Come down to the Meon Valley and be (very gently) nudged towards a better way of living - a Sawday's Community Champion

Spoiling bedrooms, good food, warm staff and the South West Coast Path tempting you from the doorstep. You and your dog will love it here

Relaxed country-chic worthy of a photo shoot at these beautifully turned-out apartments in deep countryside... gaze on heaven from the pool

You’re in the heart of untamed countryside here, beside the river Oise, welcomed by friendly hosts who cook and care for you

Gather family or friends and take both villa and cottage. The terraces and gardens have long views, the pool is roomy and the peace palpable

Saint Emilion and Castillon both a hop away from a warm, wonderful barn with owners to match. Stylish, cosy and deep in organic vines

On its own wooded estate, a special manor house of character. Art on the walls, maps and wellies to borrow, gardens to romp in, super views

Peace, space, nature in the Champagne-hugged Somme valley - and home-grown, organic meals with generous French hosts. Family-perfect

Straight out of a fairy tale, a rustic cottage by a babbling brook: a magical escape for couples, the craggy coast in easy reach

A 17th-century traditional Welsh longhouse in a very sheltered spot facing south and with a pretty garden surrounded by fields and meadows

Come to be thoroughly cosseted and nurtured in this ancient Presbytery surrounded by rolling countryside with views of the Dordogne river

A cottage in a conservation village with logs in the burner, sloe gin on the table, and a good dining pub you can walk to

In the National Park with all its glories (Ashbourne for antiques, Chatsworth for history, Bakewell for its market), a sweet village cottage

Perthshire country house with contemporary touches. Deer, red squirrels, tawny owls... and the river Tay glints way below through the trees

Pluck grapes, splash in the child-shallow pool and explore the ‘Yorkshire of Italy’ with rolling green hills and conical trulli

Gite retreats in château grounds - welcoming and wonderful for young families. Build castles in the sandpit, make friends around the pool

A calm, leafy bolthole in one of Paris' most elegant districts. Step out to stylish boutiques, good bakeries – and the Eiffel Tower

Friendly inn in the middle of Sedbergh. Lots of bedrooms to choose from, suntrap picnic area, walks in the Yorkshire Dales on the doorstep