Highlands in the top two UK winter countryside staycations

A new study has named the best UK staycation destinations for a relaxing country escape this winter—with the idyllic Scottish Highlands ranking second.

Rutland, England’s smallest county, ranks in the top spot—while Torridge in Devon places third.

Argyll and Bute also places in the top five relaxing staycation destinations in the UK.

The study by UK CBD brand Brown’s CBD analysed government data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), as well as data from online resources such as Bing Maps and Booking.com, to reveal the best relaxing breaks this year.

The analysis compiled 11 factors into an index study to reveal a score out of 100 for 96 rural council districts across the UK.

Among the factors analysed in the study were the reported well-being levels in each area based on people feeling ‘worthwhile’, ‘life satisfaction’, ‘anxiety’ and ‘happiness’, the percentage of woodland cover in the area; the distance to the nearest ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’.

These factors were scored and aggregated to reveal the areas with the highest index score out of 100, ranking the best destinations this winter.

1 Rutland

The findings reveal that Rutland in the East Midlands is the best relaxing countryside destination for a staycation in the UK. The area appears perfect for a getaway this winter, scoring top across the country in the index, achieving 64.17 out of 100. According to the study, the average combined size of parks, public gardens and playing fields within a 1,000m radius (m2) scored a perfect 10 out of 10 in the index. The East Midlands area also scored well for its distance to an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’—highlighting the area’s appeal for those hoping to find some serenity in nature.

2 Highlands

Second, making up the most northern part of mainland Scotland, the area often celebrated for its wealth of natural beauty scored 61.78 out of 100 in the index study. The findings identified that the area has, on average, around 176% more spa hotels per 100,000 population than the average across all countryside destinations analysed in the study—equating to 7.98 out of 10 in the index. Additionally, the Highlands scored an impressive 9.53 out of 10 for its distance to the green spaces analysed, ranking fourth in the UK.

3 Torridge, northwest Devon

4 Malvern Hills, Worcestershire with a score of 60.5 out of 100 overall in the index study.

5 Argyll and Bute, Rounding out the top five relaxing staycation destinations in the UK and placing second in Scotland is Argyll and Bute—achieving an index score of 60.43 out of 100 overall.

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