Heaps to do on-site: organic farm shop & café, cookery & cheese-making courses, farm tours. A brilliant base for exploring the Cotswolds too

Designer cool suites, apartments, a villa – a sophisticated oasis of a place – near white sands, curious caves, turquoise sea, Lecce

Between Paris and Rouen, a handsome country house in Monet scenery. Cows graze, bedrooms soothe, friendships bud over bountiful breakfasts

A 17th-century Westmorland barn, fully renovated with a roomy living space and west-facing garden with views of High Street and Blencathra

A stately retreat, an oasis of calm and beauty. Picnic on the lawns, enjoy a glass of home-produced prosecco beneath a centuries-old tree

Elegant country château with a family feel, for big groups with or without children, and those who seek inspiration

A very grand façade for this handsome Charente village house with a beautiful, peaceful garden, creamy stone walls and olive trees

Choose the atmospheric early Georgian house or the garden bedrooms, all have views, Paul's welcome is genuine and his dinners delicious

Fall in love with this riverside village, lost in a valley in lower Normandy, and this sunny house for couples or families

Beautifully designed timber cabins in the Black Mountains, right next to a lovely old inn serving good, honest food from their own farm

Immerse yourself in sentiment and romance at Valeria’s charming Veronese villa. The walls sing with framed opera programmes and music scores

Hospitable Jorge and Clotilde love nothing more than sharing their colourful, chaotic old house with guests. The farm produce is fabulous

Contemporary boathouse for all the family. Find rock pools, a shingle beach and plenty of ozone in the salty Cornish air

Welcoming B&B with the feel of a high-end hotel, set in the charming town of Ay; France's fabulous Champagne region is on your doorstep

Adorable cottage with a Highland lodge feel – walk straight into the hills, swim in the Spey, relax in the whisky room and sitooterie

Rooftop views of a Baroque town from heavenly flower-filled terraces and a truly scrumptious breakfast from Elisabetta make this one a must

Fall asleep to the sound of the sea in your dreamy thatched cottage, one of 6, right on the beach for those head-clearing walks...

Restored farmhouse with a swimming pool on a 700-acre wine estate in the Valdera surrounded by hills, farmland and authentic villages