Things to see in the West Country

For people who are feeling less active and want to simply enjoy the surroundings, history and heritage of this beautiful area of England, there is plenty of beautiful attractions, gardens, manor houses, museums and castles to enjoy:

Cornwall - Lost gardens of Heligan, Caerhays Castle and Gardens, Trebah Garden, Trerice House and Gardens, East Pool Mine, Lawrence House museum, Greevor Tin Mine, Royal Cornwall Museum, Hidden Valley Gardens, Lanterns Garden, Garden, Heartland's, Truro Cathedral, St Agnes, Poppy cottage gardens, Eden Project, Cornish Camels.

Devon - Dinosaur World, Bradworthy transport museum, Plymouth city museum, Torquay museum, Fursdon House, Torre Abbey, St Nicholas Priory, Elizabethan House, Mount Edgcombe House and country park, Powderham Castle, Dartmouth Castle.

Wiltshire - Stonehenge and the Avebury stone circles, Salisbury Cathedral, Museum of the Great Western Railway, Longleat, Wilton House, Bowood house and gardens, The Peto Garden, Stourhead.

Gloucestershire - Cheltenham Art gallery and museum, GloucesterCathedral, Gloucester Docks, The Waterways Museum, Gloucester Folk Museum, Cotswold wildlife park and gardens, Hidcote Manor, Sudeley Castle, Mill Dene Garden, Stanway House and Fountain.

Somerset - Cleeve Abbey, Fleet Air Arm museum, The museum of Somerset, The Shoe Museum, Wellington Museum, Dunster Castle, Glastonbury Abbey, Castle Neroche, Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Brent Knoll Hill Fort.

Dorset- Dorset County Museum, Jurassic Coast, Red House Museum, Mangerton Mill, Lulworth Castle and Park, Kingston Lacy House and Gardens, Mapperton House, Sherborne Castle, Lulworth Castle, Bennets Water Gardens.

May - the month of spring

Visit the Cotswolds in May and appreciate the sight of the long pendulous flowers of Wisteria adorning bare branches. Wisteria is a plant of choice on country homes throiughout the Cotswolds.

A visit to an arboretum will be rewarded by trees laden with blossom. Spring is one of the best times of year to visit the Cotswolds - spring flowers enhance golden hued brickwork and add an air of joy and exuberance to the villages.

The weather may be a little cold outside but inside the bio-dome sof the Eden Project it can can be any time of year. Visit the various zones and enjoy flowers and fruit from around the world.

Cornwall is a good cottage holiday destination. Rent a holiday cottage in Cornwall, visit the Eden Project, go out for meals, walks along the coast and make the most of early spring.