Take an Off Grid Break. Where you can escape the digital world

May 12, 2026

How often when you go away you say to yourself “I’m not going to look at my emails or go online” but you can’t resist. Here are some places where you have no choice and really do get away from it all.

1. Stay somewhere without wifi

By Jenny Coad

You don’t need to hand over your phone at a wellness retreat or survive on lentils and silent walks to properly switch off. Sometimes all it takes is staying somewhere without wifi.

That’s the appeal of the historic holiday properties run by The Landmark Trust — extraordinary buildings where the focus is less on screens and more on slowing down, reading, cooking and soaking up the atmosphere.

One of the most sought-after is Clavell Tower, perched dramatically above Kimmeridge Bay in Dorset. The restored tower has no wifi and barely any phone signal either, making it blissfully hard to stay connected. Three nights for two from £981.

Or head further off-grid to Lundy Island, off the north Devon coast, where visitors can stay in one of 23 characterful properties. Electricity is switched off at midnight, so bedtime reading often continues by torchlight. Four nights for two from £470.

After a couple of days away from endless scrolling, you may remember how satisfying life felt before every spare moment disappeared into a screen.

2. Escape to an off-grid cabin

By Ellen Himelfarb

For a generation supposedly glued to screens, plenty of younger travellers are actively looking for ways to disconnect. That’s the thinking behind Unplugged, a collection of off-grid cabins created to help guests properly switch off from the digital world.

Since launching in 2020, the company has opened cabins in more than 20 rural locations across the UK, all within easy reach of major cities yet surrounded by woodland or countryside. Phones are locked away for the minimum three-night stay, removing the temptation to endlessly check notifications.

The cabins are designed for slowing down rather than scrolling, with huge picture windows that let you feel immersed in nature without even leaving bed. One of the newest stays, Helix Cabin, comes with its own sauna and ice bath for an added wellness boost.

Three nights for two from £600, with other cabins from £390.

3. Go off-grid in a National Trust cottage

By Gemma Bowes

Some countryside escapes still feel genuinely cut off from modern life. National Trust Holidays has several cottages without wifi, but few are quite as remote as Bird How.

This traditional stone cottage sits deep in Eskdale in the Lake District, surrounded by rugged gardens and peaceful, empty fells. Phone signal exists only in theory — usually after a determined uphill walk, while balancing on a rock and waving your mobile around hopefully. It’s far easier to simply stop trying.

Bird How encourages a slower, more old-fashioned kind of stay. There’s electricity, but no conventional bathroom. Instead, guests attach a showerhead to the kitchen tap and wash outside in the yard — surprisingly enjoyable once you surrender to the simplicity of it all.

Two nights for four from £247.

4. Switch off in cabins and bothies

For a proper digital detox, off-grid cabins and remote bothies make it wonderfully easy to disappear for a few days.

Canopy & Stars has plenty of unplugged escapes, including the timber-clad Hütte at Hinterlandes, tucked into the fells near Crummock Water and Loweswater. There’s a wood-burner and even a battery pack for music, but no wifi or phone signal to distract you. Two nights for two from £299.

Its Ty Bach Bothy offers outdoor bathing, a hot tub and easy access to the famous bookshops of Hay-on-Wye — ideal if you want your entertainment to come in paperback form instead of via a screen. One night for two from £154.

Meanwhile Kip Hideaways has a dedicated collection of “digi detox” cabins, including Black Rhadley, hidden among the dramatic rocky tors of Nipstone Rock Nature Reserve. Two nights for two from £340.

For something even wilder, Scotland’s network of remote bothies offers the ultimate escape from notifications and emails. Mountain Bothies Association lists shelters across the Highlands for adventurous walkers willing to trade comfort for complete solitude.

Off Grid Europe

5. Escape to a mountain village in Spain

By Chris Haslam

If you want a family holiday where weak signal is part of the appeal, head for Soto de Sajambre in the spectacular Picos de Europa National Park.

Home to barely 60 residents, the tiny mountain village sits beside the Águera River beneath the towering Peña Santa and is famous for being one of Spain’s least-connected places — ideal if you’d rather swap notifications for mountain views.

Families can stay at El Encanto de Picos de Europa, where converted cowsheds have been transformed into whimsical holiday homes packed with thoughtful touches for children. The Tree House and the new Goblin’s House feature travel cots, highchairs and even a spiral slide in the children’s bedroom, while the garden feels lifted from a fairytale. There is wifi available, but the owners are perfectly happy to switch it off completely.

A week for four from £673. Fly or take the ferry to Santander.

6. Go fully off-grid in Sweden

By Ellen Himelfarb

Even by Swedish standards, Fabriken Furillen feels wonderfully remote. Set on a former industrial site in the far north of the Baltic island of Gotland, the minimalist retreat specialises in stripping life back to basics.

Its aptly named Hermit Cabin has no wifi, phone reception, electricity or running water — just silence, rugged landscapes and 1,400 acres of wild coastline to explore. Days are spent swimming in icy water, cycling through the wilderness or simply doing very little at all.

