A Weekend Of Rest And Relaxation At Cuckoo Down Farm, Devon

Over the years I’ve done a lot of camping from my school Duke of Edinburgh trips through to festivals over the years and I have to admit I’m kind of over it. I’d much rather have a proper bed, the ability to relax somewhere comfortable and the amenities of showers so glamping seemed like a great hybrid to me.

Cuckoo Down Farm is located in South Devon not far from both Exeter and Exmoor and houses four safari tents and two yurts on a farm site and last weekend I headed down there with Luke for a weekend of relaxation and rest.

We’d opted to turn up at Cuckoo Down Farm first thing Saturday morning as opposed to Friday evening due to travel and traffic plans and due to leaving at the ungodly hour of 6am we made great time and rocked up at the farm around 10am. Owner John was on hand to let us know which tent we’d be in (which turned out to be the only empty one left) and explain a few bits about what to expect then it was time for us to drive down the gravel path to unload before bringing our car back to the car park for our trip.

I have to admit I was pretty blown away by the size of the safari tent when we drove up, it had no feel of a ‘tent’ to it and in reality looked even bigger than the images I’ve looked at on the Cuckoo Down Farm website. The safari tents sleep up to six people with two bedrooms (one twin and one double) and then a pull out sofa bed so with two people we were rolling about in space. I understand why all the other safari tents were taken up by families and their kids as the space was perfect for them and their kids.

When we first unzipped the front of the tent I noticed the shabby chic style interior and it looked even cuter and cosier than the images online made out from cosy rugs on the wooden flooring through to the multicoloured dining table chairs.

Over the weekend we went it was unbelievably hot so we actually spent quite a good chunk of our trip lounging in the living area trying not to drown in sweat and it was so comfortable with a double sofa, a single chair and a double sofa bed, not to mention the dining table chairs. Even if you had the full six people there you’d all be comfortable for seating.

In the living room was a beautiful wood burner along with the first batch of wood (more could be purchased onsite) but due to the heat we didn’t even think about lighting this up. I can imagine how cosy and warm this would be in the winter time and even though I’d never think of glamping during the colder weather I’d love to see how it feels then.

There was a fully working kitchen housed in the safari tent which had fresh drinkable water which was even cold making our weekend much more refreshing. A gas stove was housed inside so you could boil a kettle or use it to heat up food, something which we took full of advantage of all weekend, although there is the option that you can take your own BBQ which might have been nice.

I was amazed at how well stocked the kitchen was from pans and bowls to cutlery and plates and they were such good quality. I don’t know about you but I hadn’t expected such a well stocked kitchen even down to tea bags and mini milk so I was seriously impressed. As the site tries to be as ‘eco’ as possible there were recycling bins in the tent which you could then add to the appropriate bin located at the bottom of the field so we felt less guilty about making far more food than we could handle.

By the main Cuckoo Down Farm house there was use of fridge/ freezer space with a separate one per tent meaning you don’t have to worry about people pinching your dinner. In the tent itself there’s a cool box which you could add the ice inserts too and keep stuff cool in your tent which is what we did.

As I said earlier my main issue with camping is the fact that I get back ache when sleeping on the floor but that wasn’t a worry in the safari tent at Cuckoo Down Farm as the beds are proper traditional wooden beds. It was a little warm so it took a little while to get comfy and a lie in wasn’t quite as easy but was due to the sun and heat and nothing to do with the beds. We slept in the double bedroom which had a dresser making it perfect to store the towels and things in there and the twin bedroom was a nice cosy size as well.

Around the back of the safari tents are two sheds, one which houses a compost toilet and sink which only differs from a traditional toilet in that you don’t flush it you pop a scoop of wood shavings down there and close the lid, nice and simple. In the second slightly larger tent there was a fully working gas shower which was an absolute godsend to cool me down after the intense heat and slight sun burn that I was left with *oops*.

If you’re in a yurt you have access to a toilet and shower and just need to walk up to the main Cuckoo Down Farm house and use ones situated there which considering it’s only a few min walk was still great.

One thing we did do a lot during our weekend was a spot of pampering. I took along a face mask or two alongside some feet and eye masks so I could properly enough the relax. Meanwhile Luke took some of the mini beard oils* from the image above which some from Cool Stuff and are absolutely perfect for travelling. The 24 mini bottles each have a different scent from sandalwood and lavender to lemongrass and rosemary, each one was beautiful and you got around 1-2 uses out of each vile depending on how liberally you applied it.

As the site is on farm land one thing I did notice straight away was how far apart all of the tents and yurts were giving you a real sense of privacy especially if you wanted to lounge outside in the sunshine away from prying eyes. As there were quite a few families around we barely heard any noise so didn’t feel disturbed at any point which was nice both for us and for them when we chose to play some music on our terrace outside.

With a bench, a picnic table and plenty of chairs there were no shortage of space so we took full advantage of that and brought a selection of board games with us which meant we could take over the table with our games and still have space to sit and eat and drink alongside it.

Me and Luke really don’t spend enough time outside, or enough time just relaxing and chilling so despite the fact that the area has so much to offer and the farmyard itself had beautiful walks we decided to just spend the time exclusively in and around our safari tent because when you have an area so functional and pretty why wouldn’t you?

On Cuckoo Down Farm itself there’s chances for kids to get pony rides, meet some of the animals on site and just roam the grounds but relaxing was number one on our to do list and after three days that’s exactly what we got at Cuckoo Down Farm.

Have you ever been glamping?

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