Go with the slow - homemade delights, no plastic anything, few mod cons - just relaxed humorous hosts and a beautiful place

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

Perched on a hillside between mountains and sea is this charming house in a modern Spanish style, engulfed by a beautiful garden with views

Once a pub, now a friendly home, with all you need for a market town break. Park the car (or leave at home) – everything is on the doorstep

Come for the gloriously peaceful countryside and this 1700s house and garden, scrupulously renovated and with plenty of space

A very comfortable and attractive 1820 gate lodge surrounded by mature trees on a family estate, in gently rolling countryside

A spacious, luxurious family retreat, remote but close to Audierne. Watch surfers shoot the waves as seagulls wheel above

Proper village pub with much-praised food and cosy rooms; country walks lead from the door and Oxford is half an hour away

A spacious and bright old sandstone farm building with private garden, all one one level and with lovely views over fields and countryside

A stunning veranda wraps itself around the house: doze off in a wicker armchair or sip a drink at dusk as the sun melts into the valley

Charming, laid-back B&B in the foothills of the Algarve. All you hear are the birds, yet the beaches are a ten-minute drive

Remote off-grid cottage 1400 feet above sea level in Northumberland National Park, with incredible night skies

There's a lovely welcome at this manoir near the sea with its family-friendly room arrangements (cottages, kitchens) and its outdoor pool

Come for home-baked bread, eggs from the hens, arrays of fresh fruit, and fabulous river views... your hosts do lovely B&B

Comfortable apartment steeped in Breton history, in a beautifully renovated gabarier’s house overlooking the marine estuary

A tranquil agriturismo within easy reach of Padua. Superb views of the Euganean Hills, chic bedrooms and fine wine to sample

A beautiful little house in a corner of the garden: walk for miles or just to the local pub, barbecue on the deck with its rural views

Ideal for families: pool, tennis and golf at the hotel with beach and yachting nearby. Comfortable bedrooms and a terrace for outdoor dining