A nicely priced inn on Shaftesbury's high street with a warm contemporary style and some excellent food – fine local walking waits

A superb palazzo in beautiful old Florence with 13 design rooms, a cocktail menu and breakfast in your room. Arty, stylish and near the Duomo

Come for big skies, grand walking and hilly cycling. Style and comfort abound in this cottage set on the hillside with views to North Uist

Charmingly rambling, inside and out: blazing fires, riotous patterns, oak panelling, a prolific garden and comfortable antique beds

Romantics will love this small converted hut-on-a-hillside surrounded by pines and olives with stunning views over the old town and the sea

In a chocolate-box village just an hour on the train, and a short hop in a taxi, from London is this foodie inn with pretty bedrooms

Peaceful escape for couples in the grounds of a stately Tudor manor house; watch the wildlife from your garden, explore the nearby coast

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

A fascinating place steeped in history and abuzz with prize-winning winery activity. Plus rustic cottages, golf, a restaurant and 2 pools

A contemporary country-house hotel with a lovely spa and peaceful gardens - Sandringham and the north Norfolk coast are close

A peaceful, romantic village escape for couples, plus a babe-in-arms, attached to the welcoming owners' home in the Scottish Borders

An 18th-century cottage for four on a working sheep farm: walk the Pentland Hills, get the bus to Edinburgh for culture

An 18th-century coaching inn wrapped in countryside now a relaxed pub with rooms serving excellent food and drink with 16 inviting bedrooms

Sheep's Head Way is reputedly one of the best walks in Ireland. Come back to roaring fires, a Rayburn, art and style – terrific restorations

Stables turned into bright, comfortable holiday homes in countryside near Battle - for couples and families, whose dogs are very welcome too

A mid 1800s converted farmhouse and a cottage in a quiet hamlet with private gardens and lovely grounds, just 15 minutes from the coast

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

Live like a local. Art lovers, book lovers and walkers will be happy here above an art gallery in the centre of town