For retreats, groups of friends, and big families: come to recharge the senses at this special and ancient house enveloped by wild gardens

Big house with bags of character and easy access to beaches, cafés and cobbled streets, coastal paths and hidden coves

Four gîtes in the château’s vast barn, one in the tower. Magnificent mountain and valley views, and Sandrine’s regionally inspired meals

Drink a toast to your good fortune as you gaze across to Elba from a vast free-standing bath. You breakfast on the view-filled terrace

Delightful B&B on a working farm, generous hosts welcome you with tea and homemade cake. Bring a piece of furniture and give it a facelift!

A small hotel with gorgeous interiors, friendly staff, spacious rooms, a proper library, pretty garden and a relaxed, homely feel

A renovated barn, part stone, part wood, resembling the tobacco barns of the area with beautiful grounds surrounded by farmland

Head inland for grand walking or to the glorious coast from this very pretty cottage with a private garden, suitable and safe for dogs

Come for the gloriously peaceful countryside and this 1700s house and garden, scrupulously renovated and with plenty of space

Serious art, lovely lighting, great sound system and a fat wood-burner belting out the heat at this super place for families or friends

A very thoughtful and peaceful house with a garden for happy holidays with family or friends, surrounded by glorious countryside for walks

In peaceful walled gardens, this former convent is a quiet retreat just a stone’s throw from the Riviera coast and the best of Tuscany

A thatched farmhouse only just over the channel near Rouen that’s well hidden in lush gardens, but worth finding for the gourmet food alone

Two homely gîtes sleeping 4 and 2 in rural farm country. Walk to the bakery; drive 15 minutes to Saint-Malo and riverside restaurants

A serene B&B in the heart of the Côte d'Or Burgundy wine region; come for vineyard tours, cycling, sightseeing and gourmet extravaganzas

Attractive country barn - great for two families sharing, for river trips, for playing in the pool, for running free

This hidden valley is the dreamiest part of South Devon. Catch the ferry across the Dart; gaze on the hills; snuggle up by the wood-burner