Great for comfort, beauty, character and home baking. Borrow vintage bikes to explore Cambridge: Christine knows it inside out

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

Dominating the village is this historic hotel... all frescoes, chandeliers, splendour at every turn. And a handsome pool, too

Glorious airy living space in this superbly restored barn, a terrace with long views and a pool across the garden - bikes to borrow too

Rare as a bird, a proper old fashioned French inn on the side of the road in a sleepy village, a restoration project for the new owners

Vast house on an ancient Roman site with big terraced garden and pool. Grand yet homely, with air-con, spa and only 8 km to the city

Come here in the summer (it’s closed Nov-April except by arrangement) for candlelit dining, chintzy bedrooms, long views over the park...

Welcoming Julia fans passions for Arlesienne cuisine and culture in her art-stuffed Provence home where everything catches the eye!

A rustic haven in Vouvray wine country: bask on sun beds near the elegant pool, cosy up to the wood-burner, relax in your beautiful bedroom

An elegantly renovated coaching inn with inspired design, beautifully simple pub food, tempting ales and gloriously comfortable bedrooms

Restored 18th-century farm building surrounded by countryside, with a good pub a short walk away and Lake Windermere a ten-minute drive

Secluded country house hotel with gracious rooms and dining; stroll the grounds, visit the coast, Beverley is only a five-minute drive away

Lovely slice of the Mediterranean with splendid rooms in deepest Cheshire. Sip an aperitif on the sunny terrace

Peace, space, nature in the Champagne-hugged Somme valley - and home-grown, organic meals with generous French hosts. Family-perfect

A delightful harled stone and wood house yards from the sea with glorious hills behind, for walkers, dreamers, nature lovers and adventurers

Welcome to an immaculate and historic retreat with private gardens, ten minutes from the Finistère coast (and oysters!)

A beautiful cream stone building in the grounds of a grand château, with a large and view-filled outdoor terrace for peaceful dawdling

A family-run, environmentally friendly bistro with rooms near Grasmere: climb to the nearest viewing spot. Dogs welcome too