A converted stable on a peaceful farm surrounded by acres of countryside but within striking distance of Sherborne and good NT gardens

A really friendly French family home, steeped in history and tradition with delicious home-grown food, a lovely garden and peaceful pool

A beautifully renovated traditional manor house with extensive gardens and orchard, a pool with a deck in a meadow and a terrace for dining

Small hotel in a hiker's paradise a short walk from Cómpeta with pool, spacious rooms, private terraces, breathtaking views and generous breakfasts

Gite retreats in château grounds - welcoming and wonderful for young families. Build castles in the sandpit, make friends around the pool

Soak up the silence while savouring a glass of wine from the owners' vineyard in this rural Welsh idyll

In a profoundly peaceful spot between arty St Ives and stunning Marazion, a hideaway for two surrounded by gardens and parkland

In the city of Trapani, at the foot of Mount Erice, a nobleman's villa with a warm heart and exotic gardens. A hop from the Egadi Islands

Traditional house with a contemporary and imaginative interior; stroll to shops and restaurants, jump in the car to explore Provence

An 18th-century whitewashed cottage, characterful and comfortable and with a large private garden, just minutes from the coast by car

Come on down to the farm and this wonderful eco conversion of an ancient piggery with heavily beamed ceilings and much warmth and comfort

A light and bright converted milking parlour in a rural idyll with a BBQ hut, a spa overlooked by horses and a shared hot tub

Feel right at home in a thatched farmhouse on South Pool Creek, with cottage garden views, great breakfasts and a good local pub

Pluck grapes, splash in the child-shallow pool and explore the ‘Yorkshire of Italy’ with rolling green hills and conical trulli

A stone building designed by Sir John Soane in the stable yard of this historic and beautiful estate with deer park and woodland gardens

A 17th-century traditional Welsh longhouse in a very sheltered spot facing south and with a pretty garden surrounded by fields and meadows

A delightful house & converted 19th-century barn a short jaunt to the unspoilt beaches of the spectacular Anglesey coast

Weymouth Bay and Portland views, the sound of breaking waves… this wild remote place will blow your cobwebs away and restore your psyche