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

Swap the mêlée for privacy and wonderful views. Delicious meals, an outdoor hot tub and Portes du Soleil skiing on your doorstep

Explore the coastal paths on foot or by bike, or simply sunbathe next to the pool... Leafy gardens, comfortable rooms and excellent dinners

Sleek modern interiors now grace this ancient building with architectural joys, a courtyard garden and rooftop terrace with views

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

Delicious vegetarian cooking, a pool, lemon groves and hazy views of the Hyblaean mountains make a perfect escape near Cassibile

Peaceful, traditional country house just 2 miles from central Dorking. Relaxed hosts, good food, beautiful gardens, walks galore - a retreat

An exquisite, serene B&B with sweeping views, tucked between hills, vineyards and meadows and the ancient remains of a Benedictine abbey

Overlooking Menton and the Mediterranean, this lofty apartment in a grand Belle Époque palace is perfectly placed to explore the Riviera

Fire up the BBQ, watch the sunsets, stroll to one of the best stretches of coastline in the world. Bliss for walkers, birders and escapees

Modest and authentic, a top-floor apartment in an eco-friendly Provençal farmhouse, with dogs and hens. River swims are a stroll away...

An enchanting Belle Epoque villa with a terraced garden and superb views across palm trees and vines to Mont Saint-Michel

Spacious rooms with lovely linen, plus top-notch food in a wonderful setting, this is the best A303 stopover for miles

By a lake, enclosed by woodland - a contemporary house and barn, full of handmade furniture – laze in a hammock, walk the Jurassic Coast

A pub with rooms in the epicentre of London on trendy Westbourne Grove, a ten-minute stroll from Notting Hill

Lively renovation for this 18th-century cottage built of local stone and with a large garden in Modbury. Totnes and sandy beaches are close

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