Colourful coastal apartments and studios where you can be nicely independent, and enjoy a communal café and health club with Art Deco pool

Friendly Maki and Clive's higgledy-piggledy home is a charming, special place. Rooms are cosy, Clive's cookery courses are fun and delicious

Magical sunshine-filled grounds with olive trees, palms, cacti and carob surround the charmingly-coloured stone of these 1750 farm buildings

Peaceful Basque farmhouse turned smart country B&B, only 20 minutes from restaurants and museums in Bilbao and unspoiled sandy beaches

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

A striking 19th-century landmark deep in ancient woodland, reborn as a pub with beautifully restored rooms just a short hop from London

Plunge into real Spain from this ancient village house with very modern interiors, stunning views, a cooling pool and a hop from restaurants

An ancient thatched cottage near Dartmoor with a warming log fire in winter and flowers inside and out in the summer

A very special renovation of a 12th-century convent, now an elegant, tranquil place to stay with beautiful, bird-filled gardens

Comfortable, understated, spotless and authentic – a modest family hideaway on Brittany’s stunning Crozon Peninsula (think Land’s End...)

Off-the-beaten track cottage promises peace and quiet, wild swimming and hikes in the hills. A world away from the urban jungle

Glorious Elizabethan manor house lovingly furnished with exceptional art and antiques by its welcoming owners

Modest and authentic, a top-floor apartment in an eco-friendly Provençal farmhouse, with dogs and hens. River swims are a stroll away...

A traditional, grand 1850 townhouse sitting in a large, landscaped garden with mature trees, a short walk to the village centre and square

This cottage is stylish and serene, beautifully transformed from an old farm building – come for golf, beaches, walks and bird-watching

Tea in the summerhouse, breakfast by the fire, fresh flowers all around this warm family home. Step out to historic Shrewsbury high street

A fine country manor house on the edge of a village, peacefully surrounded by gardens and trees, and close to the D-Day landing beaches

Sleek, smart apartments on the first floor of a 19th-century building in Verona's most fashionable residential/commercial neighbourhood