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

You have your own entrance to a private wing with a garden and an elegant sitting room. Bedrooms are beautiful and breakfast scrumptious

A much-loved family home filled with warmth and characterful interiors overlooking Loch Alsh where dolphins and seals frolic

A beautifully restored annexe in a picturesque village in the heart of Suffolk. Take a camera - it's seriously picture-perfect around here

Perthshire country house with contemporary touches. Deer, red squirrels, tawny owls... and the river Tay glints way below through the trees

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

Get away from it all in 'old' France, where melons taste like melons & hikes start from the door. This rural bolthole is a serious treat

A stunning setting in acres of citrus groves for this lovely old farm with 16th-century roots, a big pool, hammocks and a restaurant

A detached 1960s house in a fabulous position with beautiful views over the mountains and plenty of space for walkers and skiers

A grand yet cosy and relaxing farmhouse where you're encouraged to feel at home. Tasty home baking, charming rooms and a friendly host

A calm, leafy bolthole in one of Paris' most elegant districts. Step out to stylish boutiques, good bakeries – and the Eiffel Tower

Agriturismo at its best - delightful hosts, communal meals of superb home-grown food, homely rooms, a garden filled with fragrant flowers...

In peaceful walled gardens, this former convent is a quiet retreat just a stone’s throw from the Riviera coast and the best of Tuscany

A 18th-century house with pool in a small town with friendly owners and a tropical garden of banana, fig and, of course, frangipani

Choose between airy bedrooms up an elegant stair, or magnificent rooms at garden-level with private terraces. Find sweetness and warmth

5 minutes from the Vatican in a tall palazzo above the British school. Owners share local tips, serve bakery-fresh breakfasts on the terrace

An art-filled home poised above Hastings Old Town in a wonderfully private, peaceful spot and with a lush, tropical garden

A warm, inviting boutique hotel in Shrewsbury’s historic centre; potter about the medieval streets, relax in a sun-catching courtyard