The Garden Room

Cherwell's countryside sits within easy reach of Oxford, and The Garden Room puts you at the heart of it—a ground-floor annexe on a functioning farm, a few miles from the River Cherwell and the rolling villages that scatter across this part of Oxfordshire. The owners live in the farmhouse next door, but this is your own self-contained space: open-plan living and kitchen flowing into a double bedroom with ensuite, plus a designated sitting area in the garden where you can watch the seasons change. One car can park on site, and there's a bike store if you want to explore on two wheels.

The kitchen has an electric oven, hob, microwave and washing machine, so you can cook properly or keep things simple. Heating and hot water are taken care of, along with bed linen, towels and wi-fi. A welcome pack arrives to get you started. The no-smoking policy applies throughout. What matters most: the space is yours alone, the pitch is quiet, and Oxford's colleges and river are less than an hour away, but the real draw here is the slower pace—Otmoor nature reserve is a few miles off, the Oxfordshire Way passes through nearby villages, and farm shops and country pubs punctuate the lanes around Noke and Islip.