A hilltop setting for this ancient fortress with an illustrious past. You stay in apartments or farmhouses inside or outside the walls

White-painted beams, wonky white walls and your own parking spot fairly nearby. You're near the harbour and subtropical gardens

A welcoming country-house hotel that’s popular with locals and visitors alike - good food, stylish rooms and an airy restaurant wait

For escapists, wannabe writers and lovers of rural bliss: two boho hideaways for two (four at a squeeze) in this lush corner of Galicia

Friendly pub in rural village near Cambridge with strong community feel, great local food, garden, snug room and fresh, pretty bedrooms

Find beauty and tranquillity on this historic Dordogne estate for up to fourteen - plus a feast of designer colour and a fine pool to share

Stylish hotel for couples and families on the side of a peaceful Cotswold hill with big views, a choice of rooms and a 500-acre estate

A destination B&B. Hunker down in thoroughly spoiling surroundings with delightful owners near St Jean de Luz, Biarritz and Bayonne

Elegant historic house set in acres of grounds transports you to a bygone belle époque (with all mod cons)

A very attractive stone building on a smallholding with all mod cons, a bedroom for stargazing, Guest Farm Shop and pretty communal gardens

A treat in any season, a place to stir your soul, yield to nature and learn how to play again - with a pretty fine roost to come home to

A cosy cottage on a farm down a long winding track, wonderfully rural with footpaths across fields or along the canal

An idyllic hotel-restaurant in a postcard-pretty medieval village. Warm interiors, a varied menu of local produce, masses to see and do...

Mesmerising sea views from this big comfortable hillside house near Deià with a big pool, verdant gardens and sun-trapping terraces

Ascot is a trot down the road and there's a really cosy, cottagey feel to this quaint 18th-century inn with great food and comfy bedrooms

With incredible views across to distant hilltop towns, olive groves and buzzing bees, this elegant farmhouse has bags of charm

A thoughtful conversion of an old farm barn with beautifully-beamed interiors - a flawless, rural escape for romantics and dreamers

Brilliant birdwatching, heavenly countryside, a generous welcome and lovely furnishings... A place to linger as long as you can