Music evenings, pop-up theatre nights and great food at the Sash brasserie. You’re just a stroll from shops and bars

Bright, cosy cottage off the beaten track between the South Hams and Dartmoor, with good pubs nearby and an en suite ground-floor bedroom

Beautifully restored house with a literary history, no neighbours and private access to a sandy bay beyond the pines

Bustling Fowey harbour sweeps out below this Victorian townhouse. Walk to shops and restaurants, hike the coastal path, return to comfort

A spacious farmhouse with a pool in the grounds of a stately château. Wander the walled garden, explore the countryside and pretty villages

Big house with bags of character and easy access to beaches, cafés and cobbled streets, coastal paths and hidden coves

A 200-year-old quintessential Umbrian farmhouse with pool, immersed in nature and with no immediate neighbours for lazy, peaceful days

Traditional B&B in a beautiful château bursting with history and surrounded by formal gardens, then farmland and two fine rivers

A pretty little cottage in a holiday hamlet surrounded by fields, just a stone's throw from the coast and Binic for happy escapes

Contemporary lodge on a remote peninsula with spectacular views; walk, cycle or kayak, explore nature reserves and unspoiled beaches

A lovely big house with huge riverside gardens and an easy-going charm – a 15-minute walk from bookish Hay-on-Wye

Families will adore coming here, to reconnect through wonderful outdoor activities in glorious countryside and to feel cossetted indoors

An eco B&B (minus hair shirt) in the stunning Meon Valley surrounded by woodland and wildlife - a Sawday's Community Champion

You’ll fall in love with this ancient mas in a corner of paradise… climbing roses scent the air, chic open spaces are flooded with light

Gaze on Umbrian hills as the children play, watch the fireflies dance at night. Dine fabulously in Gubbio - or here. Sociable-family bliss

A 17th-century townhouse sitting on a quiet side street with lots of original features and a west-facing patio screened by vines and lemons

Elegantly restored mariner’s cottage with tasteful interiors and sweeping, uninterrupted views over the ever-changing estuary

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