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71 late deals for summer holidays

The very latest deals from The Times and Sunday Times and others as they flood into Travel Online - including a Britain section

EUROPE

France

Come up smelling of roses at Le Domaine de Foncaudière, near Bergerac, France, which still has summer availability. Readers quoting The Times will get a 10 per cent discount, bringing the price of a cottage such as Parfum de Rose, which sleeps four, down to £720.

Cross over to Corsica - just two hours and £657pp (saving £115pp) with VFB Holidays. The company is offering savings at self-catering properties on the island, departing on July 22 or 29. Prices for a week start from £657 pp, based on six people sharing a three-bedroom self-catering villa with a private swimming pool, and include flights (Bristol) and car hire for the duration. The price is valid for 22 July departures.

Places are still available for summer cooking courses at the 18th century manoir Le Manoir de L’Aufragere, set in 8 acres of land in Normandy, France, commencing July 26 and August 5. The i-escape.com course is run by an Anglo/French couple: one is a Cordon Bleu cook, the other a cheese-making expert. The course includes visits to markets: price £338pp, with full board accommodation for three nights, as well as wine tastings, based on two sharing a double room.

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Go green this summer at the brand new Residence Les Rives Marines at Le Teich in Gascony. The apartment complex is offering savings of up to 30 per cent on July holidays or 20 per cent on holidays taken in August. The residence is adjacent to an ornithological park that shelters almost 300 species of birds. Nearby attractions include the Medoc and Graves vineyards, the Arcachon beaches and the numerous cycling routes through the Landes pine forests. The residence has an outdoor heated pool. A one-week stay in a two-bedroom apartment (sleeps 4-6) on July 28 has been reduced by 30% to £565 per property. Further information from www.WakeupinFrance.co.uk or 01484 680855.

Savings of more than £250 on accommodation in France is available for departures on July 21 from siblu. Included in the deal is Le Montourey, siblu’s newest parc, just outside Frejus, on the Cote d’Azur. A seven-night holiday starts from £832, saving £256, when staying in a two-bedroom Esprit+ mobile home. This price includes a midweek Dover-Calais return ferry crossing.

Departing July 21, The Gascony Secret has a split property near Aignan in the Gers that sleeps14 people, which shares a swimming pool, a lake and 66 acres. The main house is a large farmhouse with a library, salon with fireplace, internet connection, DVD and music system and dishwasher. Across the courtyard from the main house is a smaller 3-bedroom Napoleon II house. Special Offer Price: One week’s rental of the two properties during the week beginning July 21 costs £2,890 – a discount of £500 on the brochure price.

Spain

Exodus is running yoga-themed trips to Andalusia. Beginners and intermediates can get to grips with their locust, eagle and tree positions at the company’s base, a pretty little hotel in olive-grove-strewn hills near Ronda; and, when your chakras are neatly aligned, there are escorted trips to Seville, Cordoba and the “white villages“. Leaving on July 28 or August 4, a week costs £780pp, half-board, including flights.

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For sheer value, this is hard to beat: Venue Holidays has knocked £264 off a 13-night break at Camping Playa Brava, on the Costa Brava. The price for a family of six in a fully equipped tent from August 19 is now just £490, including Channel crossings. Not the Ritz, but it has a pool, beach, windsurfing and three water parks nearby – the kids should love it.

Mallorca Farmhouses is offering 30 per cent off properties for the week commencing July 28. All rentals in Mallorca include car hire with fully comprehensive insurance, maid service and a starter pack. Choices include: Cas Teuler Petit – save £750. This four-bedroom property in Cas Concos is reduced to £1,750. A restored 150 year old farmhouse, it has a private pool, lawn and a separate BBQ. The nearest shops and restaurants are a two minute drive and beach, 10 minutes away. Na Gatona I – save £1,140, a six-bedroom property in Cala D’Or reduced to £2,660. Pool, child’s pool, brick built BBQ and acres of land.

