A converted Victorian schoolhouse with a glorious oak bar, an impressive selection of gins, hearty food and attractive bedrooms

Lovely old house with award-winning restaurant and indoor swimming pool. Sleeps up to 18 so just the ticket for a big family gathering

Come for a traffic-free medieval hamlet in sleepy Maremma with easy-going hosts, a beautiful garden and views over the valley

Built in the 1800s, a charming stone house on the Penicuik Estate with views over woodland and hills and calming, beautiful interiors

Historic, indulgent, atmospheric – and the Contessa is so warm. Vineyards, restaurants, operas, walks...La dolce vita on Slovenia's border

A dramatic house with stylish interiors – designed to bring the outdoors in so you feel wrapped in nature. Great for families or friends

Fringing Tuscany countryside and fun Montone, an authentic Umbrian mansion with Slow Food, lavender fields, apartments and pool. Pure Italy

An enviable hideaway on a cobbled street high on a hill, with stunning views next to Galileo's house, the Villa Bardini and gardens

Everything you’d want of a lovely country inn – pretty rooms, tasty food, local ales in a beamed bar and fabulous walking

Up, up and away to this stunning cottage perched 1400 feet high in the National Park with big skies, grand walks and much comfort indoors

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

Simple country cottage living on a working organic farm. Bring your hiking boots or bikes, stride out from the door

A timbered, fire-warmed village farmhouse, home-grown dinners, delightfully French hosts. Deliciously authentic, generous and calm

Contemporary boathouse for all the family. Find rock pools, a shingle beach and plenty of ozone in the salty Cornish air

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

5 houses near Siena to make design-lovers happy; come for the rural solitude of ancient stone farm buildings with urban interiors

Climb the candle-lit marble staircase to dream between lavender-scented sheets in splendid rooms, some with balcony or terrace

A really well thought-out escape for a small family with children. A big garden, pool, petanque court and play barn for indoor fun