Farm Stay With Pool: Where Kids Can Swim

Which farm stay with pool access suits your family?

Most self catering cottages with an indoor heated swimming pool are in Suffolk, Norfolk or North Yorkshire, often with on site facilities like a games room, a playground and a row of converted barns for a group of families. A Feather Down farmstay is different. You sleep in a canvas lodge with a wood-burning stove and no electricity, so a swim is a treat on top of the farm activities, not the whole family holiday. That suits a family who'd rather feed the animals than watch telly. Here's where you'll find the water on our off-grid glamping farms.

Moor Farm: an indoor swimming pool in the barn

Wendy and Richard run a regenerative livestock farm in quiet countryside south-west of Gloucester, and they love showing a family round on the farm tour. The pool sits in the communal barn, which is handy on a wet afternoon. It's open daily from 9am to 7pm between 18 April and 27 September, and you book one-hour slots on arrival for an extra charge. Grab a morning slot on day one and plan the week around it.

The rest of the break is proper farm life, with a farm animal to meet round every corner. Kids meet the cows, calves, goats and ponies, can bottle feed lambs in spring and spend hours building dens in the woods. Pizza evenings bring everyone together, with homemade cider for the grown-ups. There are seven canvas lodges: five with a hot outdoor shower from £250 and two with an en-suite shower from £260. Dogs are welcome.

Want an outdoor dip on a hot day? Stroud's Stratford Park Lido is about 18 minutes' drive away. It nearly stayed shut in 2026 until the council paid for repairs, so check Stroud District Council's lido news first. Moor Farm is on our farms in the Cotswolds page too, or check its dates on Feather Down.

Billingsmoor Farm, DevonMeet the calves, cows, dogs. Sleeps up to 10. Stays from £450.

Check dates

Wild swimming glamping in Wales and Shropshire

Would your kids rather swim in a lake? Two farms have open water on the doorstep, ideal for an older family that likes a bit of adventure.

Pant y March, Bala

Around 300 Welsh Mountain ewes graze this sheep farm above Llyn Tegid, the largest natural lake in Wales. The quiet shore at Llangywer is about 1.5 km on foot, so a dip before breakfast is easy. The water is cold and deep near the edges in places, so read the Eryri National Park advice for open water and keep children close.

Afterwards, warm up in the farm's bookable cabin, which takes four or five people and heats in about 45 minutes. Lodges start at £275, or £335 with a private hot tub, and dogs are welcome. There's also a walking path 4 km to the village pub, so the whole family can leave the car parked and ride back on the narrow-gauge railway. More Welsh farms are on our farmstays in Wales page.

Upper Shadymoor, near Shrewsbury

Joy and Kevan have their own lake, a great family break for confident swimmers. The water package covers lake swims, kayaks, paddleboards, the "whoosh" and a hot tub, and Feather Down says many guests rate it the highlight of their stay. All six lodges have an en-suite shower, from £400, and older kids can try a pony craft session.

Good to know: Upper Shadymoor doesn't take dogs.

Seaside farms near a lido or beach

Treganhoe sits in the hills near Sancreed, about 12 minutes' drive from Jubilee Pool, Penzance's art deco seawater lido. Its geothermal section is heated to about 28 to 30°C, a relaxing swim when the sea feels chilly. The farm has eight lodges with en-suite showers and homemade meals to order, from £480 (no dogs). See our Cornwall farmstays page for more family holiday ideas by the sea.

In Dorset, East Shilvinghampton is about 14 minutes from Weymouth Beach, where the sand shelves gently into the bay. There's a sauna pod, a train station nearby, alpacas to walk and dogs are welcome, from £176. Our Dorset farmstays page has more.

Is a hot tub a better bet?

Outside the summer, often yes. Eight of our farms have lodges with a private hot tub, including Pant y March, Billingsmoor Farm in Devon and Gwel Teg near Looe, and they work all year. It's a relaxing end to a countryside holiday in any month. Compare them on our farms with a hot tub page, or see farm holidays for families for the animal side.

What to pack for a farm holiday with a swim

Lodges have no electricity, so wet kit dries slowly. Pack more than you think.

When to go

For Moor Farm, aim for Easter, May half term or the summer holidays, since the pool shuts after 27 September. Lakes are coldest in spring and warmest in late August. At October half term, book a lodge with a hot tub instead, or check Jubilee Pool's winter times if you're heading to Cornwall. Still deciding which suits your family? Compare all our farms side by side.

Compare the farms

Guest scores and review counts are from Feather Down's own farm pages. "Stays from" is the lowest price in Feather Down's feed for a sample stay; your dates will differ.

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