An 18th-century cottage for four on a working sheep farm: walk the Pentland Hills, get the bus to Edinburgh for culture

An upmarket, very comfortable old stone village house with tasty breakfasts and a sunny courtyard full of colourful flowers

A thoughtfully renovated cottage in a small hamlet with garden, courtyard and pool. The peace is palpable but you're near to bustling Tusson

Independence at one end of the house with your own sitting room opening onto a courtyard garden. Good pub for food a few minutes' walk away

Families will adore coming here, to reconnect through wonderful outdoor activities in glorious countryside and to feel cossetted indoors

Refurbished police HQ in the centre of Bristol, minutes from the bus station, shops and pretty harbourside - a Sawday’s Community Champion

Light-and-colour filled cottage with gardens and sea views on the UNESCO World Heritage Jurassic Coast, a short stroll from Chesil Beach

Luxuriate in style at this central Lecce palazzo with gorgeous rooms, delicious breakfasts (lunch & dinner by arrangement). Walk everywhere

A peaceful, beautiful place to wake up in and to return to after glorious walks, with no near neighbours apart from curious sheep

A family-run, environmentally friendly bistro with rooms near Grasmere: climb to the nearest viewing spot. Dogs welcome too

Tucked at the bottom of a long track and surrounded by a gorgeous natural landscape, is this generous end-slice of a 17th-century stone farm

A lovely listed cottage, just stumbling distance from a good pub in a quiet village surrounded by spectacular walking and cycling country

A delightful coastal cottage with far-reaching ocean views from almost every room, two gardens and a short hop to beach and Coast Path

A new-build in local stone with vast windows gazing out at the meeting place of three beautiful lochs, surrounded by 12 acres of croft land

An 1820s farmhouse at the end of a quiet road in the North York Moors National Park, overlooking a forest and surrounded by fields

A converted 19th-century church in the Northumberland National Park with beautiful stained-glass windows and a restored tower

Chatty Madame is a superb cook, and her pretty house and garden in a quiet Yvelines village are equally delicious. Zip to Paris by train