SOUTH WEST
Bantham Beach, Devon
The South Devon coast is knee deep in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty that conceal secret Famous Five coves and time-warp fishing villages.
Bantham is a golden bank of sand backed by marram-backed dunes. There are rock pools for younger children and for their elders this is one of the county's favourite surfing beaches.
The 14th-century Sloop Inn (01548 560489, sloopatbantham.co.uk) has summer doubles from £45 pp per night (and it's only a couple of hundred yards to the beach).