Cheapest destinations for a last-minute New Year’s Eve holiday cottage stay

It’s not too late to book a New Year’s Eve break. Research by Which? Travel has found there are thousands of cottages still available - and prices are significantly cheaper away from tourist hotspots.

We’ve gathered over 9,500 prices from the UK’s biggest cottage providers and crunched the numbers to find out which regions of England offer the best value. We’ve also calculated how much you could save by booking a cottage break at Easter instead.

See all our reviews of the best and worst UK holiday cottage providers

Where are England’s cheapest holiday cottages for New Year?

New Year’s Eve is one of the most expensive times of year for a cottage break, but you can keep costs down by staying in Shropshire, Herefordshire, Yorkshire or the Midlands. They all have decent availability and prices are competitive - a three-night stay in a three-bedroom cottage is £800 or less, on average.

Cheapest of all is the Peak District. Three nights in a three-bedroom cottage is currently £680 - £440 less than in the Lake District, where the average price is £1120.

Yorkshire has the best availability, with nearly 1200 cottages currently available. A three-bedroom cottage is £800 - compared to £1000 in Dorset or £990 in Devon.

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Which areas of England have the best holiday cottage availability for New Year?

You’re spoilt for choice in the South-West. Cornwall and Devon both have over 1,500 cottages available for a three-night stay from 30 December to 2 January. There are also plenty to choose from if you fancy ringing in 2023 in Dorset or Cumbria - both regions have over 600 properties available.

Although the UK’s biggest cottage providers have over 9,000 holiday lets available in England, larger properties are harder to come by and a lot more expensive. A four-bedroom cottage is £505 per night on average, while a five-bedroom rental is an eye-watering £791 - compared to £312 for a three-bedroom cottage on New Year’s Eve.

Big families and groups will have a lot more choice and may be able to save money by looking for two small cottages instead. There are currently over seven times as many two-bed as four-bed cottages available to rent - over 4,000 in total.

Where are the most expensive areas of England for a cottage break?

Tourist hotspots such as the Lake District, Cornwall, Devon and Dorset are among the priciest places for a New Year’s Eve cottage break. A three-night stay in a three-bedroom cottage costs around £1,000 in these tourist hotspots - £300 more than in the Peak District.

Prices are also higher in the Home Counties. Hampshire has good availability, but the average price of three nights in a three-bedroom cottage costs a whopping £1,200 - over £500 more than in the Peak District.

Save money by booking a cottage break at Easter instead

No matter where you choose to stay, you could save a bundle by celebrating New Year’s Eve at home and booking a half-term or Easter break instead. Cottage breaks are currently up to 67% cheaper at February half-term and up to 58% cheaper in early April.

For example, the average price of a three-bedroom cottage in the Lake District is £370 per night over New Year’s Eve, but only £120 during winter half-term and £180 at Easter. 

A two-bedroom cottage in Devon is currently £250 per night, on average, for a New Year’s Eve break - compared to £90 at Feb half-term and £130 at Easter. Prices tend to be even cheaper outside of the school holidays.

New Year’s Eve, February half-term and Easter cottage prices compared

Our research

We gathered 9,686 prices for a three-night stay in England from 30 December to 2 January from Cottages.com, Holidaycottages.co.uk, Sykes and Rural Retreats on 8 December. We’ve only included regions with at least 100 small and mid-sized cottages available (up to three bedrooms). We’re not able to gather prices for other parts of the UK at this time.