Clear Nights (not guaranteed)
Four dates, and not a single streetlamp.
The estate sits at class 3 on the nine-class Bortle scale. In other words: the Milky Way is sharply detailed here. Four nights count down to Christmas: Saturn at its closest on 4 October 2026, the Leonids from 17 to 18 November, the Geminids from 13 to 14 December, and the year's biggest full moon on the 24th.
- 17 – 18 November 2026
- 13 – 14 December 2026
- 24 – 25 December 2026
Prices include tax; tourist tax is extra.
The stay
On 4 October 2026, Saturn is at its closest to Earth and visible all night. Its rings are barely tilted open, seven and a half degrees: through binoculars, they look like two ears stuck to the disc, not a ring. Less spectacular than you'd imagine. More moving than you'd think.
On the night of 13 to 14 December, the Geminids. Up to a hundred and twenty meteors an hour under a dark sky, and this year the Moon is only a waning crescent: it won't get in the way. It's the finest shower of the year, and 2026 gives it its best conditions.
The Leonids pass from 17 to 18 November. This year the Moon is half full and the rate doesn't exceed fifteen meteors an hour: it's the most modest of the four. The night is still bookable. You'll have been warned.
On 24 December 2026, the full moon is at perigee: the closest of the year, eight per cent bigger and sixteen per cent brighter than an ordinary full moon. That night, there isn't a star left to see. You walk through the meadows without a torch, and it's something else entirely.
We organise nothing. No telescope lent, no talk, no schedule. A blanket, a sun lounger, and the time it takes for your eyes to adjust. The sky itself isn't guaranteed: one cloud is enough. It's the one appointment we can't keep.