A country retreat, this airy suite has a crackling fireplace and warm wooden floors to cheer and hearten after a day roaming the hills...

Great for comfort, beauty, character and home baking. Borrow vintage bikes to explore Cambridge: Christine knows it inside out

A lovely house set in 20 hectares with a park, two ponds, paths winding through and a pretty river. Delicious locally-sourced meals too

A light and bright converted milking parlour in a rural idyll with a BBQ hut, a spa overlooked by horses and a shared hot tub

A newly-renovated barn in a picturesque Cotswold village with an enclosed front garden and the river Eye at the bottom of the drive

Ski in winter, walk and cycle in summer - return to unbeatable hospitality, warm, large and comfortable bedrooms with views, robust food

The smallest of three secluded cottages that share a gravel courtyard and a beautiful garden with cathedral views

Winter fires, a summer pool, and gorgeous food all year round... Live slow in the hills of "the new Tuscany": the peaceful, pastoral Marche

Gorgeous thatched gîte in a stunning clifftop location with wonderful views across to Mont Saint Michel and the island of Tombelaine

5 houses near Siena to make design-lovers happy; come for the rural solitude of ancient stone farm buildings with urban interiors

A relaxed château and vineyard by the river Cher in the exquisite Loire Valley surrounded by lush countryside for wonderful walks and cycles

17th-century farmhouse full of colour and interest with friendly hosts and great breakfasts. Explore the Cotswolds – bring the dog too

A very pretty old converted cart shed at the end of a track on an organic farm, surrounded by wildlife, birds and animals in the fields

What a setting! Gentle terraces, gardens, meadows and jaw-dropping views of Mont Blanc - just metres from Courmayeur

A lovely gîte, once a hunting lodge, with two private terraces overlooking the manicured gardens of an 1830s manor house

Picturesque cottage in the grounds of a grand manor, lovingly and creatively restored by its welcoming English owner

Two comfortably converted farm buildings, with a shared pool on a gentle south-east sloping vineyard with wonderful views

A warm and convivial place steeped in French history with an interesting, kind host who really looks after you. Under an hour from Paris too