Cool, airy villa with Lake Como glistening below. Beautiful terraces and garden, plunge pool - and chilled prosecco and cake to welcome you

A perfect spot with views of rolling hills, sunflowers and vineyards. Enthusiastic hosts and heaps to do here - watch wildlife, bake, swim

Elegant house deep in the countryside with wild garden, dreamy pool, and bags of vintage charm. A promise of peace and perfect solitude

A thatched farmhouse only just over the channel near Rouen that’s well hidden in lush gardens, but worth finding for the gourmet food alone

An architect-designed bolthole with two art galleries, a restaurant, studios and a paper mill by the seaside - a Sawday’s Community Champion

A fortified castle in parkland, built mostly in the 1300s on the Montbazens plateau, near to the stunning Averyon gorges

An island of oyster farms, salt pans and white beaches, woolly donkeys, countless push-bikes and the odd celeb – we love the Ile de Ré!

Cosy country cottage for four on an organic farm in the Welsh borders. Wake to the sounds of birds and sheep, walk off supper on rural romps

An exquisite Provençal home for a large party, hidden behind grand gates in a small village surrounded by the pine-scented Alpilles

Three charming rustic lodges with private gardens and a laid-back vibe in a small rural hamlet surrounded by vines and truffle orchards

Traditional beamed cottage, tucked in the hills, with views to distant beaches plus colourful gardens and a pool

Glorious views of Derwentwater and Skiddaw from this comfortable house. Art dotted about, a big table for chatty meals and a pretty garden

Full of country-hideaway chic, this special holiday home is in one of the loveliest parts of the Var, surrounded by 10 private acres

A shady terrace runs the full length of this old barn, overlooking magnificent trees and fields of sheep. Riberac is a 10-minute drive

Glorious airy living space in this superbly restored barn, a terrace with long views and a pool across the garden - bikes to borrow too

Two riverside properties with incredible views, for walkers, sailors, dogs... and self-caterers who aim to be spoiled rotten

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

Soak up Provençal peace in a charming estate in the Alpilles, with stylish ground-floor B&B rooms, olives, vines and a friendly family dog