English Country Cottages (0870 5851111, www.english-country-cottages.co.uk)
Possibly the best known name, specialising in breaks in 2,500 quintessentially English cottages in stunning locations - and similarly with Welsh (0870 5851122), Scottish (0870 5851133) and Irish (0870 5851166) Country Cottages. Availability over Easter includes Ard Thurinish, sleeping six on the Isle of Skye, from £587 for the week.
Premier Cottages Direct (01271 336050, www.premiercottages.co.uk)
An association of independent holiday cottage owners offering more than 700 properties across England, Scotland and Wales. Availability over Easter includes The Granary and Stables at Abbots Court in Worcestershire's Vale of Evesham. Each sleep four, from £433.
Country Holidays (08700 723723, www.country-holidays.co.uk)
A huge range of properties throughout the UK (3,250) , from ordinary family terraced houses to luxurious cottages and Scandinavian chalets. Availability over Easter includes the 18th-century Monk Barr in the historic centre of York. It sleeps four and costs from £311.
Cottage Choice (0870 444 4555)
Useful budget option not because the properties are lower quality but because they tend not to be located in the "honeypot" destinations. Easter availability includes an apartment at Royal Quays Marina, North Shields, sleeping three from £254.
Helpful Holidays (01647 433593, www.hotelnet.co.uk/hotelnet/helpful/Home.htm)
The West Country's leading independent cottage holiday agency with just over 450 properties. Availability over Easter includes a cottage sleeping four, three miles from Padstow in Cornwall with an open fire (£279 for the week).
Rural Retreats (01386 701177, www.gibp.co.uk/ruralr/)
Claims to be the only letting agency where guests arrive with just their own personal luggage, everything being provided, including bicycles, with no hidden extra charges. Availability over Easter includes Bratton Mill Cottage, near Saunton Sands, Devon, with woodburning stove, £644 for a week, £511 for five nights, sleeping four.
Toad Hall Cottages (08700 777345, www.toadhallcottages.co.uk/)
West Country specialists. Availability over Easter includes two stone barn conversions, Oak and May Cottages near Salcombe, each sleeping five, from £310 each.
Classic Cottages (01326 555 555, www.classic.co.uk/)
Still has over 50 West Country properties available for Easter in or near villages and close to the beach. The thatched cottage in Crantock called The Hermitage sleeps four and costs £355 for the week.
The Landmark Trust (01628 825925, www.landmarktrust.co.uk)
Specialises in rescuing ancient and architecturally worthy buildings from neglect. Its brochure is coffee-table classy, hence the £9.50 price, refundable against the first booking. A few of the 163 properties are available over Easter, including Danescombe Mine in Devon which sleeps four (£620 for five nights, April 12-16).
The National Trust (01225 791133)
Over 200 cottages with strongholds in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Norfolk. Design enthusiasts will revel in the minimalist early-70s style of Chert on the Isle of Wight with full views of the sea. All properties are currently unavailable owing to the foot-and-mouth restrictions, but the situation is being regularly reviewed. One week in Chert ranges from £220-£643, based on four sharing. The National Trust in Scotland (0131-243 9331) has about 30 properties.
Forest Enterprises (0131-334 0066, www.forestholidays.co.uk)
Peaceful back-to-nature cabins in the woods on Forestry Commission lands - two sites in Scotland, one in the North York Moors, one in Cornwall. Prices for a week in school holidays start at £149 per cabin sleeping up to six.
The Youth Hostel Association (0870 870 8808, www.yha.org.uk)
This 70-year-old charity has recently doubled the number of hostels with family bunk-bed rooms. Many now have central heating, wall-to-wall carpets, curtains and beds with duvets. Annual family membership costs £25 (£12.50 for one-parent families), which entitles you to stay at youth hostels worldwide. For details of the Scottish YHA, call 01786 891400.
The Vivat Trust (020-7930 8030, www.vivat.org.uk)
The charity rescues neglected listed buildings and lets them as holiday accommodation. All 10 buildings in England and Scotland are now booked over Easter, but there's plenty of summer availability. Callander Cottage in Shropshire, for example, costs £560 for a week in June.
Scottish Chapters (020-7722 0722)
From country cottages to mansions. Marlee House in Perthshire, within an hour's drive of 80 golf courses, sleeps five and costs £450.
Blakes Cottages (08700 708090)
A nationwide selection of properties including a healthy quota around the Norfolk Broads. Some Easter availability including Albatross Cottage at Brixham Holiday Park in Devon, overlooking Fishcombe Cove, sleeping four from £159 a week.
Farm Stay UK (024 76696909, www.farm-holidays.co.uk)
A farmer-owned co-operative of almost 1,300 UK farms providing B&B or self-catering accommodation on working farms from around £100 per unit per week.
Do your homework
• The weekend newspapers carry columns of advertisements for individual properties and agencies. The back pages of this section, for example, contain over 100 addresses. Also try magazines such as The Lady and Loot.
• The Good Holiday Cottage Guide 2001, edited by Bryn Frank (Swallow Press, £5.95) has personal reviews of inspected properties. Available from bookshops or PO Box 21 Hertford, Herts SG14 2DD.
• Cottage owners can pay to be rated in terms of facilities and quality by Britain's national tourist boards. For details of schemes and their Where to Stay guides, contact the English (020-8846 9000), Scottish (0131-332 2433) and Welsh (02 920 499909) Tourist Boards. A property without an official grading is not inferior to one that has, since classification is not compulsory and the guides are far from comprehensive.
• UK One Call (01227 454563) is a free service providing the latest up-to-date self-catering availability across the country. This Easter, it can offer more than 100 properties sleeping a minimum of four.
• Don't worry about the chill factor - most houses are now equipped with all mod cons including central heating. But check that heating (particularly in bedrooms) can be switched on between October and May.
• Parents with young children should ask about steep stairs, drops, ponds, cots etc. And don't dismiss groups of cottages, such as Cant Cove Cottages in Rock, Cornwall (01208 862841), where kids can benefit from instant playmates.
• Ask where the owners live - downstairs or next door may be too close for comfort.
• If you have any special needs, eg wheelchair access, pets, do ask. Cottage owners usually charge between £13 and £17 a week per dog (an improvement on kennel costs); others may not accept smokers, children, single-sex groups or animals.
• "Sleeps six" can mean two double/twin bedrooms and a couple of Z-beds in the living room. For maximum comfort, book somewhere bigger than your requirements.
Foot & mouth disease
Government advice during the present crisis is that the public should not go walking in the countryside and that they should keep off farmland.
Easter special
Spring boards
You haven't missed the boat to get away. Charlotte Atkins rounds up what's still on offer
Emporio's new clothes
The bigger the name on the labels, the bigger the savings. Gillian Rhys goes for broke to get the new season's must-haves in the capital of cool
Many happy returns
Lots of people have magical places that keep calling them back. Every Easter, Ben Mallalieu and family lose themselves in the literary world of Hay-on-Wye
• Family breaks at Easter
Parc life
Can CenterParcs survive the teenager test? Julie Welch finds out at their Wiltshire site
Child support
Jane Cunningham on how to deal with kids on vacation, and avoid those holidays from hell
