Central & Northern England

This is the broadest of our regions by area, covering the East and West Midlands, East Anglia, and the North of England — from the Peak District to the Lake District and the Yorkshire coast.

Derbyshire and the Peak District are the self-catering heartland of the East Midlands, with towns like Ashbourne, Buxton and Bakewell giving easy access to the National Park. Cumbria, further north, is dominated by the Lake District — Ambleside, Windermere and the fells beyond — and remains one of the most popular self-catering destinations in the whole country. Yorkshire's self-catering stock spans the Dales, the Moors and the coast around places like Whitby and Scarborough, while Cheshire offers a quieter, more rural alternative closer to the North West's cities.

East Anglia — Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire — is flatter and coastal in a very different way: big skies, the Broads, and a string of low-key seaside towns rather than dramatic cliffs. The West Midlands counties (Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire) sit between the Cotswolds and Wales, and tend to suit a quieter countryside break with market towns as the focus rather than a single big-name attraction.

Choosing within this region

For hill walking and lakes, Cumbria and the Peak District are the obvious choices, with Yorkshire close behind for variety. For a flatter, slower-paced coastal break, East Anglia is the better fit. The Midlands counties work well as a lower-key, less crowded alternative to the Cotswolds a little further south.