Families looking for a beach holiday should look no further then Menorca where Meon Villas has a range of villas close to the south coast beaches. In the popular resort of Santo Tomas with its long stretch of sandy beach, Villa B6 Santo Tomas is rated excellent for families just 250m from the sands and with its own pool – 8m x 4m, separated from the house by a gated stairway. Sleeping six, the villa is available for one week from July 20 and costs £999 – or £166.50pp when full, saving £1,100.

Kids in tow, and you think your clubbing days are behind you? They needn’t be. El Sueño on Ibiza sleeps eight (ideal for bringing baby-sitting grandparents), has a child-friendly pool and is in a quiet setting three minutes from a beach – but less than two miles outside San Antonio, so handy for nocturnal visits to Es Paradis, Amnesia and Privilege. It’s £2,675 for a week from July 21 or August 4, with Hoseasons (0870 405 9485); fly with EasyJet.

Villa specialists Premier Holidays (0870 443 2302) has added 15 villas to its Ibiza programme, many of which have availability during the summer months. Can Noria has availability during August and is at the top end of the scale at £5,103 per week for the week of August 4. The restored traditional Ibethencan house, set in grounds with its own 11m x 5m pool and glorious views over countryside to the sea is in the village of St Rafael, practically in the centre of the island and just 8 kms from Ibiza town.The price is for the property only and doesn’t include flights which are available via a number of low cost and charter airlines. BMI Baby, for example, is currently offering flights to Ibiza in August from Cardiff for £25.99 one way (www.bmibaby.com).

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Spend 7 nights at the Hotel Los Monteros in Marbella for £1,041pp, and save £70pp per week . Price is based on two people sharing a twin/double room on a bed & breakfast basis and includes return flights from Gatwick and private transfers. Departs 23 July. Call Classic Collection Holidays on 08701 424222 or 01903 823 088.

During July and August, locals from Nerja celebrate the painted prehistoric caves for which their town is famous, with a series of concerts and ballets from international artists staged in the caves themselves. With the 38th International Cave Festival about to get underway, Keyplaces is offering apartment accommodation at the Toboso Aparturis residence from £30.50pp.The apartments share an outdoor pool, gym and sauna.

Keyplaces also has a seven night break between July 14 and September 30 at Toboso Aparturis, Costa del Sol for £854 for a one bedroom apartment sleeping up to four, accommodation only. Fly-drive packages are available at a supplement, with return Thomson Fly flights from Luton to Malaga starting at £63 per adult.

Italy

Good stuff is thin on the ground, but you can bag a 10th-century Umbrian fortress. Okay, not the whole place – La Rocca has been split into eight apartments – but you get a pool, tennis courts and a good restaurant, which the original inhabitants didn’t have. La Colombaia is roomy, sleeps six and costs £873 for the week from July 28 with Real Holidays, which can arrange flights and car hire.

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There’s also a bargain in Sorrento. Citalia (0870 909 7554) has knocked more than £300 off the price of a week at the Imperial Tramontano hotel, on the Bay of Naples; it’s now £499pp, B&B, from July 20, including flights. Shelley, Byron and Keats liked it here, and they didn’t get anything like that sort of deal.

Combine Florence with the chance to learn or improve your tennis skills with Scottish Internationalist player Ian Campbell, on a one week holiday. Ideal for beginners, enthusiasts and non tennis players, the International Academy in Florence is world renowned and right of the doorstep of Florence. The week includes a private villa on a 200 hectare wine estate with swimming pool, coaching lessons, lunch daily and the opportunity to play social tennis. Departs July 22 - prices from £499pp based on four persons staying at the Villa Fienile. Call 0141 576 7205 or email info@tuscantennis.com

Now this sounds refreshing. A week in the mountains of the South Tyrol – great hiking, climbing and canyoning – combined with a range of esoteric local treatments at the rustic-chic spa of the Hotel St Veit (www.hotel-st-veit.com): they use hay, whey or milk and honey, or you can let love bloom with a flower bath in a copper kettle big enough for two. Weeks available from £252pp; fly to Brescia with Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com).

