Apartment 3

Preston's waterfront has reinvented itself around a working marina lined with independent shops, restaurants and a cinema. From Apartment 3, you're in the thick of it—a one-bedroom flat on the second floor of a converted Victorian building, sleeping two. The layout flows from bedroom through an open-plan living and dining space into a kitchen equipped for proper cooking: electric oven and hob, microwave, fridge and washing machine all there. A walk-in shower is off the main room. Essentials like heating, electricity, bed linen and towels are included, plus Wi-Fi.

The location works as a base for several directions at once. The Lancashire coast—Formby, Lytham St Annes, Cleveleys—is under an hour away. Blackpool is half an hour south. An hour north brings you to the Lake District National Park; the Yorkshire Dales and Ribble Valley are within similar reach. Locally, the 21-mile Guild Wheel connects Preston by cycle and footpath to the surrounding countryside. The apartment doesn't allow smoking. A public car park operates nearby at additional cost, and check-in is after 3pm.