Nothing soothes Londoners' jangled nerves and tourists' sightseeing stress more than a weekend in the country. The tired and the tense pack their portmanteaux and head out of the city by Vauxhall and Citroen, by National Rail and by helicopter, to be mollycoddled and cosseted at charming hotels beyond the ring roads.

Just 18 miles from central London, a rambling redbrick mansion called The Grove stands in 300 acres of gardens and Hertfordshire woodlands, an estate owned for hundreds of years by the Earls of Clarendon. Weekend house parties were practically invented here in the 18th century when the 4th Earl's guests included such luminaries as Queen Victoria and Edward VII. Today the 227-room resort hotel is done up in a medley of ultra-contemporary, vividly-hued furnishings and eye-popping, eccentric artworks contrasted with such fancies as a cobalt-blue, antique Venetian chandelier and a lion-headed, white marble fireplace — no frills, flounces or flowery chintz here.

Although The Grove is close enough to the city that Sunday brunch or a round of golf is easily doable in a few hours, many guests settle in for days at a time. A stroll through the walled gardens, originally laid out by the legendary "Capability" Brown, becomes a safari as abstract sculptures are discovered and gleaming sun-catcher balls are found floating in the ponds — watch for the "naked gardener" video. A total of 47,500 trees were planted when the gardens and grounds were reborn the late 1900s.

A Finnish sauna and a Turkish "hammam," or spreader of warmth, soothe the senses at the ESPA-bespoke spa, Sequoia, which is ensconced in a colonnaded old oak barn, where the 72-foot, black-and-gold mosaic-tiled indoor swimming pool glows with light from within.

The jewel of the mansion is the warren of elegant, individual parlors where guests retreat to read by the fireplaces, lounge on plush sofas and listen to soft jazz, indulging in drinks and snacks ordered from unobtrusive waiters who enter and depart in silence.

Velvet drapes in deep purple line the hallways leading to the suites bedecked in rich fabrics, black ostrich feathers, wood-burning fireplaces, and plasma TVs that rise majestically from the foot of four-poster beds. Some guest rooms overlook The Grove Golf Course, home off the 2006 World Golf Championship, won by Tiger Woods.

LORDING IT UP AT THE MANOR

Ninety minutes by InterCity train from Paddington Station, plus a 5-mile taxi ride, by the banks of the River Bybrook, Castle Combe is the quintessential Cotswold village, a narrow lane lined with honey-colored, rustic stone houses, the site of filming for the movies "Doctor Doolittle", "Robin of Sherwood" and recently, "Stardust." No new houses have been built in the village since 1617. Across from the village pub, a leafy, old, carriage driveway leads to the Manor House Hotel, a red creeper-entwined, 14th century edifice with 1-foot-thick stone walls and mullioned windows, a picturesque sight surrounded by a vast greensward and acres of ancient cedars and beech trees, Italian gardens and rockeries. Guests take tea on the terrace after rounding the wickets on the croquet pitch, casting for brown trout, or playing a round of golf on the hotel's nearby course.

The original estate is mentioned in the "Domesday Book" of 1096. Reginald Dunstanville, Earl of Cornwall and son of King Henry I, built a castle here in the 12th century, and on its foundations the manor house rose 200 years later. Over the centuries, Jacobean elements were added, a symphony of quirky chimneys, and in the 19th century, a warren of corridors and stairways leading to guest rooms and several cozy lounges where today guests play chess or read by firelight. Margaret Thatcher wrote some of her memoirs here while sitting in a leather armchair in the oak-paneled bar — perhaps while sipping one of the 65 whiskeys, cognacs and Armagnacs.

Meriting a four Red Star rating, accommodations are in quaint, comfy rooms or in the adjacent mews cottages and beamed-ceilinged, stone-walled former stables, now outfitted with antiques and luxurious fabrics and finishes. Before drifting off to sleep, guests choose from a pillow menu — lavender-infused, non-allergenic, down or the "airstream" — tuck into home-baked biscuits and hot milk delivered nightly and snuggle with the teddy bears that inhabit the rooms.

DREAMING IN DEVONSHIRE

Deep in Devon, two hours by train from Paddington, Bovey Castle is a postcard-perfect, moss-covered Edwardian mansion built in 1907 for Viscount Hambledon. A real period piece, this was the original Baskerville Hall in the 1939 movie "The Hound of the Baskervilles."

Collected by chauffeured Range Rover from the nearby train station or from anywhere in the United Kingdom, or arriving on their own, guests pass by the world's cutest castellated gatehouse before arriving at the elaborately carved stone archway to be greeted by bellmen plus-fours. Then it's up the grand staircase to newly renovated, antiques-endowed rooms where mullioned windows overlook the golf course and the dark forests of Dartmoor National Park, a brooding, evergreen presence surrounding the 370-acre estate.

A wander through the stately house turns up oak-paneled parlors, green leather armchairs in the cozy piano bar; hand-painted silk wallpapers, a museum's worth of art deco prints and paintings. The great hall is a soaring cathedral-ceilinged drawing room with a massive, intricately carved stone fireplace, pooled velvet drapes, red velvet armchairs and sofas deep enough for an afternoon snooze. Two-story-tall windows look onto the stone terrace, where guests take lunch and tea on sunny days. The West Country Cream Tea is not to be missed: scones with Devon clotted cream, house-smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches, egg and cress, cherry cake ...

