling on boots or loading the car for, with a note on each to help you plan.

Before you book

Why choose Lancashire over the Lake District for a hot tub break?

Largely the quiet and the price. The Forest of Bowland gives you fell scenery to rival the southern Lakes without the traffic or the booking scramble, and a stay here tends to cost less than the equivalent over the border. The Lakes themselves are an easy drive when you want a day there.

Do you need to drive to eat out, or are there pubs and restaurants nearby?

It depends where you stay. The Ribble Valley villages and the coastal towns keep good pubs and restaurants within easy reach, and Clitheroe eats far better than a town its size should. The most rural Bowland and moor-edge stays are more self-catering by nature, so it is worth a shop on the way in.