A super old place for those who love history and Thomas Hardy. Come for enjoyable gastropub food and comfortable, traditional bedrooms

Choose the atmospheric early Georgian house or the garden bedrooms, all have views, Paul's welcome is genuine and his dinners delicious

Glass-and-timber doors bathe you with light, gaze at big skies and the river Dart lapping. Sublime year round, it's one of our favourites

On the site of an old sawmill in the mountains of the Jura, a guesthouse of warmth and charm - with table d'hôtes, a pool and a spa

Come to a gorgeous bolthole, just for two, in a sleepy riverside village with the delights of the Corrèze at your feet

A fascinating place steeped in history and abuzz with prize-winning winery activity. Plus rustic cottages, golf, a restaurant and 2 pools

A colourful place to stay, tucked into the courtyard of this stunning estate, with views across the Pennine fells, deer park and lake

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

Live like a local at these rustic apartments with a shared courtyard; walk to restaurants and shops, take the ferry to the beach

Atmospheric English pub with rooms by the green with its duck ponds in a pretty village, with walking and cycling routes to join

Set off on blissful walks, trek home to crumpets and tea. There’s no better place to escape the 21st century than rural Devon

On the doorstop, Dovedale, Buxton, Chatsworth House... Come home to snooker, books, logs, a patio with views and masses of lovely space