'Best for Families' by Good Housekeeping

Published by Good Housekeeping March 2025

"You’d be hard-pressed to find a more quintessentially English, picture-perfect country cottage than Undercastle in the New Forest. Thatched roof? Tick. Roses around the front door? Tick. Serene riverside setting, cosy fireplace and range cooker in the kitchen? Tick, tick, tick! Stay in winter and it’s even better than the cottage in The Holiday (the only thing missing is Jude Law). Stay in summer, and you’ll feel like you’re in The Wind In The Willows with the New Forest’s free-roaming ponies, deer, otters and kingfishers as neighbours. You can learn how to fish (from £250 for two people) for carp, pike and trout on the Hampshire Avon River, one of the best for fly fishing in the UK, as the cottage sits along 2,500 yards of its gently sloping banks, also home to a family of elegant swans. One episode of the BBC series Gone Fishing was filmed at the cottage, so if it’s good enough for Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse…

Plus, if you’d like the chance to meet Mr Badger, there’s a hide nearby that keen photographers can hire (from £100). Originally a salmon-keeper’s cottage, Undercastle, which is also dog-friendly, has been lovingly restored by the owners, who live locally and have added exposed oak beams from France to the double-height vaulted ceilings, underfloor heating beneath chunky flagstones, a roll-top bath and antique beds from local company Victorian Dreams. It sleeps six in two cosy double bedrooms in the main cottage and a twin bedroom that’s perfect for teenagers or grandparents in the Fishing Lodge, which has en-suite, TV and tea-making facilities. We were left a generous welcome basket full of local produce including sausages, bacon and freshly laid eggs for a slap-up breakfast. It was all we needed to set us up for a two-hour walk through the forest (there are lots of maps in the cottage) and a delicious meal in the cosy Horse & Groom pub nearby."

Plan your Stay

If Undercastle Cottage feels like your kind of escape, you can check availability and book your stay here.