A treat in any season, a place to stir your soul, yield to nature and learn how to play again - with a pretty fine roost to come home to

A stunner of a setting for this restored croft house with long views to a sparkling loch and a lively village nearby. Good beaches too

Perched on a hillside between mountains and sea is this charming house in a modern Spanish style, engulfed by a beautiful garden with views

Fresh, simple country charm - pretty rooms with enchanting river views, freshly baked bread for breakfast... Beautiful, fragrant gardens

The nicest owners, the most magical place with wild land to roam. Two barns share a pretty courtyard; Devon's delights are on the doorstep

Once a lofty edifice for music recitals, now an original place to stay - with stained-glass windows, a bed on a stage and wild gardens

Once a coach house, now a split-level place to stay – you can walk to the river and it's just a short hop to central London

A delightful mix of old and new in a conservation village with a four-acre garden that attracts all the local birds. Guests love it here

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

A privilege to be able to stay within the famous gardens of magnificent Château de Courances. The painter's village of Barbizon is nearby

A very pretty old converted cart shed at the end of a track on an organic farm, surrounded by wildlife, birds and animals in the fields

A lovely old 19th-century inn by the sea with hand-pumped ales, fresh local and seasonal food and spoiling bedrooms, some with sea views

A smartly renovated 250-year-old brick and flint built inn, tucked away in a sleepy village beneath the glorious South Downs

Gorgeous rooms and splendid breakfasts – for sybarites, history-lovers, cyclists and canoeists - bang in the middle of ancient Long Melford

A marvellous spot overlooking Rutland Water for this 1760 former hunting lodge with good seasonal British food and very comfortable bedrooms

A bright and spacious cottage set against a backdrop of woodland for days spent happily reading by the wood-burner or lunch on the sun deck

In the gardens of a laid-back country house, a barn with books, games, faded rugs and a grand piano – a treat for convivial families

A striking modern villa tucked away off a small road above the Serchio valley with sparkling pool, gardens and Apuan mountain views