You're overlooking the main square in medieval Umbertide from this cosy, second-floor apartment, so you'll feel very much like a local

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

Fabulous bakes and hot waffles at breakfast, green fields all around and Normandy steeped in history. Great for foodies and historians

An elegant escape in one of Corsica's prettiest towns - perfect for romantic couples with a spa, restaurant, and the island to explore

Rooms in the house overlook the vineyard, the lodges are surrounded by it - check out the vines, then drink their wine with a good dinner

The cottage looks down over Lough Swilly, idyllic for boats and safe swims... and the neighbours are friendly, just sheep and cows

A beautiful villa with a medieval tower surrounded by formal gardens, gentle slopes of perfectly maintained vineyards and wooded hilltops

Bright, cosy cottage in a quiet Devon village, four miles from Totnes, with two good pubs nearby and an en suite ground-floor bedroom

In wine country, a beautifully revived 16th-century manor and hospitable B&B. Visit Angers’ cathedral, cruise along the Loire to Saumur

In a commanding position surrounded by private land, this old manor house is excellently equipped and ideal for a big family holiday

Sweet Grade II listed fisherman's terrace cottage for 4 (+ 1) close to the centre of bustling St Ives; a place to escape to year-round

A babbling brook, the sound of birdsong and centuries of history steeped into the walls of this medieval barn, plus a heated indoor pool

B&B rooms, some with kitchenettes, in a lush garden setting with a river running behind. The pretty village is on your doorstep

Warm hospitable agriturismo for foodies, designers, wine enthusiasts and all who love the 'real' Sicily. A happy place for families, too

Once a shooting lodge, this stand-alone big building was part of a medieval estate and you can still see the grassy mount and dungeon tower

Sleek, smart apartments on the first floor of a 19th-century building in Verona's most fashionable residential/commercial neighbourhood

A spacious farmhouse with a pool in the grounds of a stately château. Wander the walled garden, explore the countryside and pretty villages

Books, meadow flowers, a rocking chair by a cosy fire at this treasure-trove cottage of beautiful things - down tiny lanes in west Cork