Take your pick from guided horse-trekking to grand banqueting at this traditional château; drive to explore WWI history and the lovely coast

Deep in Calvados near vibrant Caen, a cider barn with stylish bedrooms, quirky objets, a bar in the salon. Charming hosts welcome families

Colourful coastal apartments and studios where you can be nicely independent, and enjoy a communal café and health club with Art Deco pool

Vistas of olive groves, village life and the sea; gaze and daydream from this beautiful spot. A Michelin recommended restaurant to boot

Birders will love escaping up here, golfers too - visit Hatfield House, Knebworth, Cambridge - come back to a good local pub and a comfy bed

Three immaculate rooms in a 17th-century building; step out onto winding streets lined with trattorias, boutiques, fountains and monuments

Stylish B&B rooms in a peaceful little château, amongst rolling hills, woods and farmland - bikes and boules to borrow, lovely pool to share

Everything you’d want of a lovely country inn – pretty rooms, tasty food, local ales in a beamed bar and fabulous walking

A thatched farmhouse only just over the channel near Rouen that’s well hidden in lush gardens, but worth finding for the gourmet food alone

Starry skies, wild beauty and total peace are yours in these sustainable, solar-powered eco-lodges

Everything you need is here: a wood-burner for winter, a pool and spacious terraces for summer, and peace and beauty all year round

Burrowed into the olive groves of the lush Valle d’Itria, a restored masseria with five trulli, an indoor and outdoor pool, hot tub and lovely views

A small, stylish hotel lost in the country with beautiful rooms, excellent food, fine walking and a river passing directly outside

A beautiful cream stone building in the grounds of a grand château, with a large and view-filled outdoor terrace for peaceful dawdling

'Pinch me' views over Lake Como, a stony beach below, Varenna on your doorstep... these chic apartments are in an idyllic spot

Style abounds in this exquisite Côte d'Azur family getaway, where lazy days are whiled away by the pool and in the quiet bird-filled gardens

An architect-designed bolthole with two art galleries, a restaurant, studios and a paper mill by the seaside - a Sawday’s Community Champion

Vast rooms, thick stone walls and ancient flagged floors skilfully modernised to create comfort, surrounded by romantic château gardens