Escape to your own snug bolthole above a beautiful hall. Creative village community, tasty breakfast delivered, come and go as you please

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

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

An elegant medieval manor in the Loire with spiral stone staircases, mullioned windows, jaunty turrets and a fairytale suite just for you

Your hosts couldn’t be nicer and look after you beautifully – this is a lovely, homely place with a rambling garden

Retreat to a classically styled, elegant apartment for four - private and peaceful - in a characterful, super-central area of Rome

Agriturismo at its best - delightful hosts, communal meals of superb home-grown food, homely rooms, a garden filled with fragrant flowers...

A wonderful drive over the mountains to the wild side of Skye with its moody lochs, heather-covered hills and this restaurant with rooms

Rooms are good value, breakfast is taken overlooking the garden and there's superb veggie food next door - a Sawday's Community Champion

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

Steeped in history and romance, with a great big sleigh bed and open fires, is this 14th-century defence tower above the river Tweed

A bright and prettily beamed barn with very comfortable interiors, private outdoor seating and a shared courtyard for barbecues and games

This famous old country house might not come cheap, but where else can you splash out in such decadent style for life’s big celebrations?

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

Fresh, inviting bedrooms with leafy garden views and a pretty church next door. Moffat's spectacular Grey Mare's Tail waterfall nearby

A cosy, courteous, family-run hotel with ‘chocolatines’ and cherry jams at breakfast, Basque dishes at dinner, and gorgeous rolling views

A fortified castle in parkland, built mostly in the 1300s on the Montbazens plateau, near to the stunning Averyon gorges

Wide views over the trees to the glittering loch and the hills beyond will mesmerise; interiors are calm, uncluttered and generous