Take me there: Rame Peninsula, Cornwall
Why go?
This is the closest Cornwall gets to "overlooked". Just the other side of the Tamar Bridge – or, even better, reached by ferry from Plymouth – it's known as the "forgotten corner" and you'll find plenty of elbow room on its vast sandy beaches and windswept cliff walks, even at the height of the holiday season in August. The views from the coastal lookout point at Rame Head are spectacular.
What to do
The extraordinary beach at Whitsand Bay, accessible only via a steep cliff path, is perfect for surfing, rockpooling and sandcastle building. Explore the narrow streets, shops and galleries of the pretty twin fishing villages of Kingsand/Cawsand. Picnic in the dreamy riverside gardens at Port Eliot, a boho stately home which hosts quirky events such as the Dog Festival & Whippet Tea Party (10 May) and a popular literary festival (25-27 July, porteliot.co.uk).
Where to eat
For creative seafood with breezy ocean vistas, book a table at aptly named The View restaurant (theview-restaurant.co.uk). The Old Bakery in Cawsand does great coffee and cakes (theoldbakery-cawsand.co.uk).
Where to stay
Bag one of the wooden chalets which cling to the cliffside at Whitsand Bay. Helpful Holidays has several, with prices from £343 per week (helpfulholidays.com).
Insider tip
"Tea and cake at the Long Gallery (thelonggallery.co.uk), the beautifully restored old school house in St Germans, prepares you for a bracing walk around Rame Head," says Murphy Williams of Cloud Nine Marshmallows (cloudninemarshmallows.co.uk), Port Eliot-based purveyors of gourmet treats. "In medieval times monks were said to have retreated to its chapel – a tiny stone building far out on the headland. You feel you might be swept away with the seagulls. Afterwards, the Rod and Line in Tideford serves a mean Sunday roast."
Give me a break
Home: Easter walking HF Holidays is offering free places for children under 11, and 50% discounts for 11- to 17-year-olds on its Family Walking Adventures this Easter. A four-night break in the Yorkshire Dales, starting 11 April, with guided hikes of four to 12 miles, costs £479 per adult, £239 for over 11s. Full-board accommodation is in Newfield Hall Country House, which has an indoor pool, table tennis and board games (hfholidays.co.uk)
Away: off-season Ibiza A finca hotel in the centre of Ibiza is staying open year-round for the first time to encourage visitors to experience the "white isle" before the clubbers and package tourists arrive. Atzaró is offering discounted rates of €120 (normal rates €160-€390) until 4 April. Enjoy walks in the surrounding orange groves and treatments in the decadent spa (atzaro.com). BA flies to Ibiza from £123 return in March (ba.com)
