Iolanda

The steep garden steps announce what this place is: a genuine period cottage built into Polperro's clifftside, not a modern pastiche. Iolanda dates to the 1700s and still feels it, though the inside works for a proper holiday. You get two double bedrooms across two floors, a shower room, and a kitchen that handles real cooking—oven, hob, dishwasher, washer dryer. The sitting room is on the top floor with a television and DVD player. Bed linen and wifi are included; heating is electric, with night storage heaters available in winter.

The garden is south-facing and terraced, with patio furniture for sitting out. Parking is off-road but a four-minute walk away. The cottage suits four people and is yours alone; children under five are not welcome. No smoking indoors.

Polperro itself is the draw—a working fishing village that still looks like something from another century, full of antique shops, pubs and restaurants within walking distance. The tidal beach is minutes away, as is the coastal path. Boat trips run seasonally. If you need a bigger excursion, the Eden Project is thirty minutes by car, and Looe is five miles along the coast.