The Masseria Santa Lucia in Puglia still has rooms available for summer - with a private beach, grounds with large pool, tennis courts, golf course, restaurant, this four-star renovated “masseria” (fortified farmhouse) is near to Ostuni. In July & August B&B prices start at £62pp. Special offer for all Long Travel clients - Book seven nights and get one night free, plus book 14 nights and get two nights free. Nearest airports: Bari and Brindisi, return flight prices start at £160 per person.

Portugal

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Meon Villas (0870 901 4011) has properties in the Monchique Mountains, including the 5* Villa Periquita ten miles from the nearest Algarve beach. It sleeps up to eight and is set in manicured lawns with an unusual swimming pool that features a beach style sloping entrance. Available for one week from July 26, villa rental costs £1,799 (£225pp when 8 share) – saving a hefty £2,000.

Pine Cliffs resort, on the Algarve, doesn’t usually have any rooms left by now – but it’s opening a development of 154 new self-catering apartments, so there’s a sudden glut. It’s vast, and sprawls a bit, but it’s attractively designed and there’s masses to do – tennis, golf, watersports, a kids’ club, as well as 10 bars and restaurants. Abercrombie & Kent (0845 618 2213, www.abercrombiekent.co.uk) has two-bedroom apartments throughout summer from £669pp, including flights.

Meon Villas also has a week’s holiday at Casa do Barrocal on the Algarve from £434pp (based on four sharing), for departure on July 19. It sleeps up to eight, has a pool and terrace. The package includes seven nights villa accommodation, return flights from Gatwick, and car hire. One free child flight for every 2 paying adults for bookings made before July 31 for travel during the school summer holidays.

Croatia

The best of Croatia’s crinkly coastline is accessible only by sea, and paddling your own canoe is the most satisfying way to reach it. Hidden Croatia (0800 021 7771) has a week of sea-kayaking around the Elafiti islands, suitable for eight-year-olds and up (beginners welcome). Most dates in July and August are available; prices start at £449pp, staying half-board at local homestays, including kit and an instructor, but not flights – make for Dubrovnik with Flybe (0871 522 6100, www.flybe.com) or Thomsonfly (0870 190 0737, www.thomsonfly.com).

Sail Croatia has cut 25 per cent off the brochure price (July 21-28) when chartering the Beneteau Celebration yacht (50 ft) sleeping eight people to cruise the islands of the Adriatic in style. The price is £3,493 (was £4,380) making it £582pp based on 8 people sharing for a week. Price includes: the charter of the yacht for one week, skipper, all the local charter taxes, final cleaning charges, outboard engine for tender, airport transfers, route planning and local guides. Flights from £210 BA London Gatwick – Split return (including all taxes) not included.

Greece

Serious money, this one, but it’s a spectacular place. Villa Pyrgos is an old winery and mill complex, high on Santorini, with views across to the rim of the caldera and 14 surrounding islands. Inside, it’s all polished stone, Turkish rugs and power showers, a neat blend of modern and trad. Sleeping eight, it costs £5,915 for a week in July or August with The Villa Book (0845 500 2000), including car, but not flights: jet to Santorini with Excel (www.xl.com) or Thomsonfly (0870 190 0737, www.thomsonfly.com).

Vintage Travel (0845 344 0420) has knocked £400 off Villa Agrapidia, on Ithaca (plenty of epic history to delve into). It’s smart, simple and modern, sleeps six, has a pool and is a mile from the beach. That’ll do the job. A week from July 22, July 29 or August 5 costs £1,695, excluding flights: fly to Cephalonia with Thomsonfly or Excel (as above).

