Mawgan Porth is a perfect spot for surfing, a cool corner of Cornwall not far from Padstow and Watergate Bay. The Dunes sleeps up to six in two bedrooms and a mezzanine area … Photograph: PR
Bag the second bedroom, with its roll-top bath and French windows opening on to a deck. The light and lofty living and kitchen area opens on to the garden, from where a gate leads to the beach.
• 01769 580123, thedunescornwall.co.uk, from £1,200 a week Photograph: PR
A cosy hideaway for two, Maiden is a restored 1940s railway ale wagon set beside Wisteria Cottage, a contemporary log cabin … Photograph: PR
Booked as a pair, the grey and green-painted wagon covers sleeping (there's a bed with original cast iron bedstead and hot water bottles are provided) while the cottage has a bathroom, salvage-chic kitchen and woodburner-equipped lounge. Outside, among spruce trees and grass, is a private campfire.
• 01579 370219, quirky-holidays-cornwall.co.uk, from £472.50 a week Photograph: PR
A hi-tech eco-retreat on the edge of Bodmin Moor, sleeping 10, this is far from your typical barn conversion. Part of a small, luxurious complex (you can also rent the adjacent "cottage" and invite another 12 along), it's a lesson in relaxed, contemporary style … Photograph: PR
The barn's five en suite bedrooms come with specially commissioned art, high quality contemporary furniture, vintage finds and locally made toiletries. With 16 acres of private countryside to explore, many guests don't make it to Bodmin. Others don't even get beyond the walls, thanks to the home cinema, games room, slate-lined, freshwater indoor pool, and add-ons such as private chefs and pilates lessons to keep them entertained.br/> • 01566 770880, tregulland.co.uk, from £2,950 a week Photograph: PR
Slate floors, a hand-crafted wooden kitchen and painted beams give this diminutive stone barn conversion for two character; and a modern wood burner, Egyptian cotton bedlinen, goose-down pillows and duvet add comfort … Photograph: PR
It's set on a farm less than a mile from the South West Coast Path – a track leads to it across fields – and, from its red brick-fringed windows, has views of the sea out beyond Boscastle. If all this relaxation makes you too unwound to cook, the owners can supply picnics and Aga-cooked suppers with a bit of notice.
• 01326 555555, classic.co.uk, from £294 a week Photograph: PR
With roses around the door, original slate flooring and symmetrical stonework, cottages don't get more storybook than this one outside Port Isaac. There are three sunny bedrooms in the main house and a fourth, en suite, in an adjacent granary building …
Photograph: PR
Recently renovated, facilities include a Shaker-style kitchen and two cosy sitting rooms. Fields on four sides and a sweeping, but enclosed, garden complete the rural idyll.
• No phone, littletrentinney.co.uk, from £567 a week, sleeps seven Photograph: PR