When When the islands aren't hosting the World Pilot Gig Championships, life here ambles at a slow speed. Giant granite cairns guard white-sand bays. Wild seals pop whiskered heads through floating carpets of mermaid's tresses and lounge on the rocks, flippers resting on their rotund bellies. Just five of the 145 islands that make up the Scillies are inhabited, the rest are a playground for the seals, puffins and gannets.

While the Isles of Scilly might appear like a rural idyll of stone houses and white picket fences, a different story unfolds offshore. The sea surrounding the islands is an enormous, watery cemetery for over 500 ships. The 16th-century Garrison Walls on St Mary's, once a vast defence system against the Spanish Armada, now harbours a luxury hotel and vineyard. Bizarrely, the seemingly peaceful Isles of Scilly were (technically) still at war with the Netherlands until very recently. The 335-year war began during the 17th-century English Civil War and, although there wasn't a single casualty or shot fired, it only officially came to an end when the Dutch ambassador came to the islands to sign a peace treaty in 1986.

The Scillies are easy to reach for a weekend, being just 15 or 20 minutes from Cornwall by helicopter or plane respectively. For a slower journey and the chance of seeing dolphins, catch the Scillonian ferry from Penzance (2 hours 45 minutes). In spite of the islands' accessibility, you'll have no problem in finding a picture-perfect beach to yourself, even in high season. We've boarded ships tall and small, combed the coastline and consumed outrageous amounts of Cornish ice cream to bring you our highlights of the archipelago.