Unspoilt Coverack has all you need for a fun beach holiday and this terraced fisherman's cottage on the coast path is cosy all year round

Close to Saint-Jean-d'Angély, an elegant and spacious manor house with unfussy, comfortable interiors, bucolic views, big garden and pool

Near lively Lyon, this handsome family house is perfect for a Zen-like escape with delicious vegetarian meals and well-travelled hosts

A peaceful grown-up place circled by meadows and woodland with helpful owners next door – a superb spot to explore the south-west

Come for a big gathering of friends or family and take the whole house plus an extra cottage in the pretty gardens – swim in the pool, relax

Generous, fun house, perfect for family gatherings. Head down the hill for sandy beaches or let kids and dogs run wild on the Purbeck coast

Dine wonderfully on farm-fresh food and grandma's recipes; cookery classes too! And views, a pool, farm animals, sunsets, a warm family...

A hilltop setting for this ancient fortress with an illustrious past. You stay in apartments or farmhouses inside or outside the walls

Big beautiful apartments in a serene setting in southern Tuscany, with pool. And courses for everyone - organised by one delightful family

An elegant, historical building in the heart of Catania - an intimate hotel, yet grand with gorgeous architecture and a wonderful welcome

Location, location, location - you can't beat it, so look past the dated kitchen and bathrooms and enjoy this light, bright, coastal home

It's not often you get an entire hamlet to yourselves but here it is – 10 traditional stone houses with big communal spaces in rural bliss

A charming hotel in a quiet neighbourhood in medieval Bologna, just the ticket for a city escape filled with food, history and culture

A comfy cottage for two in the quiet, leafy outskirts of Aix with easy access to the city and a kind, attentive owner nearby

A cracking English inn with open fires, great food, gorgeous rooms, happy staff, lovely gardens and well-kept English ales

A surprisingly roomy interior for this pretty chocolate-box cottage in the middle of the village, just a ten-minute walk from Lulworth Cove

Come for the glorious Northumbrian countryside and a neat-as-a-pin cottage with much comfort and a private garden near to the coast