Come for a restorative and restful stay on a wine estate with a beautiful landscaped garden and engaging owners who make you delicious meals

Take a suite with champagne, strawberries and a tower, swim in the saltwater pool, eat a Castilian cocido - unwind in rural peace!

Your hosts couldn’t be nicer and look after you beautifully – this is a lovely, homely place with a rambling garden

A great spot for two plus two, with a decked area that gazes on copses, stream and treehouse. Wallow your cares away in the hot tub

A countryside escape for 2 near Chepstow with traditional interiors and cheery wood-burner. Not suitable for children but dogs very welcome

An exquisite Provençal home for a large party, hidden behind grand gates in a small village surrounded by the pine-scented Alpilles

A clutch of airy properties, most with their own jasmine-scented terraces arranged around a funky pool

A cosy nest on the ramparts of an ancient fishing port, with sparkling lagoon views from a top-floor living area

Rural retreat, far from the madding crowd. Laze by the infinity pool and take in the views. Inside all is calm and stylish. Stay a while

Rural bliss at the end of the lane: a cottage for 2 with wine and local biscuits in the hamper and farmers’ markets within a 5-mile drive

A romantic creekside cottage down a web of narrow lanes in a tumbling green valley – mess about on the water to your heart’s content

Beautiful, and with a delightfully rambling garden, this early 16th-century manor has bags of room for happy days with family or friends

Generous simplicity and organic farm cooking in this rustic Tuscan farm with library, yoga, family apartments and natural lily-dotted pond

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

Generous apartments in a 300-year-old farmhouse with beautiful grounds and a swimming pool

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 magical Scottish Baronial-style house with stunning valley views; stroll to good restaurants, explore the spectacular Borders