A stunning château with huge rooms, pretty balconies with views, peaceful garden. Super owners, excellent dinners - and child-friendly too

If houses could smile, this 1850 townhouse would be beaming - grand for groups, with four terraces, two living rooms and a plunge pool

A fabulous position for this B&B in Trastevere’s fascinating heart and a very warm welcome from Marco and Gianna - guests love it here

Two homely gîtes sleeping 4 and 2 in rural farm country. Walk to the bakery; drive 15 minutes to Saint-Malo and riverside restaurants

An art-filled home poised above Hastings Old Town in a wonderfully private, peaceful spot and with a lush, tropical garden

A countryside escape for 2 near Chepstow with traditional interiors and cheery wood-burner. Not suitable for children but dogs very welcome

Historic pub with immaculate new bedrooms and a happy atmosphere. A waterside terrace for summer, blazing open fires for winter

Artistic souls will like it here, and those who enjoy shared meals & getting to know other people in dramatic countryside; Arezzo is 40 km

A cottage to help you feel restored and refreshed; uninterrupted views of the coast, a hamper of local produce and wildlife spotting.

Immerse yourself in nature, wildlife, sustainability and slow food high up on the edge of a National Park

What a surprise! Tucked into a row of tightly woven old cottages is this contemporary open-plan hideaway with huge windows and much flair

If you want to come to Venice as an open-hearted traveller rather than a tourist then this is the place for you - just walk to everything

Sweep along the gravel drive through lawns and specimen trees to this elegant manor house with 17th-century roots

A unique opportunity to switch off and unwind in a simple, historic cottage with a terraced, bucolic garden surrounded by wooded hills

A Grade II listed 1669 ex-Almshouse in a row of three in walking distance of the historic town centre of Ashbourne and the Tissington Trail

Blissful tranquillity - yet an easy drive from St Paul de Vence (legendary haunt of Matisse and Picasso) and 10km from the Riviera

An old farm worker's cottage, niftily done up and nicely remote, with walking and fishing on the doorstep, four miles from Hadrian's Wall

Three immaculate rooms in a 17th-century building; step out onto winding streets lined with trattorias, boutiques, fountains and monuments