This cottage is stylish and serene, beautifully transformed from an old farm building – come for golf, beaches, walks and bird-watching

Great for gatherings of family and friends: fine views, a good big kitchen, games room and pool; nearby caves and castles to explore

Former blacksmith’s workshop in a chocolate-box corner of the New Forest, where clematis climbs the trellis and all you hear are the birds

Sofas in front of the fire, English wines and local ales, ambrosial food and smart rooms, all a short stroll from Sissinghurst Castle

A great find if you want to be close to all the action but nicely tucked away. Friendly pub downstairs, cool bedrooms up, Soho 20 minutes

An 18th-century beamed inn with tasty food, pretty bedrooms and a large garden just a ten-minute drive from Chichester

Romantics will love this small converted hut-on-a-hillside surrounded by pines and olives with stunning views over the old town and the sea

A fabulous Belle Epoque château with much wow factor set in vast grounds with lawns and lakes, circled by a dense forest

A romantic and very comfortable retreat in a smartly converted dairy with a pretty garden, close to the South Downs

A very pretty Victorian gothic house of limestone and brick, sitting peacefully on the edge of the village, eight miles from foodie Ludlow

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

An elegant, super central bolthole for two (or three): stroll everywhere, hop on a vaporetto, sit in piazzas drinking cappuccino, live like a local

You’re in the heart of untamed countryside here, beside the river Oise, welcomed by friendly hosts who cook and care for you

A small hotel with gorgeous interiors, friendly staff, spacious rooms, a proper library, pretty garden and a relaxed, homely feel

Escape to the edge of the Atlantic. Find airy rooms and good food served from terraces overlooking the ocean - all with a green conscience

Splash under the Elephant Arch, take a boat to the caves, set off for Tunisia! Then it’s back to a super-private room by the sea

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