Up a narrow lane this dreamy pub with rooms has views to the South Downs. Stay for supper, let the kids run free in the garden playground

A dear little cottage with many comforts and a private garden, off the beaten track and surrounded by mountains, valleys and trees

A lovely old stone house with a covered veranda and sparkling pool in a small hilltop hamlet overlooking a lush forested valley

Comfortable apartment steeped in Breton history, in a beautifully renovated gabarier’s house overlooking the marine estuary

Pluck grapes, splash in the child-shallow pool and explore the ‘Yorkshire of Italy’ with rolling green hills and conical trulli

A pretty stone single-storey house, now renovated beautifully into a comfortable hideaway with wonderful views to woodland and river

Come for summer breakfasts of pastries fresh from the local bakery, afternoons reading by the pool and long, lazy lunches

A family-run 1700s thatched Inn in a rural hamlet with super food, a grand team to look after you and picnic benches in a pretty garden

A hilltop setting for this ancient fortress with an illustrious past. You stay in apartments or farmhouses inside or outside the walls

Elegant stable cottage in the heart of Northumberland, with lush gardens and cosy interiors. Explore castles, coast and countryside

A 15th-century courtyard hides a petite contemporary apartment – a fabulous base from which to explore the city and all its treasures

Gaze over sublime vistas, refresh in the plunge pool, cook up a barbecue treat. A Provençal studio, simply furnished and deeply relaxing

For families who love a Great British beach holiday, this beach-side cottage on Hayling Island near Portsmouth is just the ticket

A surprisingly roomy interior for this pretty chocolate-box cottage in the middle of the village, just a ten-minute walk from Lulworth Cove

Historic, indulgent, atmospheric – and the Contessa is so warm. Vineyards, restaurants, operas, walks...La dolce vita on Slovenia's border

A lake to fish, a terrace for evening sun and a choice of two spaces with a shared pool and games room, a short hop from pretty Auvillar

Such a special place, right on the historic Georgian quay – a cosy, friendly place with dogs, children and families welcome in all parts

A lovely modern Provençal house, light and welcoming, in a valley of vineyards and forest, tucked peacefully away from the coast