If you want something more active than a villa flop – but not by much – Explore (0870 333 4001) has space on an Aegean cruise on a 16-berth wooden caïque. Land-based sightseeing for those who want it; swimming, snorkelling and sunbathing for those who don’t. Leaving on July 21, a week costs £665pp (£615 per child), B&B, with flights.

A bargain break to the unspoilt island of Paxos is on offer with Directline Holidays. Fly from Gatwick on July 23 to Corfu and transfer by boat to stay in a family-run complex with pool near the little port of Lakka. The holiday costs £217 for a week with B&B, or £271 for a fortnight. 020-8239 3399

Stay at the Ionian Beach Club on the Achaia coast in the Peleponnese and learning to sail is among the activities. A week’s half-board until July 21 with Seafarer costs £499 for adults, £399 for the first child and £299 for the second, including a flight from Gatwick. 0871 4235547

CV travel has a fortnight’s stay at Ioanna, an old stone house set high above the Ionion Sea at Nissaki, on Corfu ‘s north east coast, for £1,141 per person for arrival on August 13, based on four sharing. The price includes return flights from Gatwick, a welcome hamper, maid service and transfers.

Receive a free upgrade to the next room type for stays until August 31 at the Hawaii Grand Hotel & Resort in Cyprus. Cadogan Holidays is offering prices from £684 per person including return scheduled flights from Gatwick with British Airways, private transfers and bed and breakfast accommodation. Regional departures also available, flight supplements may apply.

Discover the Greek island of Kos with Direct Holidays where a seven-night stay at the self-catering Akti Dimmys Apartments now costs £239pp. Departing Glasgow Airport on the 26 July 2007, the price is based on two people sharing.

Malta

Until July 17, Chevron Air Holidays has seven nights at the four-star Topaz Hotel in Bugibba from £249pp, including half board, flights and transfers. The Topaz hotel has an outdoor and indoor pool, suiting families, couples and single visitors of all ages. Subject to availability. Flight supplements and fuel surcharges may apply.

Turkey

Cool down in the villa’s 50m pool in the riverside town of Dalyan, on the Turquoise coast - Villa Zeytin sleeps six and is available from now until July 23, and again from August 6, at £500 per week.

How come living alone is fine, but going on holiday alone is sometimes seen as sad? A guaranteed talking point at the Villa Aurora hotel in Oludeniz, taken over for the season by the singles specialist Friendship Travel (0870 850 0344, www.friendshiptravel. com). There’s space on the weeks from July 23 and July 30; prices start at £579, half-board, including flights and (hallelujah) a twin room to yourself.

A fortnight in Turunc, one of the smaller and quieter resorts on the Turquoise Coast, costs from £293 with Jewel in the Crown – with diving packages also available. This deal is for a flight from Manchester on July 13 and B&B at Gokce Hotel. Fly from Gatwick on July 15 and the price is £350. A day’s diving for beginners costs £49 and a three-day PADI course for experienced divers is £179. 0870 0672352

Departing August 4, 11 and 18, the Montenegro Hotel above Gocek, on the Lycian Coast, has savings of £250 off the brochure price. The hotel has just seven rooms and caters for over 14s only. There’s a pool, walking, cycling or a day at sea onboard a traditional Turkish gulet. The offer price of £550pp, includes Manchester-Dalaman flights, transfers, a day’s gulet and 7 nights’ B&B accommodation through Exclusive Escapes. Flights from Gatwick and Heathrow are also available.

Morocco

In high summer? Are you mad? Nope – Families Worldwide (0845 051 4567, www.familiesworldwide.co.uk ) will even take children to walk the High Atlas mountains in July, where the cooling breezes at 8,000ft mean a comfortable stroll (or mule ride for little ones). Eight days, leaving on July 21 or 28, cost £689pp (£569 per child), including flights, guides and most meals.

