An elegant, super central bolthole for two (or three): stroll everywhere, hop on a vaporetto, sit in piazzas drinking cappuccino, live like a local

Wend your way down steep paths to Durgan beach, explore the magic of Charles’s wonderful garden and feast on Caroline’s super breakfasts

Visit the walled city of Evora, have dinner with the friendliest hosts, pet the dogs & donkeys. Head out for culture, vineyards and menhirs

A niftily restored, open-plan, beamed hayloft, just the ticket for romantics, with gorgeous views of fields and open countryside

From the delicious scented garden with its limestone pool to the cool rooms with perfect linen, this is a place for a special occasion

Enfolded in gentle Dorset hills and surrounded by trees, a perfect wooden hut for 2 near beaches, River Cottage HQ and many beautiful walks

A handsome Georgian townhouse pub in Newbury, with a name steeped in local lore and Donnington Castle just up the road

Lovely owners have created this quirky space on their farm; side-by-side al fresco baths make it romantic for two

Four gîtes in the château’s vast barn, one in the tower. Magnificent mountain and valley views, and Sandrine’s regionally inspired meals

Tucked at the bottom of a long track and surrounded by a gorgeous natural landscape, is this generous end-slice of a 17th-century stone farm

A lovely spot in an AONB for this bright and airy converted barn, one of four round a gravelled courtyard on a 600-acre estate

A gorgeous house, beautifully refurbished in contemporary style, with chic interiors and a swimming pool in a sublime English garden

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

Style abounds in this exquisite Côte d'Azur family getaway, where lazy days are whiled away by the pool and in the quiet bird-filled gardens

A bright and airy 50s townhouse in a residential suburb with large, light bedrooms and a sparkling pool – cycle into gorgeous countryside

A perfectly restored medieval borgo on twin Chianti hilltops, with lavender fields, honey bees and clear views to the Apennines

Just below the Tuscan town of Massa Marittima, an agriturismo loved by sporty types and families, with wonderful food on site

Come for peace, space and much comfort in this nifty house with gorgeous views over acres of vines from the terrace and pool