An inspirational setting and an enthusiastic welcome from your hosts and their young family - lose your heart to its baroque beauty

Sustainably built Suffolk retreat with plenty of space for friends and family to properly unwind (a steam room seals the deal)

A charming old cottage, steeped in history and in a stunning setting, close to the Coast Path and overlooking the bustling harbour at Fowey

The central part of a much larger building in a 17th-century hamlet with bright, spacious rooms, shared pool and glorious private gardens

A hilltop setting for this ancient fortress with an illustrious past. You stay in apartments or farmhouses inside or outside the walls

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

In the gardens of a laid-back country house, a barn with books, games, faded rugs and a grand piano – a treat for convivial families

A quintessential Grade II listed thatched cottage with glorious gardens near a 13th-century church and surrounded by rolling hills

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

A bright and spacious cottage set against a backdrop of woodland for days spent happily reading by the wood-burner or lunch on the sun deck

5 minutes from the Vatican in a tall palazzo above the British school. Owners share local tips, serve bakery-fresh breakfasts on the terrace

Tranquil manor house deep in Bordeaux wine region with six acres of grounds, a tennis court and swimming pool

Great for comfort, beauty, character and home baking. Borrow vintage bikes to explore Cambridge: Christine knows it inside out

Painting courses on request, gardens full of roses, a parasol’d terrace, a seductive pool… we love this welcoming, traditional hotel

Come to walk, cycle, fish and hunker down in style in front of the wood-burner - sleep in deep comfort in a lovingly converted barn

Gently undulating countryside surrounds you at this Burgundy B&B with fresh, modern bedrooms and delicious dinners prepared by the owner

In an outstanding area for lovers of food and wine, here are 3 beautiful boltholes in the Alto Douro, the oldest wine region in the world

Come for a village feel, rural peace and boundless Portuguese countryside at this charming whitewashed home with a super terrace with views