Call it glamping. Call it off-grid self-catering. Call it whatever you like because within minutes of arriving at Harvest Moon Holidays, we predict you’ll be calling it paradise. This seriously cool site offers seven beachside cabins in the sleepy region of East Lothian, a wonderland of epic sandy beaches, golf courses and cute wee farm shops and cafes. It may be less than an hour from Edinburgh, but it feels more remote, a feeling accentuated by the final bumpy drive down through the fields.
Park up then say goodbye to your car and the rest of the modern world. Slip past the towering pines and treehouses (bookable elsewhere) to reach this site’s off-grid beach cabins. Positioned in a field just behind the dunes of Tyninghame Beach, they are styled like safari lodges and have a bit of ‘Out of Africa’ romance about them. From the veranda outside, there are sweeping vistas over farmland and epic sand dunes. Inside, they sleep up to eight in proper beds – including the impossibly cute cupboard bed. You'll also find a woodburning stove, a proper toilet and a shower that’s better than most guests have at home. And although it's off-grid, the essentials of modern life are accommodated for by way of solar powered charging for phones and devices and ice bottles for the provided cool box.
Go for a clamber up the dune to take in the views of the coast, from Bass Rock in the north down to the ruined castle of Dunbar on the promontory to the south. This south-east coast of Scotland must be the least visited part of the country. Most folk coming from the south, from the Romans to the English armies, have made a beeline for Edinburgh without bothering to stop – unless, of course, there was a Scottish army standing in their way. But there are plenty of reasons to explore this stretch of coast: cliffs, castles, sandy bays and battlefields plus a Domesday directory of ancient villages.
Parents can sit on the deck and watch their children forget all about TVs and electronic gadgets. Soon they are lost in a world awash with chickens, rabbits and geese, with horses and ponies in the nearby fields. Then there’s the site’s woodland to explore and, of course, the beach. And what an epic miles-long beach it is in camping, glamping paradise.
