A honey-stone 1800s house, sitting pretty in acres of fields and woodlands, with a pool, lovely gardens and a separate cottage next door

Come for a delightful sojourn in this old baronial villa with historic winery, gorgeous guest rooms, a wellness area and infinity pool

Your host runs home and B&B with effortless efficiency and you'll find shiny, spotless rooms to retreat to after a day's exploring

Lavender shortbread and baked peaches for breakfast at this most artistic of homes. The courtyard with magnolia and orange trees is lovely

Like staying in a family home, only with Henri III furniture and rolling green views. Energetic hosts cook, farm, hunt, chat over champagne

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

Beauty, charm and tranquillity an hour from Florence, on a bio-sensitive farm known for Chianina cattle and white truffles

This friendly, Scottish island B&B has the Atlantic at the end of the garden and air so clean the lichen grows like beards from the trees

A peaceful cottage for 2-4 between the Dales and the Moors, with swallows in the barn, an idyllic village, and a garden to explore

A gorgeous wooden-clad off-grid cottage deep in the National Park with far-reaching views, unfussy interiors and spoiling extra treatments

Tucked at the bottom of a long track and surrounded by a gorgeous natural landscape, is this generous end-slice of a 17th-century stone farm

Once a shooting lodge, this stand-alone big building was part of a medieval estate and you can still see the grassy mount and dungeon tower

A treat of a country retreat in the North York Moors National Park with lovely high ceilings, a log-burner, much comfort and fabulous views

In a small village on the borders, a Jacobean farmhouse luxuriously restored with lovely touches; the Brecon Beacons are close by

A confident style for this mid-19th-century house, with a Mediterranean garden, elegant terrace and pool, a stroll from the historic centre

A very special restored Augustinian monastery, sitting in the Monti Rognosi Nature Reserve and radiating a timeless charm

Elegant 19th-century château deep in the Dordogne forest promises seclusion, serenity and an unhurried, sun-soaked escape.

An elegant house with ancient roots and a shimmering pool – explore the Charente countryside, drive to lovely Angoulême