Besides the availability of golf, archery, clay pigeon shooting and hot air ballooning from the castle grounds, a resident falconer is on hand to guide horseback riders into Dartmoor for game stalking. The Bovey River runs through the verdant estate and the golf course, burbling beneath stone and wooden bridges, past old barns and stone stairways. Oystercatchers and kingfishers troll for fish, as do the fly-fishing aficionados among the hotel guests — 11 miles of the river are exclusive to the hotel. Rhododendrons and heather burst into pinks and purples in the spring along the fairways of the course, which was designed by J.F. Abercromby in 1926, creator of the world-famous Scottish courses, Gleneagles and Turnberry.

BOND, JAMES BOND

"Goldfinger" and "Tomorrow Never Dies" were filmed in and around the Stoke Park Club, the 350-acre estate and rambling Palladian-style main house that became the first country club in Britain in 1908. During the golf match in "Goldfinger", Sean Connery as 007 catches Auric Goldfinger cheating. Bond switches balls, whereupon Goldfinger motions to Oddjob, his murderous Korean manservant and caddie, to sever the head of a nearby statue with his steel-rimmed bowler. When Bond wonders aloud what the golf club secretary will say, Goldfinger says smugly, "Oh nothing, Mister Bond. I own the club!"

Just a half-hour taxi ride from Oxford Circus, the Stoke Park Club is celebrating its centennial anniversary with new accommodations and the new Spa SPC. Along with 49 commodious guest rooms, 27 holes of parkland golf, an indoor swimming pool, a racquet pavilion and award-winning restaurants, the club comprises a popular weekend destination.

The four-poster bed in the Pennsylvania Suite was the setting for Bridget's romp with Hugh Grant's character in the film, "Bridget Jones' Diary." As in most of the accommodations in the mansion, the suite comes with a claw-footed tub, a fireplace, lavish silk-and-satin draperies and bedding, and plenty of marble in the bathrooms. Some rooms open onto balconies where guests enjoy breakfast and evening drinks overlooking the fairways and the historic gardens.

PENNYHILL PARK HOTEL

Noted by Conde Nast Traveller as one of the "Best European Spa Retreats" for 2008, the spa at the Pennyhill Park Hotel is where guests head after playing the nine-hole golf course or spending time on the jogging tracks or the walking trails on the hotel's 123 acres of Surrey parkland. Clay pigeon shooting and tennis are also on the menu, although many weekenders come here merely for the blissful peace and privacy of the 123 rooms and suites. Commodious with heavily carved, one-of-a-kind furnishings, four-poster beds, fireplaces, whirlpool tubs and mountains of down pillows, the lodgings have been enjoyed by the likes of Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman and Justin Timberlake.

Nearby Ascot and Windsor, a half-hour from Twickenham Stadium and an hour from central London, Pennyhill is a neo-Tudor, vine-draped pile of limestone, one in a collection of country houses under the elite Exclusive Hotels banner. The dining itself is worth the drive from the city. The restaurant, Michael Wignall at The Latymer, is headed by a Michelin-starred chef, while French classics are interpreted with a British twist in The Brasserie. Guests in the know order their snacks, light meals and bottles of bubby to be served in the many nooks and crannies — by a roaring fire in the library, perhaps, or under a tree on the grounds.

In the spa are eight indoor and outdoor pools and "Thermal Heaven," a watery paradise of herbal saunas, an aromatic laconium, a tepidarium and an ice cave, and the Schnapps steam room.

WINING AND DINING

An hour from London by way of train to Newbury Railway Station or a 45-minute drive from Heathrow, The Vineyard at Stockcross in Berkshire has garnered four AA rosettes and the Catey Award for the Best Independent Hotel in the UK, all since Sir Peter Michael took ownership a decade ago. Knighted by Queen Elizabeth, Michael is also known in the U.S. for his premium Californian winery. Wine master classes and specialty tastings are among the unique offerings at his 5 star-rated resort hotel. Originally an 18th century hunting lodge, the hotel attracts weekenders to the 49 luxurious guest rooms and suites, to the spa and the restaurant, which carries 2 Michelin stars.

On the estate property and nearby in the Donnington Valley, adventurous types go for myriad macho activities from crossbow and clay pigeon shooting to quad biking, military tank driving, and fishing parties on the River Kennet. The Land Rover Discovery involves driving through a flagged course ... while blindfolded. On the Vintage Car Clue Trail, teams of drivers and their passengers maneuver a vintage Rolls Royce Silver Shadow and a 1964 Lincoln Continental in scavenger hunt-style races to locate historic sites and local attractions.

Those seeking solitude can book a spa break, which includes a night in a very private, very quiet suite, and enjoy dinner, an English breakfast and a spa treatment, while the tragically stylish guest can arrange to be transported from London to The Vineyard by helicopter or by chauffeured Jaguar XJ8, and take a behind-the-scenes" private tour of the kitchens and the wine cellars with the Executive Head Chef, John Campbell.

IF YOU GO

The Grove: 866-800-7922; www.thegrove.co.uk

Manor House Hote: +44 (0) 1249 782206; www.manorhouse.co.uk

Bovey Castle: 800-322-2403; www.boveycastle.com

Stoke Park Club: 800-525 4800; www.stokeparkclub.com

Pennyhill Park Hotel: +44 (0) 1276 471774; www.pennyhillpark.co.uk

The Vineyard at Stockcross; 800-735-2478; www.the-vineyard.co.uk

An elegant fountain graces the entrance to Bovey Castle, which is located in the heart of Dartmore National Park in Devon, England. Photo by Karen Misuraca. (set caption) (end caption)

Karen Misuraca is a freelance travel writer. To find out more about Karen Misuraca and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.