7 Longport

A delightful, unexpected hideaway bang opposite the site of St Augustine’s Abbey and a five-minute walk to the cathedral. You pass through Ursula and Christopher’s elegant Georgian house to emerge in a pretty courtyard, with fig tree and rambling rose, to find your self-contained cottage.

Downstairs is a cosy sitting room with pale walls, tiled floors and plenty of books, and a clever, compact wet room with mosaic tiles. Then up steep stairs to a swish bedroom with crisp cotton sheets on a handmade bed and views of the ancient wisteria. Breakfast is continental, ordered the night before from a menu and brought to you in a wicker basket: homemade granola, spiced porridge, hot frittata, boiled eggs with soldiers and always warm croissants with homemade jams and marmalade.

On balmy days you can eat it outdoors in the courtyard. There’s a good pub, The Two Sawyers, just a minute’s walk and, a bit further, the Goods Shed, a farmers’ market set in an old railway station with pop-up food stalls.