Why choose Happy Valley Norfolk for your January getaway?

The warm summer months are known for being the busiest time of the year for UK staycations and lots of individuals, couples and families alike enjoy exploring different parts of the country when the sun is shining. However, the winter months are also a great time to book a getaway, especially one in Norfolk. 

Once you’ve taken down your Christmas decorations and the festivities have come to an end, you should think about booking your next getaway. There are so many benefits to spending a short break away in January to kick off 2025. 

Below we have listed some of the main reasons why you should book a getaway in Norfolk this January. 

Beat the January blues

January is known for being one of the most uninteresting months of the year and once the festive season is over, lots of people feel quite lethargic. Going on holiday is one of the best ways to beat the January blues and a staycation in the Norfolk countryside can lift your spirits and recharge your soul. A weekend away surrounded by nature will give you some time to reflect on the festive period and set some goals or resolutions for the new year, providing all the inspiration you need to kick-start 2025. 

Toad Hall

Sleeps 4 + 2 children

Luxury Lodge - underfloor air source heating, kitchen, king size accommodation, ensuite, treetop balcony, outdoor dining on the sunset decking - Television - Private Wifi - Part disable Friendly/Pram Friendly

Private Electric Hot-Tub

European Leader Grant contributed to some of the building materials for this lodge.

Relax and recharge after the festive period

It’s fair to say that December is an intense month, the majority of people will be very busy at work and also have several social events to attend, giving them no time to relax. If you have been entertaining family and friends over the festive period too, you will likely need a break and booking a January getaway is a great way to recharge your batteries. Spending some time walking through areas of outstanding natural beauty and reading a book by the log burner in our Woodpecker or Keepers Cabin will help you to de-stress so you can tackle whatever the new year brings. 

Keeper’s Cabin

Sleeps 2 + 2 + 1

Hand crafted log cabin in the woods. King Size beds, fully functional Kitchen, indoor dining, log burner, heating, en-suite. Dvd Player. Wrap around veranda, outdoor seating and fire pit. Private Hot-Tub.

Some 4G coverage outside

Enjoy the peace and quiet

January is in the off-peak season in the travel industry and therefore, popular holiday destinations will be much quieter. It will be easier to book tickets for tourist attractions and tables at restaurants at this time of the year, and you won’t have to contend with lots of other holidaymakers. When you book a stay at Happy Valley Norfolk we provide various recommendations of areas to visit and places to dine that we have tried and tested. You can embrace the peace and quiet of the countryside, and enjoy the tranquillity of your surroundings without bumping into crowds of people. 

King Nutkin

Sleeps 2 - Real King Size Bed

Cosy tree cabin

Kitchenette, King bed & wood burner. Indoor and outdoor dining options. Fire Pit. Private, heated, toilet/shower a short walk away

Some 4G coverage.

Explore new parts of the UK 

Lots of people have a holiday bucket list and booking a January getaway provides you with the opportunity to tick a location off your list. Going on holiday at a quieter time of the year will enable you to explore places you would usually avoid because they’re very busy or expensive in the warmer months. This time of the year is perfect to travel to new places in the UK and stay in areas you wouldn’t usually be able to visit. So why Norfolk? Norfolk is a diverse county with fantastic unspoilt coast and countryside, with great sights, visitor attractions and things to do. There’s also always plenty of events going on. With so much to do it’s hard to narrow down the long list of reasons to visit, so come and see for yourself! 

A Lovely Review For Our Woodpecker Tree Temple

“A beautiful place to stay. So cosy and relaxing. We had lashing rain when we arrived and then bright sun the day after, and The Woodpecker was a lovely place to stay for both. If the weather is rubbish then cosy up with a book and get the wood burner going, and if you get sun then head out on one of the local walks or heat up the hot tub and enjoy the beautiful view. Thank you for a lovely couple of days. We loved staying in The Woodpecker and hope to come back again.”

A huge thank you to Nicola for staying with us and leaving us such a lovely review! Woodpecker is a great cabin for a family of four looking for a woodland escape or even a couple wanting a luxury glamping experience. With a wood fired hot tub to soak the day away in and a sumptuous kingsize bed, you can leave Happy Valley feeling relaxed and refreshed.

Enjoy relaxing in the heart of nature in the wood fired hot tub. To view our other cabins with hot tubs included, click the glamping tab at the top of the page.

The Woodpecker Tree Temple in all it’s woodland glory.

Bring your walking boots and reap the benefits of all the great local area to explore. Picture here is our Willow Island, a renowned wedding ceremony spot.

To book your stay in The Woodpecker Tree Temple or to view what else we have to offer, head over to the glamping section of our website.

"The views are out of this world" A fantastic review for Toad Hall

Toad Hall in all it’s woodland glory

A great cabin for not only staycations and getaways, but is widely loved as our wedding suite.

We are so grateful for this review that came in from our recent guests Carmen & Ben.

“Where do i start! What an amazing place! My fiancé and I just got home from a well needed couple of days away for some pure relaxation and this is the place! If you are pondering on whether to book, ponder no more! Do it! You won’t regret it! beautiful surroundings, definitely recommend the 200 acre wood trail, such a beautiful walk and if you keep going it takes you to a lovely little village. Toad Hall was immaculate, beds and pillows sooo comfy we had the best nights sleep. The views are out of this world, everywhere you look when inside the lodge you are greeted with a stunning view, even in the shower! If you are looking for silence, peace and tranquility this is the place. Nothing beats drinking your morning coffee whilst gazing out of a window with endless trees and views, We are already looking online to book for summer but unfortunately it’s all booked up. The communication was five star with Katy, prompt replies and we even had a box of choccies left on arrival. Thankyou :) A lovely little perk of this stay, if you are unorganised like me, was the kitchen amenities, oil, herbs and spices and everything you would need to cook with, also a lovely array of books and games, perfect for a cozy night in whilst watching the sunset through the main window. It really was a breath taking experience. I cannot fault toad hall in any way I only wish we could book again now for the summer! :( The hot tub was all up to temperature and ready to go as soon as we arrived, was very easy to use and hot tubbing surrounded by trees was a whole new experience for us! It was wonderful! We used it so many times. We went in February 2022 and the temperature in the lodge was so lovely and warm and comfortable. Thank you Katy for making it such a memorable stay Carmen and Ben X”

To book your stay at Happy Valley, head over to the glamping tab.

