A heartwarming 250-year-old pub with roaring fires in the flagged bar, attractive bedrooms and a special welcome for children and dogs

Come for peace and quiet down a long lane, pretty buildings and big, beautifully-kept gardens with a secluded outdoor pool

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

Perfect château B&B with pointy turrets and pale blue shutters, surrounded by gorgeous countryside, a cycle route and ancient villages

Great gulps of ozone will engulf you at this architect-designed 1960s beach house - light, bright and sparkling, just like the ocean

Grade II-listed country hotel with lovely gardens and an excellent restaurant, a short walk from Ambleside and the top of Lake Windermere

By a lake, enclosed by woodland - a contemporary house and barn, full of handmade furniture – laze in a hammock, walk the Jurassic Coast

Comfortable apartment steeped in Breton history, in a beautifully renovated gabarier’s house overlooking the marine estuary

A sweet bolthole around a courtyard on a smallholding, extremely comfortable, bright and spacious inside and with a communal garden

Three lovely places to stay - come for much charm, peace, sunsets, infinity pool, sauna and gym in this history-steeped countryside retreat

High in the heavenly hills is this very smartly converted farm building, with underfloor heating, much glass, wood and exposed brickwork

An open-plan kitchen, sunny terrace and fruitful gardens shine at this private hillside villa. From here, it's easy to ski, swim or sunbathe

A large and light house sitting by itself in lovely countryside with a big pool, maturing gardens and superb views up to Saignon on the hill

Pretty, thatched, perfectly round: a romantic village bolthole with retro touches. Grab flip-flops, leads and run the dogs on Pendower beach

A privilege to be able to stay within the famous gardens of magnificent Château de Courances. The painter's village of Barbizon is nearby

Laid-back hosts, delicious breakfasts and a staggering sense of history in peaceful Welsh countryside - magical place for a special occasion

A sparkling house for two overlooking azure waters, starry skies and Stromboli’s light show - that’ll do nicely grazie

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