Escape your cares here, move from terrace to terrace tracking the sun's progress and dive into the sea from your own swimming platform

An elegant French château brimming with antiques and surrounded by landscaped lawns. Enjoy convivial dinners with the perfect host

Jagged Dolomite peaks frame every view from this farmhouse with two neat apartments – come sun or snow, adventures in nature await

A very pretty old coach house in a south London garden – perfect for a couple or a family. Friendly owners live across the courtyard

A babbling brook, the sound of birdsong and centuries of history steeped into the walls of this medieval barn, plus a heated indoor pool

A lovely, rambling old house for family gatherings with an extra cottage for bigger groups, a gorgeous garden and hilltop villages nearby

Colourful coastal apartments and studios where you can be nicely independent, and enjoy a communal café and health club with Art Deco pool

A serene retreat basking above the Algarve with sea views from the garden and pool, and charming Moorish details

An indulging stay - exquisite decor, cosy fire, honesty bar, champagne hamper... Wellies & Barbours to borrow for yomps in Dales or Lakes

Up a narrow lane this dreamy pub with rooms has views to the South Downs. Stay for supper, let the kids run free in the garden playground

Perfect for lovers of the quintessentially English cottage - carefully renovated and classily stylish - a ramble to nearest pub

Beautifully connected, engagingly old-fashioned London pad, with a garden. Head out for Vauxhall Park, the Tate, Westminster...

Walk, ride, bike or canoe, climb a mountain, head for Hay, then return to a comfortable bar, warm bedrooms and delicious food

A charming B&B in south Sardinia, near Cagliari: circled by palms and cypresses, overlooking sweet-smelling lemon & orange groves. Bliss

A Regency farmhouse sitting in a wrap-around garden with views to mountain and sea for wonderful walking, cycling and swimming

Fabulous Drôme gîtes: contemporary in old stone buildings, uncluttered, fresh. Take all 5 for a party, laze by pool, doze in lavender

Three luxurious apartments sleeping up to 10 people altogether, set within an elegant Georgian manor house in the Wye Valley AONB

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