Independent stays in the South West

Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset: coastline, moorland, and some of the country's most independent-minded hospitality, in towns and villages that have never much cared for chain hotels. This is the region most associated with the classic British seaside holiday, and still delivers on it: surfing beaches, fishing villages, and genuinely wild moorland a short drive from the coast. The distances are bigger than they look on a map, so it rewards picking one corner of the region rather than trying to cross all of it in one trip.

• Stonehenge sits on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, one of the best-known prehistoric monuments anywhere in the world.
• Bath's Roman Baths, in Somerset, are among the best-preserved Roman remains in Britain.
• Cornish pasties and a proper cream tea. Devon and Cornwall still disagree on whether the jam or the cream goes on first.