2026 Travel Trends

A staycation in 2026 is no longer about convenience or compromise. It’s about choosing a different rhythm – one that values stillness over spectacle, depth over distance and time well spent over time filled.

Across the UK, travellers are seeking places that allow them to exhale. Places where days unfold slowly, where the boundary between indoors and outdoors softens and where a sense of ease settles in almost immediately. Luxury, increasingly, is not about being looked after, it’s about being left alone, beautifully.

At the heart of this shift is self-catering. Not as a category of accommodation, but as a way of travelling – one rooted in freedom, comfort and quiet confidence.

Why Self-Catering Is No Longer the Alternative - It’s the Main Event

There is a particular pleasure in arriving somewhere that belongs entirely to you, even if only for a few days. No shared corridors. No schedules to observe. Just the sound of the door closing behind you and the sense that, for now, the space is yours.

Luxury self-catering offers something increasingly rare: permission to live at your own pace. To cook late or not at all. To linger over breakfast without watching the clock. To spend an afternoon doing very little and feel better for it.

Rather than passing through a place, guests are settling in. They unpack properly. They buy food for several days. They begin to notice the way the light moves through the rooms, the quiet moments between activities. The cottage becomes not just somewhere to stay, but somewhere to be.

In a world that often feels over-structured, this kind of autonomy has become one of the most valued luxuries of all.

From “Well-Equipped” to Well-Considered: What Guests Expect in 2026

As expectations evolve, so too does the idea of what makes a space feel luxurious. In 2026, it’s no longer enough for a property to simply offer everything, it must offer it thoughtfully.

Guests are drawn to homes that feel intuitive and calming. Kitchens that encourage cooking together rather than rushing through meals. Living rooms that invite long evenings of conversation, games or quiet reading. Bedrooms that prioritise rest, where textures are soft, lighting is gentle and sleep comes easily.

There is also a growing appreciation for spaces that feel grounded in their surroundings – materials that echo the landscape, windows that frame views deliberately, interiors that don’t compete with what lies beyond them. These are places that feel considered rather than curated and welcoming rather than impressive.

True luxury, here, lies in balance: between beauty and comfort, design and warmth, presence and restraint.

The Rise of Add-Ons: When Self-Catering Meets Subtle Luxury

One of the most noticeable shifts in self-catering is the way indulgence is now layered in – gently, intentionally and always by choice.

Guests aren’t looking for constant service. Instead, they’re choosing moments of ease. A private chef arriving for one evening only, turning the kitchen into a place of shared anticipation before leaving you to linger over the table. A locally prepared meal waiting on arrival, so the first night can be about settling in rather than planning.

Wellness experiences follow the same philosophy. Rather than travelling elsewhere, relaxation comes to the cottage itself. A massage as the light fades. Yoga in the morning, doors open to the air. The quiet ritual of stepping into a hot tub as the sky darkens and the day slips away.

These extras feel luxurious because they’re personal and unforced – small moments of care woven into the fabric of the stay, rather than imposed upon it.

Eat Your Way There: The UK’s Food-Led Staycation Hotspots

For many travellers, the journey begins with food. A curated list of places to eat. Producers to visit. Ingredients to bring home.

Self-catering transforms food from a scheduled activity into a lived experience. Mornings begin at local bakeries. Afternoons are spent wandering markets or farm shops. Evenings might mean eating out – or cooking slowly at home, music on, windows open, the day’s discoveries spread across the kitchen counter.

In Padstow, meals follow the rhythm of the sea. In The Cotswolds, food is rooted in seasonality and simplicity. Northumberland, Pembrokeshire and Yorkshire reward curiosity – those willing to seek out small producers, independent restaurants and quiet excellence.

A luxury cottage becomes part of the culinary journey: a place where the day’s flavours are brought back, shared and remembered.

Booked by the Book: The Quiet Rise of Literary Staycations

Alongside food and wellness, literary travel is emerging as one of the most quietly appealing reasons to take a UK staycation. These trips are less about ticking off cultural landmarks and more about atmosphere, reflection and immersion.

Certain places lend themselves naturally to particular kinds of stories. In Hay-on-Wye, the literary mood is eclectic and curious – shelves filled with contemporary fiction, poetry and essays, perfect for readers who enjoy browsing widely and following unexpected threads.

Haworth is inseparable from dramatic, emotionally charged storytelling. The surrounding moors echo with gothic novels, intense inner lives and narratives shaped by isolation and weather. By contrast, the Lake District suits quieter reading – poetry, nature writing and gentle stories inspired by water, light and long walks.

In Stratford-upon-Avon, language and drama take centre stage, while Sussex attracts those drawn to introspective, essay-led and modernist writing. Choosing where to stay becomes a way of stepping briefly into a particular literary mood, guided as much by imagination as by geography.

For many guests, the cottage itself becomes part of the ritual – a place to read by the fire, write by the window and let days unfold without urgency.

The Sweet Spot: Why Shoulder Seasons Are the Smartest Time to Travel

There is a particular magic to travelling when the edges of the season blur.

In spring and autumn, places feel more open, more themselves. Paths are quieter. Tables are easier to find. Conversations linger. The landscape shifts gently rather than dramatically – leaves turning, light softening, air cooling just enough to sharpen the senses.

Self-catering feels especially right at these times. Fires are lit earlier. Mornings feel unhurried. Evenings stretch out, wrapped in warmth. A stay becomes less about escaping routine and more about restoring balance.

For many travellers, these quieter months now represent the truest luxury: time and space, uninterrupted.

Shorter, Smarter, Slower: How People Are Really Using UK Stays

Holidays are no longer measured by length alone. Increasingly, it’s the rhythm of travel that matters.

Shorter breaks – a long weekend, a midweek escape – offer space to reset without disruption. Travellers are returning to places they love, deepening familiarity rather than chasing novelty. A favourite walk. A known view. A cottage that already feels like it knows you.

This way of travelling feels sustainable, intentional and deeply satisfying. It allows holidays to become part of life, rather than an interruption from it.

Self-catering supports this beautifully, offering continuity, comfort and the freedom to return again and again.

What This Means for the Future of Self-Catering in the UK

The future of luxury self-catering is not about more features or grand gestures. It’s about creating spaces that feel generous, calm and genuinely restorative.

The most memorable stays will be those that allow guests to arrive fully and leave lighter – homes that are confident enough to be quiet, thoughtful enough to feel personal and beautiful enough to fade gently into the background of the experience.

At Luxury Cottages, we believe the most meaningful escapes are the ones that feel less like a getaway and more like a return – to simplicity, to comfort and to time well spent.