The Courthouse

Three-bedroom period townhouse on the main street of Stratton, the older market town that adjoins Bude on its north-east side. Sleeps six. Dogs are not accepted. Off-road parking - rare in Stratton's narrow streets in summer.

Stratton predates Bude by centuries. The parish church of St Andrew has Norman origins; the Tree Inn next door dates to the 1500s and served as Royalist headquarters before the Battle of Stamford Hill in 1643. Anthony Payne, the Cornish Giant who stood over 7 feet tall, was born a few doors up.

Inside: open-plan ground floor with arched feature windows, Smart TV, kitchen running off the dining area. Two bedrooms on the first floor (king + zip-link twin) plus a shower room. The master double on the second floor has an en-suite shower accessed via internal steps - less practical for guests with mobility issues. Enclosed gravelled patio outside, room for one dog.

Bude is a 10-minute walk down the hill. Summerleaze Beach (1.6 miles) is the family beach with the sea pool carved into the rocks. Crooklets (1.7 miles) is the surf beach. Widemouth Bay (4 miles south) has the longest stretch of sand. Northcott Mouth (2.2 miles north) shows the rusted ribs of the SS Belem at low tide.

Bude Canal heads inland from town - one of the last surviving tub-boat canals in England, with flat walking south towards Marhamchurch. The Tree Inn next door is the obvious post-walk pint.

Best for: history-minded travellers wanting Bude beaches without the in-town price markup. People with one dog. Less good for: groups where one person can't manage internal steps to the master en-suite.