Glamping is an adventure if anything, and if you are looking for ideas that are offbeat, unusual, or maybe even downright strange, you have a choice of unusual glamping accommodations around the world. Interestingly, the highest concentration of the truly offbeat seems to be in Europe, and in the UK in particular.
We’ll start off in Asia, where Casa de la Flora offers something unusual, intriguing, and highly luxurious. If you want your weird on the outside, but want it luxurious and modern on the inside, you’ll be happy with these cutting-edge cubes providing “architecture and unique design amid tropical nature.” The architects pay tribute to the namesake “flora” with living grass carpets covering the roofs of the villas.
From cubes to pods: Whitepod eco-luxury hotel and alpine experience blends the unusual with the natural seamlessly. The pods truly look like they belong in the landscape, especially in winter, when guests of this four-season resort can take advantage of the private ski slopes and dog sledding.
For a true “man cave” experience, check out Sextantio Le Grotte Della Civita in Italy, an amazing hotel of caves in the village of Matera in southern Italy. The proprietors of these ancient caves take their luxury seriously, going so far as to say, “Prehistoric man might never have ventured outside the caves if they had bathrooms like these.”
Wagon ho! You won’t find the next two wagon accommodations on the frontier of the American West as you might expect. This first one, featuring a “gypsy wagon” as well as a “shepherd’s hut,” a “horse lorry,” and a “love shack” is located near Banbury, England, about an hour and thirty minutes drive northwest of London, should you decide to travel by modern vehicle.
You’ll find another wagon spot in New Zealand. The hosts of Wagonstays, Mike and Jasmine want you to know that their wagon has “all the authenticity and atmosphere from 1870, but with the comfort and luxury of home,” which is in evidence with satellite television, computer controlled showers, and glass doors that lead to a balcony.
You’ve heard of pods and tree houses, but how about a pod in a tree? These glamping globes are referred to as “tree tents,” with the Red Kite Tree Tent resort found where else but the UK, this time in Wales. One look at it and you’ll immediately see how this round rental would make any Ewok envious. You can learn more by reading a previous blog entry by Kelly Thomson.
Next up is Ecocamp Glenshee, another UK property that relishes the offbeat accommodation, with a myriad of oddball abodes from which to choose: wooden pods, a “monster” yurt, and “shielings,” or shepherd’s huts, which are found here in the beautiful wilds of Scotland. The Monster Yurt is furnished with “mementos from the Near East,” and Shieling Mohr has a llama theme, and you can go llama trekking with resident llamas Jet, Atticus, and Bradford.
If all these choices aren’t enough to decide, you can go to the Glamping.com listing of Canopy & Stars, “a colourful collection of quirky accommodation.” These curators of crazy crash pads list glamping properties across much of Europe, and feature wonderfully oddball accommodations ranging from hobbit houses and tree houses to boats, pods, and even a big green bus! No matter how you go glamping, it’s an adventure, so why be normal? Indulge your inner glamping geek at any of these offbeat accommodations.
