This small hotel with pool has elegant communal spaces, spoiling bedrooms, kind staff, delicious food and panoramic mountain views

Play boules in the garden, swim in the natural pool and enjoy Monica’s wonderful cooking served with local wines at this village farmhouse

Elegant rooms behind a popular village pub with country walks from the door, and the spectacular Peak District and stately homes nearby

Blissful views to vineyards and mountains from this faithful reproduction of a 16th-century manor. Eat well, hike, bike, sauna and swim

Historic and impeccably presented apartment in charming Stockbridge, a stroll from shops, restaurants and Botanic Gardens

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

A stunner of a setting for this restored croft house with long views to a sparkling loch and a lively village nearby. Good beaches too

Come for a sense of complete peace surrounded by country and coast with wonderful interiors to boot – a bolthole for two (plus two)

A large, attractive 18th-century house with sweeping lawns, outdoor seating areas and two free-standing baths by an ivy-clad wall

You have the whole North Wing of this beautiful old farmhouse with a private east-facing courtyard for early morning tea as the sun rises

A lovely, long barn-style conversion with much space, stunning views across the spectacular bay and a secret beach to stroll to

Near vibrant market towns, this lovely cottage on a rural estate with views of Pen y Fan is a delicious escape from the hurly burly

A romantic and very comfortable retreat in a smartly converted dairy with a pretty garden, close to the South Downs

A large, light-filled house sitting very much on its own in the middle of the peaceful Eden Valley with masses of space inside and out

Chocolate-box cottages in deepest Normandy, owned by bright young things with a passion for organic cuisine and the good life

Gaze out to the shimmering bay from your bird and nature-filled retreat in the tree-studded mountains near Alcúdia

Burrowed into the olive groves of the lush Valle d’Itria, a restored masseria with five trulli, an indoor and outdoor pool, hot tub and lovely views

This gloriously off-grid stone farmhouse surrounded by untamed nature will suit those who revel in taking life at a more measured pace