Beautifully restored house with a literary history, no neighbours and private access to a sandy bay beyond the pines

Heart-soaring Pyrenean views, animals roaming, natural materials in simple rural rooms, organic food: it’s a superbly welcoming eco-lodge

A renovated bright apartment with lots of space, a hop, skip and jump away from the shingle beach of seaside-jolly Deal

Exceptional generosity reigns at this complex of 5 excellent, colourful holiday apartments, with pool and meals, on the Sorrento Peninsula

Feel like the lord or lady of the manor at this sublime restoration of a Tudor, timber-framed stone house in lovely Ludlow

Enjoy fields of lavender and vines as far as the eye can see from this neat cottage, sharing a pool and gorgeous gardens with other guests

This old stone building, a former olive warehouse, is beautifully restored and sits on its own – a simple bolthole for rest and recuperation

A traditional cottage in Polruan on the Fowey estuary with harbour and cove views and a tea shop and two pubs in the village

Peaceful Georgian house with beautifully proportioned rooms, sumptuous meals, swimming and tennis. Dartmoor is on the doorstep

Step through a door in an old wooden gate to discover a courtyard garden on the edge of town close to golden sands

Elegant Victorian townhouse just between Kings road and Fulham Road. Chatty breakfasts with a friendly host - Suzie has the latest info on all things arty

A sprint from London: a Cotswolds pub modernised with sympathy and care. Happy staff, organic ales and food, gorgeous rooms

Light-filled retreat full of character and vintage finds, with handmade touches and farm-fresh produce on your doorstep

Two villas on opposite shores of a big lily-covered lake, fed with natural spring water from the Ticino river and surrounded by gardens

Another bright, beamed and history-filled place to stay on the smart Upton Cressett estate with walks from the door and much comfort within

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

In the foothills of the Pyrenees, a rambling, romantic garden to lose yourself in, a large swimming pool, wildlife and vineyards all around

Manor house in the grounds of a quintessential 18th-century French château with pretty gardens and lots of space just 3kms from Bayeux