Lose yourself in nature

Eager to hit the reset button, Rebecca Younger went for a socially distanced staycation at Lucknam Park in Wiltshire

- Rebecca Younger

This year will have been a time of much reflection and re-evaluation for many people, forced by the pandemic to adopt a slower pace of life. Less time spent commuting to work, ferrying kids to school and going out to socialise has afforded us time to focus on home life and our more immediate environs.

That’s all well and good for a while but extended periods of time spent staring at the same four walls and restrictions on travel providing less of an incentive to take any proper time off work may have led to ‘lockdown burnout’ for some.

At Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa, in Wiltshire, social distancing has been a way of life for more than 300 years. Dating back to 1720, this Palladian mansion sits in 500 acres of listed parkland, which cocoons guests in an abundance of personal space in which to relax and reconnect with nature.

NEARBY ATTRACTIONS

• Visit Castle Combe arguably the prettiest village in the Cotswolds.

• Lunch at The White Hart at Ford – a pretty streamside pub garden less than five minutes away from the hotel.

• Take a day trip to Bath (about 30 minutes’ drive) for a bit of shopping and sightseeing.