Halloween at Happy Valley

Follow us behind the scenes to a Halloween Week at Happy Valley. As Hallows’ Eve falls on the week of October Half Term, it is no surprise that our mini mascots are employed to take part in the mischief and mayhem.

The sun has dawned on Summer and now the moon, wide eyed in wonder, looks down at the scene unfolding. Tiny dew drops of rain can be seen building up on cobwebs of woven silk; nature plays its part as spiders and bats are ready to take their role in this spooky festival.

As the cold air lingers and a foggy mist descends, Annie and Barnaby step into their positions magnificently by brewing the potions (tea and hot chocolate!) and preparing the cauldron for a family feast (pumpkin cookies!). With no cat or ghost in sight, Timber the dog is roped into the day’s ritual and as pumpkin is going spare, he is happy to oblige.

Our first call to arms, is to find our coats, wrap up in a layer of protection from the howling winds, and step into the woodland of whispering trees to find the perfect chestnuts and conkers for our collection. We place these and the acorn leaves into the magician’s hat and utter a chant or two.

With spoons and (adult-supervised) knives at the ready, we carve out some fun by etching into the round, plump, pumpkins at our feet. Scraping out the fluffy, orange innards, we scoop this into our pot and place to one side (this will be noted on our post-Halloween-pumpkin-blog). Our future architect and nine-year-old carpenter, picks up his drill and creates a fiery sky of stars by drilling holes into the pumpkin’s thick skin.

Adorned with a witch’s hat and magic at her fingers tips, Annie brings a glimmer of sparkle to nature as leaves and conkers are coated in gold. The shimmery glow coming from the puddle below hints at the evening to come and a cackle echoes in the air, reverberating throughout the land. It’s almost time.

The candles are lit, sparklers ignite, pumpkins are placed, with fairies and sprite. Our two, adorable children transform into Witch and Magician. Skulls’ eyes are aglow and to the new, log cabin we go. Come friend, come foe, come ghost, come all, this year’s Halloween will be the best of them all!

If you would like to join us for a weekend of magic and fun, we have some last minute availability due to a local lockdown for our unfortunate guests:

Availability: Friday 30th October – Monday 2nd November 2020

Cabins: Woodpecker (£395) or Denver Rest and Tawny Hut (£320) - NOW FULLY BOOKED

To book, please contact hello@happyvalleynorfolk.co.uk / 01485600719

With love,

Katy and Kirsty xx

Carry on Glamping...

“Nature itself is the
best source of healing for mental and emotional disorder”

- Paul TP Wong

“A walk in nature,
walks the soul back home”

- Mary Davis

2020 is the year where the world grew silent and its people grew still, where we yearned to touch but remained distant and where the sound of the news broadcast was an unwelcome invasion into our fortress of solitude. We’ve cried, we’ve fretted, we’ve sighed, perhaps we’ve even thrown a thing or two and yet we were the lucky ones. As our doors begin to creek open and we tentatively take our first steps into society again, we wonder what it is we will find and we wonder who it is we will find. Though we are moving forward, we are not moving on and we will not forget the NHS heroes who fought for us, the household members who held onto us or the loved ones who tragically left us.

Pre-pandemic, we were a society who knew the cost of everything but understood the value of nothing. Now, we’ve seen the beauty in the kindness of strangers, we’ve felt national pride watching our community come together and we’ve watched in wonder as the earth has begun to heal and nature has reawakened to the dawn of what we hope will be a new era. How we began 2020 was beyond our control but how we end it, is up to us.

Here at Happy Valley, we invite you to push the reset button and enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

Happy Valley Post-Pandemic

Reflect – curl up on the sofa in our treehouse lodge and look out onto a panoramic vista of nature. Use this time to think about what matters to you, consider how you’ve felt in recent months and how you want your future to look like. Write it all down and then cast it into our log burner and as the fire turns it to ashes, begin to rise up and start again.

Remember – in nature we can bare our soul. Our lake will catch your tears, our trees will hear your cries and our lands will hold you. Nature will remain by your side and will be your quiet companion as you remember those you have loved and those you have lost. There is no right way to think, no correct way to feel; Nature will not judge you, will not report you but it will console you.

Rejuvenate – they say time is a great healer but nothing speaks to us more than walking through the woods and grounding ourselves among trees that have seen a lifetime of loved ones walk our lands and watched every story of our ancestors unfold. It’s here that we feel close to them and here that we feel able to breathe again and ultimately, give ourselves permission to live again.

Reset – we can hurt without having to hide and we can heal in allowing ourselves to find happiness. Embracing the future does not mean forgetting the past. At Happy Valley, we invite families to reconnect and friends to reunite. Hug, sing, dance, laugh.

Hopefully, from the 4th July onwards, our glamping will be open again. Each cabin/tent will have its own private facilities and can only be booked by those who have been isolating in the same house. Extra measures have been put in place so please take a look at our Covid page on the website to see how this may affect your stay.

Our doors will soon be open to welcome you back and we hope we can give you the opportunity to end 2020 in a very different way to how it began.

We can’t wait to see you,

With love,

Katy, Kirsty and the team at Happy Valley xx