Holidays next door: the best of Britain

Lovely Lundy
Did you know that England has its very own "Galapagos"? Lundy Island, 19km off the Devon coast, is a car-free haven with flora not found anywhere else on earth, as well as wild deer, sheep and ponies.

In 1969 the island was taken over by the UK’s Landmark Trust which restored it, manages it and now offers an extraordinary range of holiday accommodation, from a 13th century castle to a fisherman’s cottage.

You won't find TV, radio or phone but you will have a free run of the 5km-long island, plus a shop and tavern that doesn't close (it stops serving at 11pm but it doesn't close). Millcombe House, a Georgian villa which sleeps 12, costs from £603 (€709) for four nights this summer and the Landmark Trust even runs the ferry service that gets you there. lundyisland.co.uk

Roam the Ridgeway
Give beach holidays the boot and get walking instead, along the magnificent Ridgeway National Trail. The 139km path, threaded through rolling hills, secluded valleys and woods, has been used by herdsmen, and women, since time immemorial. It's reckoned to be Britain's oldest road, much of it following an ancient chalk ridge route used since prehistoric times.

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Elephant Lodge camp at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park

Walk along well-managed grass tracks, by the banks of the Thames and through two distinct landscapes, the open spaces of the North Wessex Downs and the gentle wooded countryside of the Chilterns, with ancient burial mounds and hill forts dotting the way. A 50km, five-day, self-guided walk, including four nights accommodation, cost from £285 with Ridgeway Walks.
ridgewaywalks.com

Glamping in the Lake District
Eschew the cottage and crumpet aspect of the Lake District for a more exotic accommodation option – a Mongolian yurt.

The giant round tents are sumptuously furnished with sheepskin rugs, satin fabrics, polished wooden floors and goose-down duvets. Each has an oil-fired heater, cooker and fridge, plus solar-powered fairy lights.

The “glamp-site” is near the tourist village of Keswick, with views of the Skiddaw and Latrigg through tent flaps that are actually solid wood doors.

Guests can have breakfast delivered, plus on-site massage and pamper treatments, administered in the privacy of your yurt.

A four-day stay, mid-week, costs from £330 in summer. lakesyurts.co.uk

So near yet safari
Forget Kenya. For an unforgettable safari think Kent. At Port Lympne Wild Animal Park, near Hythe, there are more than 1,000 animals roaming freely around a 600 acre haven for endangered species.

Visitors staying over can travel at dawn and dusk in four-wheel drive Jeeps in search of black rhino, elephants, giraffes, buffalo, zebras, lions, tigers and cheetahs. In fact, you’ve more chance of seeing your Big Five here than on the Serengeti.

Be a keeper for a day, or enrol the kids in the Junior Ranger for a Day programme, or simply book into the Elephant Lodge luxury tent camp, overlooking the elephant paddocks and cheetah’s enclosure, with a restaurant next door providing a watering hole for the humans.

Four nights in July cost from £580.
aspinallfoundation.org

Camp in a cool van
There is nothing on any road that is cooler than a VW Camper, especially one that has been lovingly restored and kitted out with mod-cons such as a built-in DVD player, CD player and iPod dock. UK company Vanilla Splits has 10 split-screen and bay-windowed vans, with on-board fridge, cooker and beds, that are perfect for taking to festivals and beaches, or on a romantic road trip. Stash the bikes on the roof, the boards in the back and away you go. Each camper sleeps two and pets are welcome. A week in July costs £895. vanillasplits.com

See whose ship came in
A hoo is a Saxon burial site. In 1939 a hell of a hoo was unearthed near Woodbridge in Suffolk, which came complete with a treasure trove of golden artefacts, weapons, masks and jewels, stowed neatly in a 90ft burial ship with one, very important, passenger.

Known as Sutton Hoo, it was one of the greatest archaeological finds of all time and, at the visitor centre, you can find out about both strands of the tale – the mystery of the king buried here and the Indiana Jones-style adventures of those who found him, particularly as they tried to shield it from Nazi interest.

You can stay in one of the National Trust's properties here, from £691 for a week in June, and if you book online there is a 15 per cent discount.
nationaltrustcottages.co.uk

Hit Hadrian's Wall
Explore the final frontier of the Roman Empire and travel down through the centuries along Hadrian's Wall, built to keep northern barbarians out and all that was Caesar's in.

Walk the best preserved sections beginning at the market town of Brampton and continuing to Corbridge along a trail that brings you across rich green fields and rugged crags through Northumberland National Park.

The tour also takes in the architectural splendour of Aydon Castle, Thirtwall Castle and Lanercost Priory, plus there is a chance to see the Robin Hood Tree at Sycamore Gap. Before you get your Nottinghams and your Northumberlands in a knot, the tree featured in Kevin Costner's Robin Hood movie. HF Holidays's six-night guided walk costs from £695. hfholidays.co.uk

A magical day in London
You can't bring the kids to the UK without referring to Harry Potter, so why not go the whole hog(warts) and take them on the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour. Explore the Great Hall, the Weasleys' kitchen, Dumbledore's office, the boys' dormitory, Hagrid's Hut and Gryffindor common room. Step on to the fabled cobbles of Diagon Alley, home to outlets such as Ollivanders wand shop, Flourish and Blotts, the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, Gringotts Wizarding Bank and Eeylops Owl Emporium in a three-hour tour that includes props such as Harry's Nimbus 2000 and Hagrid's motorcycle.

Be assured, secrets will be revealed. The tour, which must be booked and paid for online in advance, is accessible via 15 minute train journey from Euston Station. A family ticket costs £85.wbstudiotour.co.uk

House in the clouds
If you're in search of the kind of England rendered by Richmal Crompton and Enid Blyton, don't miss the village of Thorpeness on the Suffolk coast. The brainchild of an Edwardian barrister (and playwright, to be fair), it was built in the 1920s as a "paradise for children" based on a return to "Merrie England".

It’s still a holiday resort, with its mock-Tudor houses and a man-made boating lake, The Mere, that is 2.5ft deep and dotted with hand-built islands with hideouts for kids, inspired by the work of family friend and Peter Pan creator JM Barrie.

Check out the most unusual lodging in town, the House in the Clouds, a seven-bedroom, converted water tower, 21m high, on an acre of grounds with its own lawn tennis court, available from £755 a night.
houseintheclouds.co.uk

Waves and wonders in Cornwall
Follow the beams to Lizard Lighthouse, on the tip end of Cornwall, for a stay in one of six holiday apartments with breathtaking views and fantastic coastal walks – yet less than a mile to the nearest pub.

It’s a perfect base from which to enjoy the region’s top tourist attraction, the Eden Project. The world’s biggest greenhouse, it is home to a massive indoor tropical rainforest, with a canopy walk and, for staff, giant helium balloons so they can fly up and prune the trees.

Don’t miss traditional Cornish attractions either, such as Tintagel Castle, birth place of legendary King Arthur, the Lost Gardens of Heligan and all those fantastic Cornish beaches.

A week's stay in Seven Stones, a three bedroom apartment at Lizard Lighthouse sleeping six, costs from £688 in July.
cornishcottagesonline.com