Stay just minutes from the sea in colourful Donaghadee for wild swims, island visits, bird watching and coastal walks

5 houses near Siena to make design-lovers happy; come for the rural solitude of ancient stone farm buildings with urban interiors

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

Weaving medieval magic, this dreamy hideaway is an ideal base for nature-loving gourmands to explore the region

An 18th-century stone cottage sitting in the glorious Yorkshire Dales. Nature-lovers and walkers will be well pleased and so will their dog

Stylishly simple cottage in the heart of the old fishing port of Méze, within easy stroll of seafood restaurants and sandy beaches

Leave the car, everything is walkable & buses are practically free. Visit restaurants, vineyards & markets from your lofty village bolthole

With incredible views across to distant hilltop towns, olive groves and buzzing bees, this elegant farmhouse has bags of charm

An incredible living museum, dedicated to the history of Sicily and the arts. Stay in the main house or in a cottage in the fecund garden

Beautiful Noto is 4 miles from the Ionian Sea, and this creative renovation, with lush garden, stands above the throng. Heaven in Sicily

A renovated barn, part stone, part wood, resembling the tobacco barns of the area with beautiful grounds surrounded by farmland

A grand, 16th-century Breton château complete with dovecote, turret and chapel surrounded by 50 acres of parkland, woods and small lake

An elegant 1892 building, once the village school, now a very comfortable, colourful B&B with warm owners and delicious breakfasts

One of five cottages on the Wern Estate, all comfort and charm, with a garden for kids, rockpools at Black Rock Sands and a mountain railway

A pretty cottage in the grounds of an 18th-century house in the heart of southern Burgundy, with stunning gardens and a shared pool

Close to sandy beaches between Penzance and Helston, three places to stay with characterful interiors and freshly baked scones waiting

Good food draws the crowds at this smart bar & restaurant with rooms in a quiet village sandwiched between Cornwall’s north and south coasts

A self-catering apartment in the wing of a traditional Burgundian winemaker's house in a tiny hamlet, surrounded by fields of vines