Best quiet weekend breaks away from the crowds

Dark skies, a book town and a quiet, unspoilt coast

A wild shingle headland of black huts, lighthouses and a famous garden

Ireland's lake district, with islands, caves and ancient monasteries

Ruined abbeys, rolling hills and little-visited border towns

A huge sea lough dotted with islands, seals and stately homes

The home of Wensleydale cheese, in the heart of the Dales

A market town on the River Lune with a medieval bridge and Ruskin's View

White beaches, standing stones and Gaelic culture at the edge of Europe

A small Nidderdale town with a famously old sweet shop and a steep main street

A village around a big green, the capital of Swaledale

England's book town below the rounded Howgill Fells

A cliff-hugging fishing village with a tiny harbour

A quiet quay village and the gateway to seal trips at Blakeney Point

5,000-year-old villages, standing stones and sea cliffs off the north coast of Scotland

Palm trees and sailing boats on a sheltered Highland sea loch

Puffins, Viking heritage and a wild, treeless coast far to the north

A white-painted harbour town and the ferry gateway to the Outer Hebrides

A quiet village of dunes, crabbing and a tiny rowing-boat ferry to Southwold