Taste the wine, plunge into the granite pool, play billiards in the library, linger outdoors as swallows swoop – eat delicious local dishes

A small top terrace can be booked for romantic evenings and you can lunch or dinner at the delightful floating restaurant

A wall of glass frames the sea view - take drinks on the waterfront lawn in summer, or by the crackling fire in winter

A light, bright, Georgian coaching inn with super-efficient staff, lovely terrace, sumptuous rooms and excellent, seasonal food

An entire literary estate on the Brittany coast, with a trio of restored houses, fabulous gardens and a private path to the beach

You get the best of all worlds here. Delicious beds, Provençal soaps, vineyard views, fresh croissants a stroll away…

Old wooden sleigh beds, check-clothed tables, log fires, a courtyard of centuries-old trees, a claw foot bath. Stacks of character

An 18th-century listed cottage in a pretty terrace with a private courtyard garden and pond, just a short walk from the high street

An incredible living museum, dedicated to the history of Sicily and the arts. Stay in the main house or in a cottage in the fecund garden

Slow down! Swim, soak in the jacuzzi, taste Campanian cuisine and wine, explore the national park, pop to Agropoli's beaches... be pampered

A gracious 17th-century manor house and a pretty Grange hidden down a tree-lined drive and with stunning views over woodlands

Bags of character within and without at this four-storey village house with rooftop views over the mountains, next to a 12th-century church

Stay on a secluded private estate by the sea - once the home of the brilliant French writer, Colette

Come to this cosy barn down a winding lane for a back-to-nature escape: hike the Black Mountains, splash in the stream, gaze at the views

This fine old inn stands in blissful peace, a field or two back from the coastal path, with cosy rooms, delicious food and a rustic style

Green and serene, a striking array of eco cottages on a family farm where style and comfort reign, close to the coast but far from the crowd

Comfortable and cosy B&B with superb food, tucked away on a dairy farm in the very quietest part of Pembrokeshire near the coast path