A varied week is available with Fleewinter. It starts with three nights in a riad with pool in the medina in Marrakesh, followed by a trip into the mountains for a night in a Berber village and three nights in luxury tents in a rural complex with a large pool. Prices start from £490 with flights from the UK and some meals. 020-7112 0019

Egypt

Now Sharm el Sheikh really is baking at this time of year – but that’s ideal when you’re going to spend a lot of time underwater. Explorers (0845 094 3367, www.explorers.co.uk ) has space on its family learn-to-dive weeks, leaving on August 9, 16 or 23; from £399pp, B&B, including flights and a two-day Padi course for adults and children aged 10 or up. Extra diving days cost £40.

A seven-night Luxor & Coast tour is available with Longwood Holidays, departing July 23 for three nights’ B&B at the 5* New Winter Palace Luxor followed by four nights’ B&B at the 5* Steigenberger Golf Resort El Gouna on the Red Sea coast. The price is just £529pp including return flights to London Gatwick, accommodation, transfers, taxes and surcharges.

The Adventure Company has a departure for parents with teenage children on its eight-day Nile River Adventure departing July 28, taking in Cairo, an overnight train to Aswan, and three-day riverboat cruise on the Nile. Stops along the way include the Valley of the Kings and Karnak. The holiday costs from £1,029 per adult, £979 per child, including flights from Heathrow (regional departures from £155), all transportation, seven nights’ accommodation (including three nights on the riverboat), most meals and the services of a Group Leader.

Norway

Float through fjords in Norway with the Cruise Line for a week for £649pp, saving £441pp. The four-star MSC Lirica leaves Copenhagen on July 22 and visits Oslo, Kristiansand, Bergen, Eidfjord and Keil before returning to its departure point. The price includes an inside cabin, full board, entertainment and return flights from Gatwick.

Join the Costa Classica as she takes a cruise through Norway’s fjords from Kiel in Germany, stopping at the Norwegian villages and cities of Stavanger, Eidfjord, Rosendal, Bergen, Vik and Flam, before returning to Kiel. The landscape plays the leading role on this cruise with its backdrop of mountains, lakes, waterfalls, rivers and streams. Prices start at £499 per person cruise only for six nights, including all meals, a reduction of £230. Departs Kiel on August 13.

Switzerland

An eight-day tour travelling by train, mountain railway, cable car and lake cruiser with Page & Moy (0800 043 0234) leaves August 19 from £879 per person, to include a cruise on Lake Lucerne, the lakeside village of Vitznau and a ride in the Mount Rigi cog railway to the summit. The price also includes return flights from Heathrow to Zurich, 4-nights half board and 3-nights B&B at the 4-star Grand Hotel Europe in Lucerne.

Austria

Departing July 27, Inntravel has a week’s walking around Lake Achensee in the Tyrol, staying on the western shores in the little village of Pertisau and the four-star Hotel Wiesenhof. Six different walking routes are provided. The family run hotel has a spa complex, pool, steam and temperate rooms and massage. Price: £638pp sharing including 7 nights half board, walking maps and notes and free bus travel. Recommended airport Innsbruck or Munich.

Iceland

Warm water? Pah – that’s for wimps. The summer’s most intriguing short break is a dive in a crystal-clear lake between two tectonic plates – a sheer drop to the very spot where the earth’s crust is being formed. Prices start at £999pp for four days, including flights, dive and three nights at the hip Hotel 101 in Reykjavik, with Black Tomato (020 7610 9008, www.blacktomato.co.uk ).

LONG-HAUL

Caribbean

Save £280 on a week in Barbados with Carrier, staying in a pool or garden-view room at the four-star Colony Club resort, which offers a free kids’ activity programme. The price of £1,030pp includes BA flights, B&B and transfers. Details: 0161-491 7620, www.carrier.co.uk.

