Cabin in the Woods (2026)

For Valentine’s Day, my boyfriend and I decided to spend the weekend in a cabin in the woods. No signal, no neighbours, not even a toilet that flushes! Ironically, right before going I had actually been reading a thriller in which six friends book to stay in a cabin in the woods and one by one disappear, but luckily that wasn’t the vibe I was getting from our cabin. The cabin was based just one and a half hours from London and had been recommended by a friend. I’ve previously stayed in a shepherd’s hut and even an old dairy so I felt very comfortable with the idea of being confined to a small space in nature. 

The added benefit of this place was that everything was designed to allow you to ‘switch off’ from city life, which is exactly what we wanted.

Friday

We left London straight after work on the Friday and drove the hour and a half to the South Downs, our home for the weekend. It was a very chill drive for the most part, although it was dark and there were a few country roads at the end but luckily I didn’t meet anyone coming in the opposite direction. In fact, we spotted a tiny bunny crossing the road, which was cute. 

We lost signal as we were approaching our destination, but we’d been given very detailed instructions on how to arrive and check-in, so felt confident that we’d find our way. As we parked up, we spotted signs to three neighbouring cabins nearby, then we located our assigned wheelbarrow to carry all of our luggage in. There were signs leading us to our cabin and we managed to check-in without any issues. One feature that I thought was very clever and hadn’t seen before was that the key within the lockbox was attached to a retractable tether, allowing it to lock and unlock the cabin door but not allowing anyone to pocket it.

We scoped out the cabin and were pleased to find everything we could possibly need. There was drinking water, a radio, a small fridge, and a fireplace. My boyfriend immediately got to building a fire for us to warm up, and we were entertained to learn that although we’d been supplied with wooden logs, we’d have to split them in order to make kindling for the fire. My boyfriend headed outside to split the logs, whilst I unpacked the food that we’d brought for the weekend. 

The cabin quickly warmed up and so we enjoyed our dinner: pesto pasta with sundries tomatoes and extra Parmesan. We spent the evening playing board games (namely Jaipur, Monopoly Deal and Nacho Stack) whilst sipping on hot chocolates with marshmallows, which was dreamy. Funnily enough, the cabin had a CD with a song that my boyfriend introduced me to, Darlin’ by the Beach Boys, so we played the CD on the radio player throughout the evening. 

Throughout February, I challenged myself to walk a certain amount each day (i.e. ‘close my ring’) and I hadn’t yet done this today, so I dragged my boyfriend out with me into the woods for a quick walkies. I’ve always been creeped out by pitch black darkness and despite having a torch, I was still quite on edge, but alas I managed to close my ring so I was a happy girl. 

We then got into our toasty little cabin and crawled into the king-sized bed, which was very welcomed after a long week of work. There were two huge windows surrounding the bed, and I was excited to see the view in the daylight. 

Saturday

I awoke to the sun shining through the blinds into the room and opened the blinds to discover a gorgeous woodland view under a blue sky. Despite it being mid-February, the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in sight. We’d slept well as the bed was very comfortable and the room had remained warm throughout the night. We exchanged Valentines gifts, which were very thoughtful and a wonderful start to the day, and then set about making breakfast. 

My boyfriend wrapped up warm and then headed out into the sunshine to split some logs and get a bonfire going so that we could cook a fry up. I tried my hand at splitting logs, and found it quite fun in the sun, but quickly lost interest and went back inside to make our coffee. I was shocked to find coffee beans in the tin instead of ground or instant coffee, but I was up to the challenge and ground the beans (for the first time) before using the cafetière. The coffee was absolutely delicious, and tasted even better outside in the cold. 

The full English took a little while but was absolutely fabulous and the perfect start to the morning. I couldn’t get over the fact that my boyfriend had cooked it over a bonfire and was very impressed. He’d also split enough logs so that we’d have enough to last us the rest of the weekend (for both cooking and keeping up warm).  

After a quick shower (which was surprisingly nice), we washed up and then went on a woodland walk, as recommended by the cabin hosts. Ironically, the only way to access the route was by using Strava, but the point of the cabin was to ‘switch off’ and so there was minimal signal. Eventually, we managed to find the route and set off on what we thought would be a ~7km walk. We passed many a gorgeous house, petted a few dogs, and spotted sheep, horses, pheasants, and ducks, which kept the walk interesting. That said, there weren’t any viewpoints and it was very muddy in places so our shoes were filthy by the time we got home. Whilst being an enjoyable walk in nature, it wasn’t particularly stunning, and it was closer to 10km than 7km, so we only got back around two and a half hours later and were very much ready for lunch. 

Alongisde the fire-pit outside, the cabin was also equipped with a small gas hob, and since we were hungry we decided to forgo the bonfire outside and quickly make some chicken tacos on the hob for lunch. I’d never had these before but they were incredibly delicious and very quick to make. My boyfriend then introduced me to a hot water bottle for the first time, and although it took me a while to see the benefits, once I understood it I was a changed woman and to this day still use one often! I made myself a loose leaf tea and then we chilled and read in bed for the remainder of the afternoon, which was lovely since we seldom have the time to do that! 

Once the sun began to set, my boyfriend headed outside to build another fire in the fire-pit and we shared a bottle of wine over the sunset and chatted with the background noise of the crackling fire, which was lovely. Eventually, we made some dinner on the bonfire, specifically salmon with cavolo nero and tenderstem broccoli with a soy lime dressing, which was absolutely incredible and I was very impressed with. 

Something I was super excited to do over the weekend was roasting marshmallows over the open fire and making s’mores with them, and this was the next thing we did. They were delicious and the whole evening over the bonfire was lovely. After washing up, my boyfriend built another fire inside to keep us warm throughout the night and we read in bed with fresh hot water bottles until we fell asleep.

Sunday

Contrary to the previous day, we awoke to the light tapping of rain falling on the cabin roof and when we pulled up the blinds, the skies were cloudy. 

My boyfriend made us some (freshly ground) coffee and filled up the hot water bottles once again (as you can see, I was obsessed) and we sat in bed reading for a few hours with the sound of rainfall in the background. We then showered and turned the radio on whilst we prepped our breakfast on the hob, comprising half a sausage sandwich each and scrambled eggs on toast with avocado. The fire alarm went off twice during this process, which kept us on our toes, and after packing our bags and washing up, we still had some time to play a game before check-out at 1pm. We enjoyed tea and minstrels over a few games of Monopoly Deal, and then we loaded up the wheelbarrow and walked back to our car. 

The weekend was very relaxing and the perfect way to enjoy some quality time together without any distractions, which is what Valentine’s Day is all about!