Luxury holidays in Somerset

When to go

Spring is glorious, with impossibly green fields and spreading flowers; summer can be wonderful but you'll have competition for the best picnic spots and hotel rooms; autumn is our favourite time, when sunsets are red and mornings are crisp.

Getting there

• Planes

  If you’re coming from the sky | then Bristol airport is the best point of access. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies in from Derry; easyJet (www.easyjet.com) jets in from Belfast | Edinburgh | Glasgow | Inverness and Newcastle.

• Trains

  There are regular trains from London Paddington to Bath Spa; the journey takes around 90 minutes. Bristol is also easily accessible from Birmingham and the Midlands, and there’s an unmanned station at Frome, on the Cardiff-Weymouth route. Connections aren’t great though, so a car is advisable if you plan to explore properly.

• Automobiles

  From London | Somerset can be reached in around three hours along the M4. The journey along the M3 and wonderful A303 is more leisurely | taking you up and down rolling hills | and right past Stonehenge.

• Taxis

  Try Bath Spa Taxis (01225 313131) in Bath, Mike’s Taxis (07773 900274) if you’re in the Mendips, or Valley Cars (01749 343888) in the Shepton Mallet area.