A charming comfy cottage with wood burner, delicious hilly views, walks radiating from the door. We didn’t want to leave!

Take a suite with champagne, strawberries and a tower, swim in the saltwater pool, eat a Castilian cocido - unwind in rural peace!

There’s a calm feel to this three-storey cottage, close to the centre of Bridport and the beach. Great for families, walkers and dogs

In the heart of arts and craft town Chipping Campden, a beautifully decorated 17th-century house with a celebrated restaurant downstairs

Deep French countryside, fine hospitality from true nature lovers, fantastic bedrooms and delicious dinners in an outbuilding

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

Inspiring art-filled Menorcan townhouse in Mahón’s old quarter; explore the city, cycle or hike the island’s gorges and feast on seafood

A lovely house set in 20 hectares with a park, two ponds, paths winding through and a pretty river. Delicious locally-sourced meals too

An exquisitely restored 500-year-old inn, where the accent is very much on food, reared and grown nearby and with very comfortable rooms

Between Paris and Rouen, a handsome country house in Monet scenery. Cows graze, bedrooms soothe, friendships bud over bountiful breakfasts

In the National Park with all its glories (Ashbourne for antiques, Chatsworth for history, Bakewell for its market), a sweet village cottage

An incredible living museum, dedicated to the history of Sicily and the arts. Stay in the main house or in a cottage in the fecund garden

Come to a gorgeous bolthole, just for two, in a sleepy riverside village with the delights of the Corrèze at your feet

A small, quirky country house hotel with lovely staff, pretty rooms and heavenly food served in a pillared dining room

Fall in love with this riverside village, lost in a valley in lower Normandy, and this sunny house for couples or families

A country house, elegant and unstuffy, at the heart of a working Lazio olive farm. Lunch by the pool or unwind at the hot spring spa

Round up family and friends and head for the glorious South Hams and this eco-friendly barn conversion for ten with extra cottage

Enjoy southern life in a charming palazzo in Trapani. Come for coastal drives and baroque basilica, hand-twirled pasta and fresh calamari