Cobblers Cove on Barbados - up to two children stay free when sharing a suite with two adults (minimum 7 night stay applies). Children will also receive free dinner when dining at the hotel with their parents and two hours of supervised activities per day Monday to Friday. ITC Classics (01244 355527) offers seve nights at Cobblers Cove in a Superior Suite on a bed & breakfast basis from £5,250 for a family of 2 adults and 2 children. Includes economy flights and transfers. Saving £710 per booking. Valid July 8 - August 26.

Take the long flight from Gatwick to the Dominican Republic on July 20 and a week’s all-inclusive break is on offer for £714 with Cosmos. It is based in the three-star Hotel Paraiso del Sol in Cabarete. 0871 6224317

On St Barts, Villa Felice is a small cozy one bedroom villa (sleeping two) with spectacular views in the Carenage area of Pointe Milou, minutes from the Christopher Hotel. The bedroom has an en-suite bathroom and there is a spacious living room with large comfortable rattan sofas. There is a heated pool and plunge pool and the beach is only a short distance away. Villa Felice is available through Wimco Villas (0870 850 1144) from £1,405 per week, a 33% discount. Price includes seven night’s accommodation and a daily maid service.

Fleewinter has availability from August 17 at a villa in Porters Court, a development of eight properties at Camelot on the west coast of Barbados, opposite the Royal Pavilion Hotel and three minutes from the beach. The villas share a communal swimming pool. A two bedroomed luxury villa that sleeps four people is £262 pp (based on four sharing) and Fleewinter can also book flights on request (from £639pp).

MALDIVES

A week from £699, a £400 saving, is among late deals available with Kuoni. It includes Sunday flights from Gatwick, from July 22 to August 26, and B&B at the Full Moon resort. 01306 747008

Global Surf Guides has seven-night packages for £1,220pp departing August 27 or September 3 on live-aboard yacht Ocean Dancer, a purpose-built surf charter boat – there are even onboard spa treatments.

Destinology is offering seven nights at the four star Bandos Resort, on a B&B basis. The complex has a sauna, steam bath and spa as well as several swimming pools and a watersports centre. Bandos also arranges big game fishing and night fishing excursions in the Maldives. The price of £729 includes return economy class flights with Monarch Airways from London, return speedboat transfers and is based on departures until July 22.

MAURITIUS

Save £2,640pp on a two-week stay at the spa resort Shanti Ananda. The break costs from £3,870pp, including three spa treatments, a junior ocean-view suite, breakfast and first-class flights with Emirates from Gatwick or Heathrow. The offer runs with The Private Travel Company until September 30 (excluding July 10 to August 10). Details: 020-7751 0880, www.theprivatetravelcompany.co.uk.

USA

Head for New York in style to take advantage of the exchange rate of two dollars to the pound. Silverjet has an introductory fare of £799 return next month on its afternoon and overnight businessv class-only flights from Luton to Newark. Book by July 18. 0871 7008520

OMAN

Tropical Locations (020 7229 9199) is offering seven nights for the price of five at the luxury Shangri-La Barr al Jissah Resort and Spa in Oman. The offer represents a saving of £200 per person and is valid for departures up to August 31 and includes Gulf Air flights from Heathrow and B&B accommodation.The recently opened luxury resort is located on a secluded bay, 50 minutes drive south from the airport and 30 minutes from Muscat.

BRITISH ISLES

Channel Islands

Condorbreaks is offering free child places at the Pennant Premier Beuvelande Campsite in Jersey, a mile from the village of Gorey. The tents are ready-erected the site has an outdoor swimming pool with sun terrace, games room, laundry and full shower and wash room facilities. Prices start at £139 per adult with up to two children free for a four night break when travelling on Sundays and Thursdays during the school summer holidays and any day until 15 July. Travel from Weymouth or Poole by fast ferry, the price includes taking the car.

Devon and Cornwall

Book a stay to arrive in the next two weeks and save 20 per cent with Blue Chip Vacations on any stay (minimum 7 days) arriving the weeks commencing July 14th or July 21st. The company has a range of properties from town houses and cottages to apartments. Book online at www.bluechipvacations.com and enter the promotional code ‘2WEEKS’ when prompted. Your discount will be applied before payment in processed. You can also book on 01803 855282.

