Eat in the sheltered, quirky, outdoor dining area, enjoy Madame's colourful garden in its village setting - ideal for those on a budget

Swings, a terrace and pool in 2 acres ringed by fields and tranquility, and lakes and vineyards beyond. Family bliss in Quercy

Beautifully connected, engagingly old-fashioned London pad, with a garden. Head out for Vauxhall Park, the Tate, Westminster...

Breakfast on homemade ricotta, bask on a cool white lounger, swim in the cove below. We love this young, friendly, rustic B&B

Warm interiors, pretty bedrooms and excellent breakfasts – good value in a very handy central spot

A pub with rooms in the epicentre of London on trendy Westbourne Grove, a ten-minute stroll from Notting Hill

An ancient farmstead in the Lombard style with up-to-date B&B rooms plus a garden, lake and museum all surrounded by quiet countryside

A big, homely farmhouse on the Umbria/Tuscany border for family holidays filled with sunshine, outdoor frolics and good food

Drink a toast to your good fortune as you gaze across to Elba from a vast free-standing bath. You breakfast on the view-filled terrace

Two rural retreats up a shared drive for gatherings of friends and family who enjoy the great outdoors and good food from the Meikleour Inn

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

A surprisingly roomy interior for this pretty chocolate-box cottage in the middle of the village, just a ten-minute walk from Lulworth Cove

A seaside inn on Babbacombe Bay with views of sea and sky, rooms to feel happy in, a spa and homely, hearty dining

Birders will love escaping up here, golfers too - visit Hatfield House, Knebworth, Cambridge - come back to a good local pub and a comfy bed

One of five cottages on the Wern Estate, all comfort and charm, with a garden for kids, rockpools at Black Rock Sands and a mountain railway

Immerse yourself in nature, wildlife, sustainability and slow food high up on the edge of a National Park

Old wooden sleigh beds, check-clothed tables, log fires, a courtyard of centuries-old trees, a claw foot bath. Stacks of character

View-filled apartments in Ortigia, the heart of Siracusa. Immerse yourself in the blue of the Ionian Sea; walk to culture, shops and restaurants