Forget about the donkeys. Right now, another less fashionable but no less worthy species faces the prospect of being cold, alone and unloved in the run-up to Christmas. Throughout Britain, there are hundreds of beautiful old cottages lying empty at this time of year, just when they need you most.

They’re desperate for you to stoke their fire, put some walking boots by their door, open a bottle and hunker down against the elements. And to prove it, they’re selling themselves at bargain-basement prices. In some cases, you’ll pay well below half the summer rate.

If you could force yourself to spend a week in late November or early December, before the mania (and price-hiking) of Christmas takes hold, indulging in a bracing walk or two followed by a cosy country pub - and all for a few hundred quid - then we think we’ve found a match for you.

Each of the cottages we’ve high-lighted has an open fire or a fuel-burning stove, they’re all within skipping distance of the local, and they’ve all got suitably winterish activities on their doorsteps, be that great blustery coastal hikes, wildlife or all-weathers day-trip excursions. Although if you take a crate of wine and a box set of DVDs, you might not want to open the door for days.

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Prices are per cottage for a week and December rates are for the first two weeks of the month only

TOAD HALL COTTAGES

Good for:character properties in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset.

Pick of the cottages: the 18th-century Britannia (summer £708; December £280; sleeps 4, dog welcome), near Black-pool Sands, gets its name from its links with Britannia Royal Naval College - and appropriately enough, the beach (where dogs are welcome from October to April) is a stroll away. Dangerously, perhaps, the Green Dragon is much closer, across the road.

Yeomans Cottage (summer £708; December £224; sleeps 3) is a former granary in a highly secluded spot less than a mile from North and South Sands. You get a free bottle of wine on arrival, to enjoy while perched on a window seat, gazing out over the valley and deciding which part of the National Trust woodland to explore first.

Alternatively, there’s the pretty, part-17th-century Crooked Lake Cottage (summer £840; December £329; sleeps 5) in Bideford, complete with cute heartshaped shutters, beamed ceilings and a babbling brook in the garden. There’s a restaurant as well as a pub down the road, and walking, cycling and golf are all available locally.

Contact: 01548 853089, www.toadhallcottages.co.uk

WILDERNESS COTTAGES

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