Guests return to the main hotel by bicycle for breakfast and showers, but otherwise the experience is about embracing isolation and the strange relief that comes from being temporarily unreachable.

Three nights’ B&B from £534. Fly to Visby.

7. Stay in a mountain chalet in Austria

By Gemma Bowes

For Alpine hideaways that feel untouched by modern life, Almliesl is packed with remote Austrian cabins and chalets, many without electricity, wifi or reliable phone signal.

One of the most enchanting is Josef Kreidl Hütte near Jochberg in the Tyrol. Hidden deep in a wooded valley, the tiny chalet feels lifted from a storybook, with a warm timber kitchen lit by gas lamps, a giant stove and a creaking staircase leading to a loft bedroom tucked beneath the eaves.

Despite its isolation, a forest track links the hut to the nearest village. In winter, guests can even ski down through icicle-covered woodland to reach the buses serving the slopes around Kitzbühel. Outside ski season, the appeal is hiking, mountain biking and the simple pleasure of sitting quietly among the trees.

One night for five from £75. Fly to Salzburg or Innsbruck.

8. Retreat to a monastery-inspired hideaway in Italy

By Ellen Himelfarb

Even finding Eremito feels like part of the retreat. Guests follow hand-painted signs down rough dirt tracks before being guided along the final stretch to this remote stone sanctuary hidden in the Umbrian countryside.

Modelled on a traditional monastery, Eremito is designed for complete disconnection. There are no televisions, phones or wifi, and the simple rooms — styled as monastic “cells” — encourage quiet reflection rather than digital distraction.

The atmosphere may be spiritual, but comfort hasn’t been sacrificed. Handmade hemp bedding, underfloor heating and candlelit Mediterranean dinners give the retreat a luxurious edge, while a steam room and hot tub carved into the rock provide plenty of opportunity to unwind.

All-inclusive doubles from £252. Fly to Rome or Perugia.

9. Unwind in the Wicklow wilderness

By Ellen Himelfarb

After years spent working in tech, Rosanna Irwin decided to step away from constant connectivity and create somewhere others could do the same. The result is Samsu, a pair of beautifully designed off-grid cabins hidden in the countryside of County Wicklow.

Built for slowing down properly, the cabins come with outdoor baths, crackling fire pits, a sauna and even Polaroid cameras loaded with film — encouraging guests to capture memories without reaching for a phone.

The focus here is on simple pleasures: lighting the fire, soaking beneath the trees and embracing a few days free from endless notifications and screen time.

Two nights’ room only from £346. Fly to Dublin.

Further Afield

10. Disconnect in the Canadian wilderness

By Ellen Himelfarb

Deep in the remote wilderness of Vancouver Island, Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge offers an off-grid escape on a spectacular seven-mile fjord surrounded by dense rainforest and mountains.

Phone signal is virtually non-existent and Wi-Fi is limited to the canvas suites, making it easy to forget about emails and notifications altogether. Instead, days are spent exploring the wild landscape with expert guides on bear-watching trips, kayaking excursions and foraging hikes through the temperate rainforest. Sea lions drift through nearby waters while evenings revolve around fine dining, fireside drinks and spa treatments.

It may be remote, but this is wilderness with serious luxury attached.

Three nights’ all-inclusive from £5,136, including a massage. Fly to Vancouver.

11. Chase the northern lights in Norway

By Mike Atkins

You’re unlikely to spend much time checking social media on Spitsbergen, deep inside the Arctic Circle. Signal is patchy outside the main settlement of Longyearbyen, but after a day spent dogsledding, snowmobiling and trekking through ice caves, you probably won’t care.

This remote Arctic adventure is less about screens and more about icy landscapes, frozen silence and the possibility of spotting the northern lights dancing above the mountains. Evenings are best spent thawing out with a hot chocolate and staring out of the window instead of at a phone.

Exodus Adventure Travels offers four-night trips including activities and selected meals.

Four nights’ B&B from £3,699pp. Fly to Svalbard.

12. Go beyond the grid in Turkmenistan

By Mike Atkins

Sometimes the easiest way to disconnect is to travel somewhere the internet barely reaches at all.

That could mean rafting through Grand Canyon National Park, hiking Jordan’s spectacular Wadi Dana Trail or exploring Cuba, where getting online can still be frustratingly unreliable. But few destinations feel quite as detached from the digital world as Turkmenistan, where internet access is tightly restricted and many social media platforms are blocked altogether.

Tours with Wild Frontiers take travellers from the gleaming capital of Ashgabat to the ancient Silk Road ruins of Merv and Konye-Urgench, where centuries of history replace the constant pull of notifications.

Seven nights’ B&B from £2,340pp, including some meals. Fly to Ashgabat.

If you have a recommendation for an off grid stay, please leave a comment or send a write up to editorial@silverskys.com

You may be interested in Some Lesser Known Places to Stay in the UK or Unusual Places to Visit in the UK