I prefer paving but look out for a common error.
The damp course on your house needs to be at least six inches above tbe finished ground level outside, including paving. It is typically two or three bricks above the ground.
Good paving on a compressed MoT1 and/or mortar bed will be around six inches thick. Some numbskulls lay it on top of the ground, so it is too high and bridges the dpc or heavy rain splashes up from it to wet the bricks.
You will also have gullies, drain covers and manholes around the house, and probably a lid to access the outside stopcock. Numbskullspave over these, or bodge some kind of pit.
For a proper job, you need to excavate first so the finished level will be at least six inches below the DPC. If your house is more than 50 years old, it probably has clay gullies or connectors for the sink drain and rainwater downpipes. These are very liable to crack and leak, especially in houses built before 1944. Thus is usually displayed by damp, or cracked and patched concrete around them, or sunken ground, or paving that sounds hollow when knocked. They will need to be dug up and replaced - a surprisingly simple building job that is a hundred times harder and more expensive if you have to break up nice new paving that has been laid on top. So have them inspected and if necessary repaired first.
The paving should be laid with a slight slope so rainwater runs away from the house. If you hope to park cars on it, you need an extra-deep foundation.
You will find examples and specifications on a website called "Paving Expert"