On the edge of the South Downs, this smartly renovated pub with contemporary rooms serves seasonal home cooked food and a warm welcome

Gloriously green rural self-catering apartments with pool and lovely, friendly owners

Character and quirk in old and new design and furnishing – private terraces, a shared pool, great walking, cycling and wine-tasting

Vistas of olive groves, village life and the sea; gaze and daydream from this beautiful spot. A Michelin recommended restaurant to boot

Heaps to do on-site: organic farm shop & café, cookery & cheese-making courses, farm tours. A brilliant base for exploring the Cotswolds too

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

This secluded New Forest inn is a magnet for families in summer: a good pint and the log fire make it a superb winter hideaway too

A most enchanting and welcoming Provençal mas sitting in acres of private parkland with woods, meadows and a small lake for magical stays

Moments from Chamonix, a sweet chalet with pretty gardens in sun or snow under a backdrop of Mont Blanc – perfect for the adventurous

A very tastefully restored old stone stable on a gloriously rural estate with woodland gardens, lake and a deer park

For escapists, wannabe writers and lovers of rural bliss: two boho hideaways for two (four at a squeeze) in this lush corner of Galicia

A seaside inn on Babbacombe Bay with views of sea and sky, rooms to feel happy in, a spa and homely, hearty dining

Between Penzance & Helston, close to Praa Sands, is a beautiful bolthole for 6. Good for garden lovers & peace-seekers – dog-friendly too

Vast rooms, thick stone walls and ancient flagged floors skilfully modernised to create comfort, surrounded by romantic château gardens

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

Pippa tells you where to find wild flowers, babbling brooks and butterflies... and hike, bike and swim. Magic for families

Painting courses on request, gardens full of roses, a parasol’d terrace, a seductive pool… we love this welcoming, traditional hotel