Maggie's Meadows

First up, you might like to head to Great Torrington (15 minutes' drive), a local hub with a public swimming pool, shops and Dartington Crystal, where you can browse for gifts or take a guided tour to see how glass is blown. Need to take the kids somewhere they can run off some energy? A round or two at Survival Paintball (20 minutes) should keep them happy. Walkers, meanwhile, are about a 20 minutes from the spectacular South West Coast Path, which runs past scenic highlights like the cobbled streets of Clovelly (30 minutes), Speke's Mill Mouth Waterfall (35 minutes) and Northam Burrows Country Park (35 minutes). For inland nature-spotting cycles or strolls, there's also the Tarka Trail just over five minutes' drive to the north at Watergate Bridge. For the best beaches, make a beeline for Bude (35 minutes), where there's half a dozen sandy options, or head out for board sports, swimming or a game of rounders at the spacious beach next to the village of Westward Ho! (30 minutes).