Delightful Scilly

The Isles of Scilly "seem like relics of a simpler, better age", says Max Davidson in the Daily Telegraph. Their heyday as a tourist destination was in the Sixties, when Harold Wilson spent his summer holidays there, and they have changed little since.

One attraction is the mild climate: though just 30 miles from the western tip of Cornwall, they are warmer than the English mainland. But above all, they are "very, very pretty", with "fresh delights around every corner" – deserted coves and beaches and windy headlands with "craggy rocks". Tresco, probably the most popular island, is famous for its "lushly beautiful gardens, in the grounds of an old abbey".

Scillonian ferry crossings and Skybus flights from Land's End to St Mary's, the main island, can be booked through Isles of Scilly Travel (0845 710 5555).