The sound of luggage wheels rattling down cobbled streets in the darkness, the first pop of Friday night’s wine in a cheery little eatery, and, later on, the indeterminate vowels of a local explaining the rules of bar skittles to you in a low-beamed snug bar – what could be more calming, more convivial than a weekend break in small-town Britain?

Here, our writers have chosen five lovely, unheralded small-town heroes for you to disappear to in search of fine food, somewhere special to stay and a short, reviving slice of the best of country life.

FROME, Somerset

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But some of us know that all you have to do is drive to Somerset and walk into the nearest greengrocer’s. “Hello, my loveleey! What can I do you for on this beautiful day?” Now that’s therapeutic.

Frome (it rhymes with broom, my lovely) is situated deep enough into the West Country to be sedated by the local languor but it’s not so far gone that you need a magic carpet to get there for the weekend. The town’s special character is, ironically, the product of what was once a geographical blight – throughout most of the 20th century, isolation and local industrial failures put Frome to sleep, but when it awoke, street upon beautiful street of terraced cottages were still standing, while in the neighbouring boom towns they’d been flattened.

Frome now has more listed buildings than any comparable town in the region, and all those lovely cottages have drawn in an army of artsy, folksy-lifestyle refugees, giving this minute metropolis a cultural life to rival somewhere thrice the size.

Three art galleries, two theatres, a concert venue, a crafts centre and a blossoming spiritual-therapy and alternative-health industry – no wonder some of the town’s more, erm, prosaic inhabitants look a little bemused by what’s happened here.

For a visitor, the chief pleasures are shop-pottering along Cheap Street and Catherine Street, visiting the Black Swan Arts centre (blackswan.org.uk; 10am-5pm) and the Saturday farmers’ market – and then heading out into the Mendip countryside. A spot to consider with kids, Frome is four miles from Longleat, stately home of lions and tigers, and a polyamorous marquess, (www.longleat.co.uk), and the nearby caves at Wookey Hole are a child-spooking favourite (www.wookey.co.uk). If you’d rather just stroll in some of the nicest country in the west, pick up walking route maps at the town’s tourist centre.

The dinner: the Garden Cafe on Stony Street (01373 454178; mains from £7.40) is a suitably organic, free-range new eatery, serving delightful, wholesome grub on a flower-festooned terrace. For a more traditional treat, local foodies drive over to the fêted Moody Goose at Midsomer Norton (01761 416784, www.moodygoose.co.uk; mains from £15).

The digs: the Lamb Inn is another welcome invention: a real-ale B&B (01373 472042, www.thelamb innfrome.co.uk; doubles from £100). Contemporary country rooms sit above the airy town-centre pub, where you’ll get a hearty breakfast and, later, an erudite range of pints. Or, for chic self-catering, Lazy Dog Cottage (01373 855275, www.lazydogcottage.co.uk; one double bed) is a delight; from £230 for a weekend.

The diary: every second and fourth Saturday of the month, the market hosts local craft and farmers’ stalls, and the town’s crammed arts festival starts on Friday and runs until the 13th (www.fromefestival.co.uk). The tourist centre (in the Black Swan complex) has, they reckon, the best events-diary website in small-town Britain: www.frometouristinfo.co.uk.

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