Self Catering Searcher
A UK-wide guide to self-catering holidays — cottages, apartments, chalets and houses across Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. Whether you plan to stay in a Highland glen, a Cornish fishing village or a Welsh market town, here's an honest starting point for choosing where to go.
What "self catering" actually means
A self-catering holiday means you book a whole property — cottage, apartment, chalet or house — rather than a hotel room, and look after your own meals and day-to-day living, the same as you would at home. It suits families, groups and anyone who'd rather have their own kitchen, their own front door, and their own pace than a fixed hotel routine. Most self-catering owners deal with enquiries and bookings directly, so it also tends to mean a more personal, less corporate way of arranging a UK break.
Choose your region
Scotland
From the Highlands and Islands to the Borders — glens, lochs and a genuinely wild coastline.
Wales
Coastal Pembrokeshire, the Gwynedd mountains, and the market towns of the Marches.
Northern Ireland
The Antrim coast, the Fermanagh lakelands, and six counties with a lot packed into a small area.
South West England
Cornwall and Devon's coastline, plus Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire.
South East England & London
Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, the Chilterns, and the city itself.
Central & Northern England
The Peak District, the Lakes, Yorkshire, East Anglia and the Midlands.
How to choose where to stay
Start with what you actually want out of the trip rather than the map: a coastal walk means Cornwall, Pembrokeshire or the Antrim coast; hills and lochs point towards the Highlands, Snowdonia or the Lakes; a market-town base with easy day trips suits somewhere like the Cotswolds, the Yorkshire Dales fringes or the Scottish Borders. Distance matters more with self-catering than with a one-off hotel night, since you're usually there for a week or more — a shorter drive leaves more of the holiday for the holiday.
The full directory
Self Catering Searcher is a full UK self-catering directory: 71 counties and 801 towns, with detailed descriptions of cottages, apartments and houses across the country. It's the place to start if you already know roughly where you want to go and want to see what's there.
About this guide
Alongside the directory we keep short, honest regional guides to help you narrow down where to look. For booking a specific property, contact the owner directly through the details on that property's page.