A smartly refurbished village pub with its own micro-brewery and a huge emphasis on cooking great food from a network of local suppliers

An artistic escape with a stunning kitchen in sleepy, gastronomic Lot – stroll to the village market and feast on local produce

Eco-friendly B&B overlooking Lake Como with marvellous mountain and lake views. Heaps of space, generous hosts, a menagerie of animals

Cosied up by the fire in your farmhouse high on the moor you’ll feel miles from civilisation, while Chatsworth is just minutes away

A very romantic and peaceful Umbrian hideaway just for two with delicious breakfasts and wonderful views from house and pool

A 18th-century house with pool in a small town with friendly owners and a tropical garden of banana, fig and, of course, frangipani

Gather the clans and just come. It's lovely here among acres of wildlife-filled grounds – a Sawday's Community Champion

A 17th-century townhouse sitting on a quiet side street with lots of original features and a west-facing patio screened by vines and lemons

A neat white cottage with thick walls and bags of comfort in Mortehoe. Walk the coastal path, surf the beaches, eat the catch of the day

Come for super ridgeway walks and explore charming towns and villages from this pretty 18th-century cottage in the Chalke Valley

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

A deliciously rural stone house with charmingly simple rustic-chic interiors and saline pool - an hour from Perugia

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

A gorgeous big old house on a farm in a very quiet part of Wiltshire - the undiscovered North Wessex Downs, filled with wildlife and an AONB

A stylish timber frame eco build, clad with recycled steel and with an upstairs living space to make the most of the glorious sunsets

Something to astound at every turn where the traditional and downright quirky collide to stunning effect. Friendly, flexible hosts too

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

A very swish 1610 house, thoroughly refurbished, in the heart of old Chichester with oodles of space and a surprisingly large garden