Characterful and family-friendly apartments on this lovely wine-country estate: great hosts, glorious grounds and pool, home-grown food

Airy interiors, good local food and a blissful rural setting for this refurbished inn, popular with locals and with a happy, bustling vibe

Grade II-listed country hotel with lovely gardens and an excellent restaurant, a short walk from Ambleside and the top of Lake Windermere

Anouk & Gilles have fine-tuned their welcome. Lounge by the pool and dine exquisitely within their landscaped park

A stunner of a setting for this restored croft house with long views to a sparkling loch and a lively village nearby. Good beaches too

Two cottages for couples: one more traditional, the other fresh and modern, both comfortable and romantic and there's a good pub next door

This old stone building, a former olive warehouse, is beautifully restored and sits on its own – a simple bolthole for rest and recuperation

An eye-catching ancient inn with a colourful flower garden in summer, delicious local food and very presentable bedrooms

Weymouth Bay and Portland views, the sound of breaking waves… this wild remote place will blow your cobwebs away and restore your psyche

Set off on blissful walks, trek home to crumpets and tea. There’s no better place to escape the 21st century than rural Devon

A self-catering apartment in the wing of a traditional Burgundian winemaker's house in a tiny hamlet, surrounded by fields of vines

Foodies will love the irresistible cooking - along with local wine and a typically Tuscan setting. Bedrooms are pretty

A wall of glass frames the sea view - take drinks on the waterfront lawn in summer, or by the crackling fire in winter

A light-filled, modern house with wonderful sea views through vast picture windows stretching all the way to St Kilda on clear days

A welcoming, affordable seafront base for exploring St Malo and northern Brittany with small rooms, good food and a lively atmosphere

Warmth and comfort on the Pink Granite Coast where the wind and waves lull you to sleep, and bedrooms overlook the cedars or the sea

Come for much grace, space and inspiration in this huge-windowed, view-filled spot surrounded by gloriously untrammelled countryside