Large Holiday Cottages in Lincolnshire

Large holiday cottages Lincolnshire: where should your group stay?

Lincolnshire is a big county, and our holiday cottages in Lincolnshire fall into three clear parts of it: the farming villages a few miles back from the beaches, the Lincolnshire Wolds with the cathedral city to their west, and the flat, open countryside of the south around Sleaford, Spalding and Stamford. Each suits a different kind of group, so pick the area first and the cottage second.

Sand and arcades, or walks and a cathedral? Start there.

The Lincolnshire coast: Wainfleet, Burgh le Marsh and the villages near Alford

Most of the big seaside cottages aren't on the seafront at all. They sit in quiet rural villages inland, so you get a garden and a long kitchen table, then a short drive to the sand. There are 18 big cottages around Skegness and six more near Mablethorpe and Sutton on Sea.

• Biggest: Northolme Hall at Wainfleet sleeps 20 guests in 11 bedrooms, with a swimming pool, a games room and a cinema room (no pets)
• With pets: The Paddock sleeps 14 guests with a hot tub, and Welton House near Welton le Marsh sleeps 12
• Near the sand: Seacroft Lodge sleeps 10 in five bedrooms, and the lodge is a ten minute walk from the sea
• Best for: a family holiday with buckets and spades, Fantasy Island at Ingoldmells and Anderby Creek's sandy dunes

Dunholme, Welton and Lincoln

Five miles north-east of Lincoln, on a peaceful lane in the countryside near Dunholme, ten barns and cottages sit within a few hundred metres of each other. Each sleeps 10 guests in five bedrooms with five or more bathrooms, each has its own tub, and the lane runs down to a wildflower meadow and a nature reserve. Book two or three side by side and a reunion of 20 or 30 can still eat together every night, a rare luxury at that size.

Then it's into town for the cathedral, the castle walls and the cobbles of Steep Hill, with pubs all the way down. See all 13 cottages at Dunholme and the big cottages in and around Lincoln.

• Best for: big birthdays, friends after a break with a tub and a night out, and anyone arriving by train

The Lincolnshire Wolds: Louth, Horncastle and Market Rasen

The Lincolnshire Wolds National Landscape is the county's surprise: rolling chalk hills, long views over deep green valleys and quiet lanes for walking and cycling.

• Biggest: Brockdale Barn sleeps 14 with six bathrooms, a hot tub and a games room, and Woody's Top next door sleeps 10, so the pair takes 24 of you!
• Room to swim: Mill House Farm near Horncastle sleeps 11 with a pool and a cinema room, and Moortown House north of Market Rasen sleeps 12
• Best for: walking groups, three generations of one family and a calm weekend, with Market Rasen racecourse and Louth's market close by

Browse the cottages around Louth for more.

Woodhall Spa, Tattershall and Coningsby

This little corner packs a lot in. There's the red brick tower of Tattershall Castle, the Spitfires in the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight hangar at Coningsby, and the Kinema in the Woods at Woodhall Spa, an old cinema tucked away in the pinewoods. Dovedale Cottage in Coningsby sleeps eight with a tub.

South Lincolnshire: Sleaford, Spalding and Stamford

Big skies, flat fields and less traffic. South of Sleaford, Abbotts Farm sleeps 18 in eight bedrooms and five bathrooms, with a pool, a tub and a games room, and it takes pets. Just outside Spalding, Cawood Hall sleeps 16 with an enclosed garden. Grantham House sleeps 15 a mile from the town centre, with Belton House a short drive north and Stamford a short way down the A1. There are also five big cottages near Grantham and six around Boston.

The biggest group accommodation in Lincolnshire side by side

These are the ten biggest pieces of holiday accommodation on our books, with the numbers that matter when you're planning rooms.

Only four cottages in the county take 16 or more. Need room for 20 plus? Book two neighbours at Dunholme or in the Wolds rather than hunt for the one place that fits.

Tubs, wood burners and pets

Bubbles and wet days

Lincolnshire does bubbles well. 43 of our 67 cottages here have a hot tub, nine have a pool and 20 have a games room for a wet afternoon. Wood burners are common too, in 36 of them, and that's the small luxury you'll want after a cold beach walk in winter.

Pets and the beaches

54 cottages are pet friendly, but the main beaches aren't. From 1 May to 30 September dogs are banned from the sand at Skegness, Mablethorpe and Sutton on Sea, with leads on the promenades, and from 200 metres either side of the main pullover at Chapel St Leonards. Ingoldmells South Beach and Saltfleetby's dunes stay open to them all year. Eight cottages have an enclosed garden, which helps with toddlers and terriers alike.

Planning a trip to see the seal pups at Donna Nook? Leave the pets at the cottage. They aren't allowed in the viewing area.

Days out in Lincolnshire that work for 10 or more

• Lincoln Cathedral and the castle: walk the walls, see the Magna Carta, then climb Steep Hill for lunch
• Gibraltar Point: three miles of dunes, saltmarsh and bird hides, with a cafe on stilts
• Donna Nook: grey seals pup right by the fence from November into December
• Battle of Britain Memorial Flight: weekday hangar tours, no booking needed

Getting to Lincolnshire

Trains from London King's Cross reach Lincoln in under two hours and Grantham in just over an hour, and an hourly train from Nottingham runs through Grantham and Boston to the sea. Most cottages are in villages, though, so plan the practical bits before you go:

• bring cars and check the parking space at the cottage
• book taxis back from the pub before you head out
• get a supermarket delivery for the first night

When to go and what it costs

Summer is for the beach, spring and autumn for the Wolds, and November for seal pups. Prices start from around £50 a night, and a typical big cottage costs about £246 a night, roughly £25 each split between ten. The large holiday cottages Lincolnshire families book first are the ones sleeping 14 or more, so for August, book a year ahead.