14 dreamy UK holiday cottages with swimming pools

This nineteenth-century Cotswold stone barn is surrounded by peaceful Oxfordshire countryside. You won’t need to venture far to embrace your natural surroundings. There’s a natural swimming pond just outside the back door – a happy middle ground between your local lido and wild swimming – for cooling down in summer or making use of your wetsuit in the winter. 

A grand beamed home in a leafy part of Kent, The Sanctuary really is just that. On fair-weather days, there are huge gardens, a patio for BBQs and a sizable pool for splashing around in, plus a pool house with garden games in case things turn grey.

A cute little studio in the lush Sussex countryside, this rental is petite, but its pool is not. It’s used by one other rental cottage, but there’s more than enough room for you all. There’s also a poolside yoga studio if you want to transition from butterfly stroke to crow pose. 

You won’t forget a stay here in a hurry. Luxe North Rock Beach House is perched on a cliff above Sennen Cove, one of Cornwall’s loveliest beaches. The huge heated pool, surrounded by seating and tropical Cornish plants, has sweeping views of the watery horizon. 

A former farm barn in rural Gloucestershire, Box Barn sleeps 17 comfortably for large-scale escapes. Outside you’ll find a private heated pool that has a handy retractable roof, so that you can still practise your back stroke in a classic English summer downpour.

Like the idea of going all Famous Five and sleeping under canvas but don’t want to totally rough it? These off-grid bell tents in a patch of peaceful woodland have compost loos, firepits and… an indoor, heated swimming pool. The dream.

A glass and timber sun trap built in the 1960s, this holiday cottage will have you thinking you’re in the Californian hills, not the Cotswolds. Keep up the pretence with a dip in your own private swimming pool.

This bright and light cottage in Hampshire might only be a mile or so from the sea, but there’s one good reason to stay put. Most of the rooms open out onto a private pool, which is heated even in the summer months, so you’ve got zero excuse not to jump in at the deep end. 

This rustic Somerset barn near Glastonbury shares its pool with a couple of other rentals – but it’s enormous, and there’s loads more to keep you entertained once you’ve done your lengths, from a pool table to a private hot tub and sauna.

Now, we won’t pretend this place is cheap, but if you’ve got cash to spend and like your holidays to look like they’re straight out of an architecture mag, Linea is the one. Set in a dramatic spot, high above the Atlantic in north Devon, this dreamy rental (which sleeps 10) boasts a super-stylish vibe and the kind of infinity pool people fly to Bali for.

You get bumper views from this cute little cottage on the Welsh-English border. It looks out over miles of verdant countryside – plus the pool just beyond the front door. Heated from June until August, the pool sits in three acres of private garden.

An idyllic-looking English cottage within daytripping distance of the north Norfolk coastline, this rental comes with its own private, heated swimming pool framed by neat decking and tall hedges. On a sunny day, you’ll have a hard time believing you’re not on the Med.

Just off of Fistral Beach in Cornwall’s Newquay, this enormous rental – it sleeps 24 – cashes in on the area’s surfy atmosphere with a private pool, colourful bean bags, hot tub, poolside bar and giant BBQ for refuelling after a day catching waves (or at least attempting to).

Don’t trust the Great British Summer to provide suitable rays? We’re not sure we blame you. So for guaranteed fun in the pool, book the Cider Barn. The stunning indoor pool is surrounded by glass, with views out over the Devon countryside. And if the sun does shine, the beaches of Salcombe and Slapton are a quick drive away.