A peaceful, beautiful place to wake up in and to return to after glorious walks, with no near neighbours apart from curious sheep

Slow living at its best from this delightful spot - a site of Local Historic Interest - with stunning sea views, restful gardens and pool

Pluck grapes, splash in the child-shallow pool and explore the ‘Yorkshire of Italy’ with rolling green hills and conical trulli

Come for an exceptionally inviting 17th-century inn, a chocolate-box Cotswold village, excellent local food and ales, very comfortable rooms

Come for a traffic-free medieval hamlet in sleepy Maremma with easy-going hosts, a beautiful garden and views over the valley

A small and stylish townhouse retreat in leafy Folkestone with excellent bedrooms and a terrace for breakfast in summer

A niftily restored, open-plan, beamed hayloft, just the ticket for romantics, with gorgeous views of fields and open countryside

A pool, pines, and hosts that give you figs from their garden! Stroll to a pizzeria through the olive groves, return to 2 lovely apartments

You're on an ancient packhorse trail just a stone's throw from the coast. There's a timeless feel to this place and the peace is deep

A cool pub with smart rooms, English ales and Thai-inspired food. Farringdon tube is round the corner and you can walk to the Barbican

A very pretty old converted cart shed at the end of a track on an organic farm, surrounded by wildlife, birds and animals in the fields

A botanical beauty deep in the Loire Valley, this elegant house has history and heart in abundance

A great base from which to explore beautiful Pembrokeshire - walk by the coast, take to the hills, check out ancient St Davids

A hop to Montpellier, but deep in the countryside: a romantic pad, with Moroccan rugs, ochre-limed walls and bikes to ride into the country

A self-catering apartment in the wing of a traditional Burgundian winemaker's house in a tiny hamlet, surrounded by fields of vines

A 17th-century stone mansion within the ancient walls of Avignon. Walk to cafes, watch the shows at the Festival, chat with convivial hosts

Cosy apartment for two in a cluster of farm buildings near Hawkshead, surrounded by countryside and with a good pub a stroll away

A cosy cottage in the southern Eyri (Snowdonia) National Park with dogs welcome, beaches nearby and wonderful walking all around