Come for big skies, grand walking and hilly cycling. Style and comfort abound in this cottage set on the hillside with views to North Uist

A pretty upside-down cottage, formerly a dovecote, lovingly restored with sustainability the focus

Close to Saint-Jean-d'Angély, an elegant and spacious manor house with unfussy, comfortable interiors, bucolic views, big garden and pool

This architect-designed passive style house sits just behind the sand dunes at Waxham beach, one of Norfolk’s most lovely beaches

Artists, poets, nature lovers, walkers and dreamers will be happy in this simple, airy suite surrounded by a fecund garden and much peace

Atmospheric English pub with rooms by the green with its duck ponds in a pretty village, with walking and cycling routes to join

A gentle, calm, immaculate place for an all-season family stay, near wine tastings, castles, caves and canoeing. Everyone loves the Dordogne

High-up, simple apartments, pools with fabulous views; kids play-things and donkeys, the glittering coast, Rapallo and Portofino down below

A proper old-fashioned inn dating from the 1600s with beamed ceilings, low doorways and winding staircases up to comfortable bedrooms