Tucked down a private driveway, this restored 19th-century farm building offers superb breakfasts, well-dressed beds and a beautiful garden

Ensconce yourselves in the Black Périgord and stay in the East Wing of a 16th-century castle with private garden and surrounding parkland

A stone built 18th-century tower in a pretty valley dotted with fruit trees for quiet and relaxed days recuperating from life in the city

This friendly, Scottish island B&B has the Atlantic at the end of the garden and air so clean the lichen grows like beards from the trees

A house on a hill (El Nido means The Nest) built in the Moorish style surrounded by sea views and the green hills of the Granada coastline

A rustic and elegant farmhouse retreat in Provence with a pool, vineyards and wildlife-filled pond – a launchpad for the Luberon

An immaculately restored 1500s palazzo, filled with history, art, antiques and books in the buzzing heart of a charming town

Leave crowds behind for this charming stone farmhouse in the olive groves of rural Umbria – bring friends and have it all to yourselves

Two lovely old cottages, part of the 1700 stable block on the St Giles estate, with 5,000 acres to roam, for walkers and peace seekers

Come for a sense of complete peace surrounded by country and coast with wonderful interiors to boot – a bolthole for two (plus two)

Rustic, quirky and layered with history, this is an exquisite slice of traditional Sicilian life, with welcoming and generous hosts

Generous, fun house, perfect for family gatherings. Head down the hill for sandy beaches or let kids and dogs run wild on the Purbeck coast

Comfortable apartment steeped in Breton history, in a beautifully renovated gabarier’s house overlooking the marine estuary

Come for strawberries in summer, walnuts in winter, and a wonderful welcome all year round. Thierry and Charlotte are living their dream

An elegantly renovated coaching inn with inspired design, beautifully simple pub food, tempting ales and gloriously comfortable bedrooms

A lovely old cottage in the cliffside village of St Lawrence. Watch boats sail by from the terrace, soak in an antique bath with sea views…