Author(s): Alastair Sawday

Travel

This trusted guide is now in its ninth edition. All of the places are inspected and are good value, whether remote and simple or wrapped in luxury. The selection will provide plenty of inspiration for a weekend away, a family holiday and even a business trip. There is a smugglers' inn, a cliff-top castle, a 16th-century priory, a 21st-century, French-inspired local, a 1735 mansion on the River Wye, a Palladian masterpiece (where James Bond played Goldfinger at golf) and one of the best hotels in the country for walking, set in 38 acres of blissful Dartmoor silence. Clear symbols, excellent maps, colour photos, clear directions and quick reference indices help guide our readers to the best choice for them, and our fresh and lively write-ups paint an accurate picture. Our approach is unusual and subjective. There are no set rules, no interminable checklists and no hard and fast criteria for inclusion. We look for what we like, and celebrate the unusual, the beautiful and the individual.