Welcome to an immaculate and historic retreat with private gardens, ten minutes from the Finistère coast (and oysters!)

Glorious, thoughtful food, ales and wines using 'as much good stuff they can lay their hands on' at this restaurant with lovely rooms

Elegant 19th-century château deep in the Dordogne forest promises seclusion, serenity and an unhurried, sun-soaked escape.

A 18th-century house with pool in a small town with friendly owners and a tropical garden of banana, fig and, of course, frangipani

An L-shaped former farmhouse is now a gorgeous place to stay, just half an hour from the sea or the mountains and near interesting villages

A lovingly restored ancient farmhouse surrounded by wildlife-rich countryside just two miles from stunning beaches – a place to mend

An 18th-century limestone barn, now a quiet hideaway for a group of friends or family in a very rural spot surrounded by fields and woods

Dominating the village is this historic hotel... all frescoes, chandeliers, splendour at every turn. And a handsome pool, too

A fine country manor house on the edge of a village, peacefully surrounded by gardens and trees, and close to the D-Day landing beaches

Warm family hospitality, magnificent surroundings, bedroom breakfasts, candlelit dinners and elegant windows overlooking the park

A romantic creekside cottage down a web of narrow lanes in a tumbling green valley – mess about on the water to your heart’s content

Come to unwind in nature, surrounded by sun-drenched fields in this large, rustic but elegant villa with courtyard, garden and pool

A wonderfully simple and modern studio with stunning sea views in an almost Jurassic landscape, dotted with the owner's sculptures

Former blacksmith’s workshop in a chocolate-box corner of the New Forest, where clematis climbs the trellis and all you hear are the birds

Live out all your bohemian dreams at this arty villa, with garden and plunge pool, perched above the glittering Riviera.

An organic farm near coast, village and Etna – super for families, done in simple good taste. Laze in the hammock, visit the coast...

This lovely, beamy, uncluttered Tuscan farmhouse with separate apartment is an elegant lodging on a vast fruitful estate with pool, and lovely owners

It's not often you get an entire hamlet to yourselves but here it is – 10 traditional stone houses with big communal spaces in rural bliss