Summer in the UK: The best of the West Country

In a new series on Britain's regions, Ismay Atkins takes a look at Somerset, Devon and Cornwall

With the nation's new-found love of glamping showing no signs of fading, Cornwall has been busy diversifying on the trend, moving from the ubiquitous yurt to quirkier digs.

At Lovelane Caravans (01326 340406; lovelanecaravans.com), a bijou caravan site located near St Keverne on the Lizard, accommodation is provided in tenderly restored and beautified vintage caravans. The caravans come with cotton bedding, dainty vintage tea sets, an old-fashioned paraffin lamp, and games. Best of all, Lovelane is just a few fields of donkeys and cows away from the HQ of Roskilly's – the legendary purveyors of Cornish ice-cream – and its laid-back Croust House restaurant.

Further up the coast and the price spectrum, the gleaming new South Sands Hotel (01548 859000; southsands.com) in affluent Salcombe offers 22 contemporary rooms, most with sea views, and five extra-cushy beach suites (with kitchens). The style is clean and crisp, with New England stripes, boaty colours, and buckets of whites and beiges. The restaurant serves simple, fresh seafood and opens out on to a plum sea-facing terrace.

The holder of the only Michelin star in Cornwall in 2009, Nathan Outlaw (01208 863394; nathan-outlaw.co.uk) is the chef to watch in the South-west – and he's got a superb new fine-dining restaurant in Rock to prove it. The intimate, minimalist space, the elaborate tasting menu format (£65 per head for six-course tasting menu), and the subtly inventive creations (wreckfish with sea vegetables, champagne jelly with yoghurt sorbet, pigeon with rhubarb and juniper tart) all whisper ambition.

Over in Devon, fish man Mitch Tonks – who brought us the FishWorks chain – has added to his piscatorial group with the new RockFish Seafood & Chips (01803 832800; rockfishdevon.co.uk) in Dartmouth. The casual counterpart to his more formal Seahorse restaurant down the road, the seafood diner is aimed at families wanting fresh fish at easy-going prices and without the posh tablecloths. Stylish cardboard open trays replace crockery, and the menu is made up of five types of fresh fish battered or crumbed – as well as classics such as crab and shrimp sandwiches – and the look is pure beach-hut chic.

After a devastating fire in 2008, the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare (01934 620238; grandpier.co.uk) is poised to relaunch in August following a £51m reconstruction. The centrepiece, a 91-metre-high observation tower, won't open until next year but the stellar new selection of state-of-the-art attractions should easily keep punters entertained in the meanwhile. There's a fast, split-level Go Kart track, a Laser Maze, the UK's first mirrored Crystal Maze and a 4D cinema, along with the seaside favourites such as ice-cream parlours, fish and chip shops, and tea rooms.

Further west, the five-star Retallack Resort & Spa near Newquay in Cornwall has launched an altogether wetter ride – and somewhere where the surf is always up. The 12-metre-wide perma-wave known as the FlowRider, new for 2010 (01637 882400; retallackresort.co.uk; £45 per hour including all equipment), is created by pumping water at high speed over a ramp to create a sheet wave. Described as a cross between surfing, snowboarding and skateboarding – using specially designed stand-up boards and bodyboards – it's safe for all levels, instantly fun and good for building core strength.

In a year that saw three west country beaches lose their Blue Flag status, Sandy Bay in Exmouth – a half-mile sweep of sand backed b rust-orange cliffs – has regained its Blue Flag. An international eco-award scheme, Blue Flag highlights beaches and marinas that demonstrate the highest standards of cleanliness, water quality and environmental management. Sandy Bay is a family classic, with sheltered waters, parking, toilets, pedalos and canoes for rent, as well as all-important rock-pooling.

Inland, the Bath Skyline Walk (nationaltrust.org.uk) – one of Britain's favourite rambles – is the most popular of the National Trust's collection of 130 free downloadable walks. Not without good reason: the six-mile trail puts Bath's absurdly attractive architecture into panoramic mode – and throws in green and pleasant meadows, valleys and woodlands en route, as well as an Iron Age fort and an 18th-century folly, and countless dreamy picnicking and kite-flying spots.

For further information, go to visitcornwall.com, visitdevon.co.uk, visitsomerset.co.uk.

Ismay Atkins is co-author of the Time Out Devon & Cornwall Guide.