Château apartments with a heated pool, parkland and a menagerie - Gold Beach and the British Normandy Memorial are on the doorstep

Welcome to the delights of a 15th-century Breton manor house, a meandering river inhabited by otters, and hosts who adore what they do

Traditional B&B in a beautiful château bursting with history and surrounded by formal gardens, then farmland and two fine rivers

Once a hunting lodge, this unique and authentic 18th-century architectural folly sits up a quiet tree-lined drive on the edge of the estate

A soothing, deeply romantic bolthole with simple interiors and its own little private garden, next to a winery and surrounded by vineyards

Comfortable and cosy B&B with superb food, tucked away on a dairy farm in the very quietest part of Pembrokeshire near the coast path

A cracking English inn with open fires, great food, gorgeous rooms, happy staff, lovely gardens and well-kept English ales

A pretty stone single-storey house, now renovated beautifully into a comfortable hideaway with wonderful views to woodland and river

Stay in the grounds of a 19th-century château turned family home, where 500-year-old oak trees shade a glorious garden

Bags of character within and without at this four-storey village house with rooftop views over the mountains, next to a 12th-century church

Sweep through vast wrought iron gates to this elegant Grade I listed Georgian country house with a swimming lake, yoga studio and sauna

Swim with frogs in the freshwater pool, breakfast in the sunshine, play boules by moonlight. Châteaux don't get much more rural

The views are sensational, the bedrooms full of charm and higgledy-piggledy beams. Sip Perigord Noir on the terrace and amble to the market

A Georgian townhouse full of character for an epic family and friend get-together. The best of Hay is a stroll away

Three immaculate rooms in a 17th-century building; step out onto winding streets lined with trattorias, boutiques, fountains and monuments

You’re in the heart of untamed countryside here, beside the river Oise, welcomed by friendly hosts who cook and care for you

Inside, a grand cathedral ceiling, outside, wisteria-covered terrace and pretty pool. Atlantic sands, Cognac and La Rochelle are in reach