The best UK breaks this year

We like Britain, but we also like pushing boundaries, and you can’t push them much further than this day out from St Helier harbour. Taking a 25-minute boat hop across beautiful clear waters that are home to pods of dolphins and bobbing grey seals, you’ll set foot on Les Minquiers (‘the Minkies’ to locals) – a group of tiny islands and slender sandbanks that are so small you can’t even see them on Google maps. Once you’re there, you can take a dip, go island-hopping on a paddleboard or lounge around having a picnic in your own little paradise. Jersey Seafaris offers three-hour day trips for £54.50. jerseyseafaris.com

For a taste of the Jersey high life, try Longueville Manor Hotel – a classy country house set in beautiful woodlands and grounds that come complete with a kitchen garden and beehives. Beyond the fine seasonal menu from award-winning chef Andrew Baird, you can go squid jigging by moonlight out on the Channel, or if you’re feeling flush, charter a yacht for a day out to France (bubbly and seafood included, obviously). Rooms from £175pn, yacht charter from £1,200 for a half-day. longuevillemanor.com

If you love surfing but hate slumming it, take a ten-minute drive to Fistral Beach near Newquay and hunker down in the next-level comfort of Pentire, a plush new self-catering penthouse that comes complete with panoramic sea views and a huge hot tub on the rooftop terrace. With enough room to house ten, it’s ideal for big group breaks. Rent a board, take a lesson and let the seaspray deal with your hangover. Stay at Pentire from £1,200 for three nights. tregullandandco.co.uk; Fistral Beach Surf School offers group lessons from £35pp. fistralbeachsurfschool.co.uk

For amazing art and supreme sea views, head down to the harbourside haven of St Ives deep down on Cornwall’s north coast. Tucked neatly between the town’s beaches and cute little alleyways, Tate’s only seaside gallery has just reopened, with a huge new gallery coming this autumn and a nifty rooftop garden opening in June. You know what that means? More room for masterful modernist art to gawp at, and (equally importantly) more room for that coastal cream tea. Adult entry to Tate St Ives £8.25. tate.org.uk

Some people love to be beside the seaside, others prefer to go in all guns blazing and make a splash. This summer, Sea Swim Cornwall is offering two wild swim breaks, taking in everything from quick dips in secret spots to full-on 3km slogs – all guided and tutored to your ability and taste. All you need to do is don your wetsuit and goggles and dive right in. Sea Swim Cornwall offers three-day tours departing St Agnes on 2 June and Penzance on 15 September from £175pp. seaswimcornwall.co.uk

How do you improve a slow food mecca that already oozes countryside cosiness and a Michelin star for its fusion-focussed fare? Probably by slapping six lakeside suites with individual spas in the beautifully landscaped grounds, which is exactly what the folk at Gilpin Lodge – a stately haven about ten minutes’ drive from the Cumbrian honeypot of Windermere – have done. Expect a romantic setting with an up-to-date edge, and some of the best breakfasts you’ve ever had. Wordsworth eat your heart out. Rooms from £325 B&B. thegilpin.co.uk

These are dark times, so maybe it's time to go off-grid. And where better to test yourself than a weekend in the Cumbrian wilderness, where you can channel your inner Into The Wild and cut yourself off from the world (for a bit). On a quickfire course at Woodsmoke’s hillside camp in the eastern lakes you’ll pick up everything from camp crafting to wild foraging and backcountry cooking in just a couple of days. Mears, watch out. Woodsmoke offers weekend bushcraft courses from £245pp. woodsmoke.uk.com

If the majesty of the eastern lakes means one thing, it’s that you’ll be sharing those views with thousands of other tourists. If that bothers you, wave goodbye to Windermere and set-up camp at Wasdale’s National Trust campsite – a stripped-back spot right by the beautiful Wast Water, where you’ll find camping pods, tipis and more blockbuster views than you can shake a stick at (as well as plenty of sticks to get shaking). From there you’re only an hour’s ramble away from Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in the entire country, and right in the middle of some of the best trails in the whole of Cumbria. Camping pods from £115 for two nights. nationaltrust.org.uk

A British break is nothing without a windmill, which is lucky, really, because the one in Cley-next-the-Sea, a super-cute village which is – wait for it – right on the Norfolk coast, has eight cosy rooms that you can set up camp in. Expect communal dining, cool views and a village that has holiday essentials like a bookshop, bakery, smokehouse and Friday night supper club. What’s more, the windmill was once home to a baby James Blunt, and if it’s good enough for him… Rooms at Cley Windmill from £157pn. sawdays.co.uk

Beach? Check. Country house? Check. Loads of locals slapping up the freshest regional fare for your delectation? Check, check, check. Head to Holkham Hall for the annual North Norfolk Food Festival from 1-2 September and fill up on carefully-crimped pork pies, fruity preserves and the best local brews. Then mosey through the woodland nature reserve and sand dunes to chill on the estate’s outrageously big beach. Seriously, could you be any more British? The answer is yes – but only if you stay at Wiveton Hall, a farm shop with holiday cottages where you can pick your own strawberries and raspberries from May to August. The North Norfolk Food Festival is free, see northnorfolkfoodfestival.co.uk for more details; Cottages at Wiveton Hall from £525pw. wivetonhall.co.uk

Just because you’re in Alan Partridge country doesn’t mean you’re confined to owl sanctuaries and spice museums for your daytime entertainment. Head into Norfolk’s church-filled county town (which is home to cracking pubs and a great market) for a morning coffee, then rent a canoe and paddle your way out into the country on an afternoon’s 'booze cruise', wetting your whistle at four lovely waterside pubs along the way. Bring beer goggles and sea legs. Pub and Paddle offers afternoon tours from £20pp. pubandpaddle.com

If you've ever wondered how you become a master of landscape photography, or maybe just want to pimp your Instagram, look no further. The new tour from medium-format camera legends Hasselblad will give you a crash course in eight days on Skye. Heading from Edinburgh to the western Scottish island via the glorious peaks of Glen Coe and that bridge from Harry Potter, you’ll split your time between field and classroom, snapping the most amazing sights in Scotland on a top-notch camera, and then learning how to up your game with Tom D Jones, the winner of the Hasselblad Master Award 2012. Those’ll be some holiday photos. The eight-day Hasselblad Experience departs Edinburgh on 14 October 2017 for £4,306. better-moments.com

You probably reckon a coast-to-coast cycle through Scotland’s hilly Highlands sounds like the most gruelling week off ever. You’re wrong. Hit the road on a self-guided tour with The Carter Company, and you can feast your eyes on Loch Ness, Ben Nevis and everything else on the way down to west coast Fort William without too much leg ache. Book the luxury package for plumper pillows, luxurious lie-downs and the chance of a morning massage before you get the show back on the road. The Carter Company offers seven-night tours from £1,425pp based on two people sharing a room. the-carter-company.com

If there are three things we love at Escapism, it’s abandoned things, upcycled things and things with great views, and Scotland’s countrywide network of free-to-stay-in wilderness hideaways known as bothies pretty much nail all three. And thanks to a new book by Geoff Allan you can find tons of info on all of them by location and handy themes like family, romance and spectacular scenery. So bang on that backpack, hit the trail and bag yourself a bothy or two. The Scottish Bothy Bible is available for £16.99. wildthingspublishing.com