H

ow about swapping the big smoke for muddy wellies, with a trip to the countryside? One of our favourite spots for spectacular, rugged scenery is the Lake District – where you can break out a sweat trekking up Scafell Pike (England’s highest mountain), or take it easy with a steamboat trip across Lake Windermere.

Cumbria might do the big and the bold but if it’s gently rolling hills and chocolate box villages you’re after, then head to Oxfordshire. Thatched cottages are de rigeur in Minster Lovell, which sits on the banks of the sleepy River Windrush. Things happen slowly here – unless there's an event happening at the local pub or on the village cricket green.

Alternatively, if you’re really looking to get away from it all, then what about a weekend in the Isles of Scilly ? On St Agnes , the most south-westerly point of England, you can relax on The Bar – a quiet stretch of beach that links up to the island of Gugh. When you’re strolling on the sand and breathing up the fresh salty air, the stresses of city life will seem like miles away. That’ll be because they are…