No-nonsense farm conversions with open, airy rooms and good big showers sharing a pool, a playground and fabulous views. Great walks, too

Traditional and modern, verging on the opulent. Find a stone-flagged tap room for walkers, top modern food and Chatsworth-perfect bedrooms

Anglo-Irish meets Italian and Indian; the owners have peppered this charming home with furniture and artefacts from their broad travels

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

Step into the valley region from this beautifully restored 17th-century house surrounded by saltwater and freshwater canals and lakes

Very private and comfortable rooms with their own entrances at this generous B&B with glorious gardens and views to the Black Mountains

Come for a spot of high-end cossetting with big, beautiful bedrooms, good food and far-reaching views in the Northumberland National Park

Hideaway at the bottom of the garden with a little courtyard and far-reaching views; walk to the village pub or take a day trip to Bath

A hammock by the pool, dinner under the stars, Andalucian nature (wild boar, birds, olives) all around. Chatty English hosts charm all

A three storey house and garden with sea glimpses in the 'vieux village' named for the Mimosa trees which flower in profusion in winter

A stately retreat, an oasis of calm and beauty. Picnic on the lawns, enjoy a glass of home-produced prosecco beneath a centuries-old tree

In the heart of a starlight reserve in a protected natural park, three authentic cottages with walks from the door for immersion in nature

Stay in a celebrated French author’s holiday home, beautifully restored and tucked among pines next to one of Brittany's loveliest bays

An 18th-century coaching inn right in the heart of an old Welsh drovers' town, with award-winning food and the Brecon Beacons rising behind

A pretty stone single-storey house, now renovated beautifully into a comfortable hideaway with wonderful views to woodland and river

A beautifully restored cottage and extra wing for 3 - 4 on Bodmin Moor for families, outdoor types and lovers of real countryside – dogs can come too

A stylish, refined 17th-century house off a quiet street with its own garden and lots of generous surprises, a short hop to everything

Deep in Burgundy's wine country, an elegant maison de maître sits in acres of gloriously private parkland