A Victorian farm steading cleverly repurposed as an open-plan holiday home with bright, colourful interiors, deep in the Perthshire hills

Glamour, warmth and style in a renovated wine warehouse in a cool quarter of Bordeaux - France’s most popular city after Paris

A renovated Dordogne farmhouse infused with new life, plus a saltwater pool, an ancient fig tree, and Lascaux on the doorstep

Cosy bolthole for two in a charming market town on the edge of Dartmoor – stroll to restaurants and shops or explore the moors

An 18th-century beamed inn with tasty food, pretty bedrooms and a large garden just a ten-minute drive from Chichester

A lovely farmhouse in Lot with acres of garden and a summer kitchen. Come ‘en famille’ for food, wine and lazy days by the pool.

An adorable whitewashed crofter's cottage on the Wern Estate with pretty gardens, a bird-filled woodland and glorious walks from the door

Hike the Wild Boar Fells, get cosy at home with books, games and DVDs, and meet the farm’s hens, cows and sheep

A relaxed home-from-home feel at this Spanish house with old-fashioned charm, a big garden and pool and lovely views from every window

Independence at one end of the house with your own sitting room opening onto a courtyard garden. Good pub for food a few minutes' walk away

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

A cosy bolt hole near medieval Cartmel with woods, meadows and wildlife – great for walkers in this quiet part of the South Lakes

In a commanding position surrounded by private land, this old manor house is excellently equipped and ideal for a big family holiday

Near Vosges mountains, a happy homely hotel surrounded by woods and flower-filled meadows with friendly hosts. Deliciously peaceful

Peaceful Georgian house with beautifully proportioned rooms, sumptuous meals, swimming and tennis. Dartmoor is on the doorstep

Come down to the Meon Valley and be (very gently) nudged towards a better way of living - a Sawday's Community Champion

Sun-soaked stillness, saltwater dips and garden scents of fig and rosemary - slow days unfold between olive trees and a sky full of stars

A truly authentic place to stay on a Sicilian working farm with roaming hens, wheat fields, wild flowers and a distant view of the sea