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

A cosy bolthole near Paris's best museums, monuments and churches. A peaceful sleep and simple buffet breakfast set you up for sightseeing

A comfortable and light-filled converted stone barn in the pretty Vendée, a quiet and rural spot but just half a mile from town

A deliciously rural stone house with charmingly simple rustic-chic interiors and saline pool - an hour from Perugia

High in the Tuscan hills, at the end of an avenue of cypresses, surrounded by parkland and acres of olives... a 13th-century dream

Marvellously quirky bolthole right on Lyme Regis seafront with stunning views; perfect for beach combers and boutique browsers

Birders will love escaping up here, golfers too - visit Hatfield House, Knebworth, Cambridge - come back to a good local pub and a comfy bed

Like staying in a family home, only with Henri III furniture and rolling green views. Energetic hosts cook, farm, hunt, chat over champagne

A fine country manor house on the edge of a village, peacefully surrounded by gardens and trees, and close to the D-Day landing beaches

A charming base in historic Beaulieu - expect delicious food, traditional country-house interiors, and walks that start from the front door

Share an authentic and unpretentious part of Sardinia with generous hosts. Stay in rooms set across three properties, enjoy memorable meals

Come for a spot of indulgence, with seriously good food and wine, oodles to do in the courtyard, great bedrooms and a cool spa for a splurge

Remote and rural, this cosy cottage is a slice of Welsh heaven, with plenty to do and see just a short drive away

An Edwardian villa with stunning views, polished floors, cosy fires and child-friendly garden a short walk from lovely Portmeirion

A village setting for this family-friendly cottage-in-a-row with private garden next to the owners' pretty 17th-century thatched house

A sweet bolthole around a courtyard on a smallholding, extremely comfortable, bright and spacious inside and with a communal garden

Refined B&B in a pretty forest setting just north of the French Basque country, with a lovely garden, a swimming pool and delicious food

Light and sunny annexe with your own entrance in the centre of vibrant Buckfastleigh with lovely gardens, for couples plus a child or two