Our guide to luxury Somerset holidays

Peppered among Somerset’s rolling hills lie acres of apple orchards, ready to produce the county’s most famous beverage – lip-smacking cider. Its rich, cider-making heritage stretches back to the 11th-century, brought over by the Romans. It was once considered a health supplement, beneficial for the skin, and even used to christen babies until the 15th-century. Now, Somerset cider is best enjoyed in the sunlit gardens of a thatched pub or at one of many raucous cider festivals across the county. Dry, sweet, flat, or sparkling: there’s no shortage of flavour or variety, just be prepared to throw the usual rulebook out the window. Truly local scrumpy is usually homemade in small batches; it tastes delicious but the owner has no idea how strong it is.

With hazy, summer days at their longest and the British weather (supposedly) at its peak, over 200,000 free-wheeling music lovers descend on the tiny village of Pilton for Glastonbury Festival every year. Whilst exact dates vary year-to-year, the festival is usually held on the last weekend of June, unless a ‘fallow year’; one in which the ground is allowed to recover and no festival takes place. Traffic over this weekend in the immediate area can be chaotic, with stationary jams sometimes lasting over four hours or more. But even those without tickets can’t help but to absorb the energy, its infectious positivity urging all around to dance to the beat of their own drum.

Somerset is a rural idyll, coated with barley fields and wildflower meadows in the summer. But if you’re craving a little buzz without the chaos of London, head to Bath, Somerset’s largest city. Where magnificent Georgian architecture presides over royal crescents and old style boutiques dot networks of tiny streets, Bath is the only city in the UK to be designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From steaming Roman baths to art installations like the Southgate Umbrellas, the city has plenty to colour the memory books, all you need to do is decide what mood you’re in.

Cheddar. Originating from the village with the same name, the UK’s favourite is still made with traditional cheese-making methods today. This tiny village sits at the mouth of Cheddar Gorge, its high street transitioning into a snaking road that carves its way dramatically through the rock. Formed during the last ice age, explore the gorge’s other-worldly caves that hide elders’ meeting chambers and secret caverns, many of which are used to mature Cheddar cheese. Then head back to the village for a hearty Ploughmans, sampling the very best that Somerset has to offer.

There are over 30 beaches to choose from in Somerset, stretching from Exmoor to Weston-super-Mare. Take the children fossil-hunting at Kilve Beach, where rocky shores meet gentle tides, or for ice creams that threaten to slither off cones at sandy beaches like Brean Beach, Berrow Beach, or Dunster Beach. Whether it’s to be the setting for a teatime picnic or bracing walk in the salty air, these popular and hidden stretches of the Somerset coast are just the place:

Middle Hope Beach

Brean Beach

Dunster Beach

Minehead Beach

Weston-super-Mare Beach

Stolford Beach

Clevedon Beach

Porlock Weir

St. Audries Bay