Devon

Family-friendly farm holidays tend to go fast, but Premier Cottages still has the week from July 27 at Holwell Farm Cottages, four beautifully converted barns hidden away on Dartmoor: five-star luxury for parents, chickens, sheep, pigs and donkeys for the kids to fuss over. Not cheap, though: a cottage sleeping six is £1,450.

Half the price, but masses to do: the activities specialist PGL (0870 050 7507) is offering a special reduction for Sunday Times readers on its raft-building, rope-sliding, rock-climbing, quad-biking family challenge weeks at Barton Hall, Devon. Each adult can bring two kids free – so a week in a family room for mum, dad and two kids, from July 21 or August 11, will cost £700. Quote SFAM7.

An old milking parlour sleeping five near Tavistock is available for £693 for the week in July and August. Within Dartmoor National Park, it is available for a week’s stay during the summer school holidays. The Shippen has views over Dartmoor and a small, sunny lawned garden, is under half a mile from a pub/restaurant and free from Saturday 21 and 28 July, and 4 and 25 August. For details call Helpful Holidays on 01647 434063 searching for ref A138.

Cornwall

In the fishing village of Mousehole, Cornish Traditional Cottages has a house on three floors, formerly part of a sail loft, on offer for a week from Saturday for £544. It sleeps four, is near the harbour and also available for a week from July 21 – as is Pilots’ Lookout, a Grade II-listed cottage for up to four a few paces from the beach and harbour. 01208 821666

Visit Cornwall and fall in love with Antony - £198pp with Classic Cottages. Antony, one of The National Trust’s most beautiful properties, is at its dreamiest in summer when rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and magnolias are bursting from its borders. Admission to the house and garden costs £5.80 for adults, and £2.90 for children. The Vollard (sleeps three), close by, is an unusual, contemporary property rurally located near a sheep farm in this untouched area of Cornwall. A week’s stay from July 21 costs £198pp based on three sharing (£594 total).

This doesn’t come up every day – a Cornish barn conversion with its own private beach. And Sea Barn, near Mevagissey, is only just finished, so there’s availability too. It’s old stone outside, light and modern inside, with panoramic views from all three bedrooms (sleeping five). The week from August 23 costs £1,228 with Holiday Lets (01234 757290, www.holidaylets.net).

Dorset

Dorset Coastal Cottages has homes on offer in the east and west of the county. Purbeck Stone House at Langton Matravers sleeps four, with a garden leading to coastal paths and Lulworth Cove (above), and costs £360 for four nights from July 16. A week from July 13 in Rose Cottage, which sleeps six and is in the village of Litton Cheney near Bridport, costs £615. 0800 9804070

Yorkshire

High Force waterfall and the North Pennines are close to Mickleton, where Yorkshire Cottages has a house dating back to 1790 available for a week from July 14 and 21. It sleeps six, has beams, an inglenook fireplace, a large summerhouse in the garden and costs £435. 01228 406701

Scotland

In the Highlands, the choice with Mackay’s Agency includes an 18th-century cottage for four, not far from the shore of the Kyle of Sutherland, and a Victorian shooting lodge with four bedrooms and three bathrooms, 10km from Dingwall. Both are available for several weeks this month and next. Prices are £442 and £895. 0870 4295359

In Argyll, a 19th century selfcatering Scottish farmstead close to Kimelford Loch, near Oban, is available through Cottages For You. The renovated ground floor apartment is situated in a farm close to sandy beaches or the Argyll Peninsula and the ferry to Mull - the apartment has a living/dining room with sofa beds, double and twin bedroom and shower room. Price: £539.60 for one weeks’ self catering accommodation for four-six people arriving Saturday July 21. One pet welcome.