HILLYDAYS - Devon

Hillydays used to be the wagon shed on a busy working farm but has been sympathetically converted to offer gorgeously modern and well-equipped holiday accommodation for large group family holidays and celebrations. 5 bedrooms sleep 10, there's a private hot tub and BBQ lodge, a play area for children, and from early April to the end of October, an outdoor heated pool and breeze hut that can be booked exclusively at an extra charge. The location, deep in the Blackdown Hills AONB on the Somerset and Devon border is absolutely stunning; the views are breathtaking, rolling on for miles across open fields and wooded hillsides.

There's so much to discover in these parts - get out into the hills for a ramble, climb up to Wellington Monument or Culm Beacon for panoramic views across the landscape, walk or cycle down to Culmstock for coffee at The Strand Stores or lunch at The Culm Valley Inn. The nearby market towns of Honiton, Tiverton and Wellington are great for a few hours spent browsing around the independent shops; stop for a bite to eat in one of the many cafes, pubs or tea shops, catch the hustle and bustle of a farmer's market, stock up on local goodies. Wander down to the canal basin in Tiverton for a stroll along the towpath of the Grand Western Canal; sit back on board a horse-drawn barge and drift along the waters looking out for swans and moorhens. When you get back have a big fat cream tea at The Canal Tea Rooms and Garden, or a drink in the canalside beer garden of Duck's Ditty Cafe Bar.

Not far away are Knightshayes and Killerton, National Trust houses with gorgeous gardens and huge parklands to explore; at Sheppy's Cider there's a rural life museum and walks through apple orchards that are frothy with blossom in the springtime. Go to Bishops Lydeard to visit the flour mill and museum with its working water wheel, then catch a good old-fashioned steam train to the coast with the West Somerset Railway. Alight at Watchet for a pootle about the harbour, or at Blue Anchor for a few hours on the sands and a paddle in the sea. Otherwise get off at Dunster for an amble round the picture-postcard village and up to the medieval castle perched high on the hill above the streets. Further along the coast is Minehead for traditional seaside fun; make sandcastles on the beach, have fish and chips on the promenade. If water sports appeal, pop along to Channel Adventure for kayaking, canoeing and stand-up paddleboarding.

The Jurassic Coast is about an hour away and is also great for days on the beach; hunt for fossils at Charmouth, see the sea life at the Marine Aquarium at Lyme Regis, catch your supper on a mackerel fishing trip from Beer. Spend a day exploring the Quantock Hills, take a picnic and climb to Wills Neck, the highest point in the hills, or enjoy a saunter in the fresh air across Aisholt Common, rounded off with refreshments at a cosy country pub. Head to Exmoor and discover the wild and wily moors, see the clapper bridge at Tarr Steps and tiny Culbone Church up on the wooded clifftop. Ride the Victorian cliff railway from Lynton to Lynmouth, take the kids to Exmoor Zoo.

Wherever you go you'll have Hillydays to come back to for unrustled hours of luxury togetherness; evenings by the pool, cosy in the BBQ Lodge, or snuggled up for a family movie night. This kind of happiness is to be savoured, every minute of it.

Book today!