Designed with style and comfort, peaceful, sophisticated and serene with countryside views. And you have your own lovely pool

A super old place for those who love history and Thomas Hardy. Come for enjoyable gastropub food and comfortable, traditional bedrooms

Swim in the pool overlooking vineyards, try the wines and oil made onsite, get cosy by log fires or head to the nearby beach

Spend restful days in a verdant garden, slip into the cooling pool, sip wine on your private balcony, stroll into arty Benissa

A spacious, luxurious family retreat, remote but close to Audierne. Watch surfers shoot the waves as seagulls wheel above

Pippa tells you where to find wild flowers, babbling brooks and butterflies... and hike, bike and swim. Magic for families

This lovely, beamy, uncluttered Tuscan farmhouse with separate apartment is an elegant lodging on a vast fruitful estate with pool, and lovely owners

Two duplex apartments filled with art and sculptures inside a beautiful 18th-century orangery, minutes from magnificent Versailles

A vine-clad stone house hideaway for lovers, walkers, artists and hermits with a sweet veranda overlooking woodland down to the river

Explore Le Marche, Italy's hidden gem, from this tranquil agriturismo tucked among olive groves and fields above the Adriatic coast

Your own cosy apartment in the once arty, now classy Latin Quarter. An elegant, romantic and peaceful bolthole for 2

A gorgeous inn lost in lush country with hammocks in the garden, sofas in the drawing room and lovely local food in the popular restaurant

Colourful coastal apartments and studios where you can be nicely independent, and enjoy a communal café and health club with Art Deco pool

An oast house B&B surrounded by countryside and with a blooming garden; walk to the village pub, drive to nearby stately castles

Steps from the sea in get-away-from-it-all scenery – half an hour’s walk from St Ives’ arty heart. Sleeps 4 with pull-out beds for 2 more

Three very special places to stay on one glorious estate. Gather those whose company you enjoy and immerse yourselves in beauty and history

Four bright and warm cottages with gardens, for families and friends, plus activities for children and endless walks for you and your dog

Welcome to an immaculate house on the Isle of Skye. Relax in the sauna, relish the hamper, linger over the barbecue with a fabulous view