The holiday starts on the bumpy track along to this Arts & Crafts style modern house with plenty of space and a wrap-around garden

Delightful little antique-filled cottage with large walled garden and an allotment near Versailles. Gardeners will be happy

A cracking place full of fun and interest where you feel instantly at home. Large peaceful rooms, delicious breakfasts, countryside views

Lovingly renovated farmhouse amid vines and sunflowers, deep in the Charente countryside - small pool in garden, beaches 45 minutes away.

If you need a great place in which to relax and don’t want to pay too much for it, try these excellent suites, which spoil you all the way

Escape to this boutique B&B in West Sussex. Long beaches, Goodwood races, Chichester theatres, woodland walks all nearby

A cosy, very comfortable stone cottage with fine views across the valley, just a couple of miles from the southern tip of Ullswater

In pretty Vernon, a peaceful and comfortably large townhouse with roses rambling around the door

Attractive country barn - great for two families sharing, for river trips, for playing in the pool, for running free

A spiritual, rustic retreat for nature-lovers, writers, artists. In protected woodland, well away from bustle, close to the lapping river

An immaculately restored cottage with a blissful sun room, private terrace, gardens, pool and orchard for a warm and peaceful hideaway

A charming transformation of a once boarded-up pub in a pretty village setting, beside the river Wye in the heart of the Peak District

Bring family or friends to this beautiful 16th-century stone manor house standing in a tiny hamlet in the heart of the Dordogne

This 300-year-old Cotswold pub, the hub of picture-book Sapperton from which there are glorious walks, is a superb place to eat and stay

In a profoundly peaceful spot between arty St Ives and stunning Marazion, a hideaway for two surrounded by gardens and parkland

Wine lovers adore this impeccably furnished château; lovely Anne meets and greets, Jean Christophe makes wine and takes charge of tastings

Three clean and bright barn conversions surrounded by a wildflower meadow, winding canals and burbling rivers near Henley in Arden

Big house in peaceful lush oasis among the bananas, vines and aloe vera, a 20-minute walk down into Funchal