Seven Long-Weekend Breaks That Are Not London

There is a particular pleasure in opening a new calendar in January and marking the bank holidays before anyone else claims them. Long weekends, annual leave, the odd public holiday: the whole year looks like a series of doors waiting to be opened. This year I have been lucky enough to mix work with travel and tick off a few places I had wanted to see for ages, among them Barcelona, Berlin and Paris.

The UK, though, is still mostly a blank. I spent a brief day in London last year and that is the extent of it. I would like to get the visa again and go back properly, starting with London and then working outwards. The London list deserves a post of its own; this one is about the other kind of trip, the short break somewhere less obvious.

A confession about transport. If I held a driving licence and had friends or family to share the wheel, I would hire a car and follow the lanes wherever they went. I do not, so I plan around trains and buses. If you do drive, affordable hire from a company such as Thrifty, which has locations across the UK, opens up the scattered places on this list considerably. Here are seven ideas I have been collecting.

1. Herefordshire and Worcestershire

Best for: castles, old woods and doing very little.

The two counties sit against the Welsh border, a landscape of the Wye Valley's dense woodland, medieval castles and cathedrals, and the quiet rhythms of rural life. A cottage here would be the whole point of the trip: long walks, a pub, a fire. If sitting still sounds too tame, there is always the option of a helicopter tour over the countryside, which turns a gentle weekend into something you will talk about for years.

2. Whitby, with a pirate weekend

Best for: families, sea air and a little gothic theatre.

Whitby works as a family weekend by the sea, and it has an unexpected bonus for anyone travelling with children: a hostel at Robin Hood's Bay, YHA Boggle Hole, decorated in pirate style. I have wanted to see it since I came across it.

The town also has a claim on Dracula, a connection it celebrates with some relish. There is a Dracula tour involving actors, special effects and spooky stories, which sounds exactly the right level of silly for an evening. In daylight, the Captain Cook Memorial Museum covers the other half of Whitby's story. Two blogs I follow have written it up well: Ruby Ruby Slippers and Sweetbriar Dreams.

3. Devon: surf, or a cookery course

Best for: trying something new without committing to a sport.

When I picture surfing, Australia comes to mind first, then Florida. It took a while to register that people surf in Britain too, and Devon is one of the places they do it. Three of the county's better-known spots are collected in this post if you fancy a lesson.

If cold water is not your idea of a weekend, Devon offers a quieter alternative: stay in a cottage and spend the days learning to make cheese or bake chocolate brownies on a cookery course. Picture cottages beside the English Riviera in Torquay, or in the port town of Bideford. Both sound like the kind of break where the weather stops mattering.

4. Cornwall, for kitesurfing

Best for: solo travellers with energy to burn.

Cornwall is where I would send anyone travelling alone who wants a weekend with a pulse. Kitesurfing is the draw: a water sport that rewards commitment and leaves you with no choice but to sleep well. You can base yourself in a traditional farmhouse in the fishing villages of south and west Cornwall, or take a modern apartment near the beaches of the north, spending the day on the water and the evening with a mug of hot chocolate.

Camping is not the only option either. The Aussie Flashpacker went glamping in Cornwall and made it look considerably more comfortable than a tent. More photographs from the county are on Jay's blog.

5. Dorset: primates and the Jurassic Coast

Best for: children, and adults who like fossils.

Dorset was not on my radar until recently, which now seems like an oversight: it is one of the country's leading places for water sports. It also has Monkey World, home to 240 rescued and endangered primates, and the Jurassic Coast, with its museums and heritage centres. This is the sort of place that keeps a family occupied for a whole weekend without anyone asking what happens next. A quiet cottage near the English Channel would complete it.

6. A castle stay at YHA St Briavels

Best for: history lovers of any age, and anyone who enjoys being frightened.

YHA St Briavels is a hostel inside a castle that is roughly 800 years old and remarkably well preserved, with the sort of historical detail most buildings can only imitate. There is a secret dungeon, an old prison whose walls carry graffiti left by prisoners in the 16th century, and a banquet hall lit by candles where medieval feasts are held. A weekend here would be hard to forget.

It is also said to be one of the most haunted buildings in England. Forest Paranormal have made a video about it, which you may want to watch in daylight.

7. Yorkshire: heritage and zorbing

Best for: Roman and Viking history in the morning, adrenaline in the afternoon.

Yorkshire has Roman and Viking heritage, castles and medieval abbeys, and enough of it to fill a week rather than a weekend. A post by Cities Traveller is what made me want to go. The Castle Museum in York recreates Kirkgate, a Victorian street, which is the sort of exhibit that appeals to everyone in a group regardless of age.

Then there is zorbing: strapping yourself into a giant bubble and racing down a hill at 30 miles an hour with your insides shaken loose. It sounds ridiculous, and it is, which is precisely why I want to try it. York also has a good number of pubs known for live music, so the evening takes care of itself.

What is still on the list

Beyond these seven, there are the obvious ones I have somehow not reached: Stonehenge and Bath, Edinburgh, Kent, Loch Ness, Dublin and Shetland, to name a few. The list keeps growing faster than the calendar can absorb it.

So: what would you add? If you know a corner of the UK that deserves a long weekend, tell me in the comments. Thanks to Thrifty for sponsoring this post; compiling the ideas, and the blogs behind them, was the most enjoyable research I have done in a while.