Close to the expansive north Norfolk coast, this is a contemporary hotel with a laid-back vibe and excellent food

A very pretty old coach house in a south London garden – perfect for a couple or a family. Friendly owners live across the courtyard

Come to this delightful house, a marriage of old stones and modern furniture, for pure remote air, great outdoor sports and fine dining

There's a pared-back unforced elegance to this stone barn sitting quietly in its own grounds beside a cobbled courtyard awash with roses

You’ll eat well here, among locals who love the food. The village is quiet, the rooms serenely modern. A great base for a holiday en famille

Get away from it all in 'old' France, where melons taste like melons & hikes start from the door. This rural bolthole is a serious treat

By a bubbling brook in the Mendips, close to Bath and Bristol, a wonderfully revived and welcoming inn with smart rooms and scrumptious food

On its own wooded estate, a special manor house of character. Art on the walls, maps and wellies to borrow, gardens to romp in, super views

A splendid supper à la carte (three courses) is included here, together with airy rooms and sweeping gardens. The Solway Firth is close

Smart, spacious house for 12 with great views over the family vineyard - arrange a tasting, walk the Cotswold Way, cycle the canal towpath

A gem of a château in the wilds of Limousin with kind and thoughtful owners who are thoroughly immersed in this tranquil area

Loved by estate-workers, visitors, well-heeled locals, and walkers, this spruced-up pub is a friendly launchpad for Chatsworth

An impressive limestone house on three levels created within the ruins of an ancient village with uninterrupted views of the Vézère valley

A fortified castle in parkland, built mostly in the 1300s on the Montbazens plateau, near to the stunning Averyon gorges

In a small village on the borders, a Jacobean farmhouse luxuriously restored with lovely touches; the Brecon Beacons are close by

A small, family-run boutique hotel sitting right at the foot of Etna with wonderful views, garden, pool and ambrosial Sicilian breakfasts

Good old-fashioned hospitality in a quiet Highlands cottage ringed by roses and roe deer. Forest and coastal walks, shortbread and tea

Pomegranates, persimmon and figs, the waft of rosemary on the air... we love this old 'mas' 25km from Gordes, in sweet sunny Provence