How to Plan the Perfect Romantic Getaway in Saffron Walden, Essex
- Jul 1
- 4 min read
Planning a romantic getaway in Essex? Here’s how to do it properly… from a private copper bath on a farm that has been here since 1560, to a medieval market town five miles down the road.
Your Romantic Getaway Starts…
The copper bath takes about ten minutes to fill. You will know when it is ready because the steam starts to move differently in the evening air.
Everything gets slower.
The farmland beyond goes quiet as nature settles in for the night.
Those are the moments when you’ll find yourself thinking… we should have done this sooner!
That’s how it feels to stay at Pepples Farm.
The frustrations of daily life slip away, replaced by the unhurried satisfaction of being somewhere with nowhere else to go!
Pepples Farm sits on the Essex and Cambridgeshire border, five miles from the historic market town of Saffron Walden. A working arable farm since 1560, with two barn conversion cottages and two secluded cabins, acres of rewilded land, and private outdoor copper baths on the terrace.
Planning a romantic getaway in Essex doesn’t need to be complicated. But it is worth doing right… and that’s where we can help.
Choosing Your Base
The cottages
The barn-converted cottages carry a piece of Pepples Farm history. We’ve focused on exposing the beams, uncovering the old stone and enhancing the heritage of the building. It was important to us to give these buildings a new lease of life while keeping their charm.
They feel lived-in and familiar, in the best kind of way. Not new and untouchable, but warm, homely and full of character. If the idea of a place with genuine history appeals to you both, this is where to start.
The cabins
The cabins sit further into the landscape. More private. More enclosed by nature just outside the doorstep. The farmland comes right up to them. There is a quality of silence out there, in the early morning especially, that is worth seeking out deliberately. If what you want is to feel genuinely removed from everything, the cabins will do that and more.
Both options have king-size beds, wood burners, vaulted ceilings, and that copper bath waiting outside. The atmosphere is special and the moment you arrive, you’ll feel a world away.
The Copper Bath
It is worth saying that the experience of the outdoor copper bath makes it one of the key reasons most people book. There’s nothing like sharing it with your favourite book, glass or wine or favourite person.
Each unit has its own set outside, with open farmland views in every direction.
No one is looking in.
No noise from anywhere other than the rustling of trees and noises of nature.
The experience of lowering yourself into a copper bath at dusk, under the Essex skyline, is genuinely hard to replicate and is the kind of experience that stays with you long after the rest has faded.
Plan it for the right moment. Early evening, before dinner, when the light is still warm but starting to drop. Bring your favourite companion and let the rest of the night arrange itself.
Saffron Walden: A Town Worth a Morning Stroll
Five miles from the farm, Saffron Walden is a medieval market town steeped in history. The streets are still lined with timber-framed buildings. The elaborate pargetting on the Old Sun Inn in Church Street is the kind of detail that stops people mid-step. Bridge End Garden is a restored Victorian formal garden near the centre of town, free to enter, and genuinely lovely. There’s so much to see and mixing it up with a visit to a local cafe will make your morning stroll one of your best yet.
Audley End House and Gardens
One mile west of the town, Audley End is one of England's finest Jacobean houses. The grounds were landscaped by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, and the formal parterre at the rear of the house is the kind of garden that makes you walk more slowly without realising it. The Victorian walled kitchen garden, with over 120 varieties of apple and 40 types of pear, is a place to spend longer than planned, especially if you are a keen gardener.
With your morning here followed by an afternoon back at the farm, you’ll feel the kind of satisfied tired that only comes with a relaxing day exploring out and about with your favourite person.
Saffron Grange Vineyard
A small, family-run vineyard a short drive from the town. Worth visiting for a tour and a tasting, and definitely worth picking up a bottle to take back to the outdoor wood burner.
The Pepples Farm Estate
Most guests underestimate how much time they will spend simply walking the land.
The farm has been here since 1560. After a great deal of effort to rewild the land, everything is beginning to recover. The ponds have been restored. Nature is returning. Red kites circle overhead throughout the day. Deer move through the estate at dusk. Guests have the run of acres of farmland with no one around and nowhere else to be.
A walk here can turn into an hour. Nature lovers discover wildlife they haven’t seen since they were children. These are not add-ons to a stay at Pepples Farm, but are nature itself rewilding you… and are the reason so many return time and time again.
If You Are Marking an Occasion
Anniversaries. Birthdays. Something worth celebrating, or simply a deliberate pause in an ordinary year that has been moving too fast. Pepples Farm suits all of these, and gift vouchers are available to buy directly if you want to give a stay as a gift rather than visit yourself… although we would encourage both!
The farm is under an hour from London Liverpool Street on a Friday evening. Close enough to reach without drama. Far enough that by Saturday morning, the city feels like a distant memory.
Reserve Your Dates
There are so many reasons to book a stay.
Two barn cottages.
Two secluded cabins.
A copper bath outside each one.
Five miles from Saffron Walden.
Under an hour from London.
Acres of rewilded Essex countryside on a historic farm that has been here, in one form or another, since 1560.
We’d love to welcome you for your next romantic getaway at pepplesfarm.co.uk.
