Big house with bags of character and easy access to beaches, cafés and cobbled streets, coastal paths and hidden coves

A 1750s farmhouse with a comfortable, informal feel resting in woodland. You're near to iconic tourist spots but hiding in the quiet woods

Your host runs home and B&B with effortless efficiency and you'll find shiny, spotless rooms to retreat to after a day's exploring

Beautiful, and with a delightfully rambling garden, this early 16th-century manor has bags of room for happy days with family or friends

A lovely old house and rambling garden in a medieval village with a monumental château, 12th-century church and a good local restaurant

Magical for nature lovers, with wraparound views to the coastline of Skye. Inside: warmth, luxury and not a whisper from the wildest gale

Elegant stable cottage in the heart of Northumberland, with lush gardens and cosy interiors. Explore castles, coast and countryside

A cosy, courteous, family-run hotel with ‘chocolatines’ and cherry jams at breakfast, Basque dishes at dinner, and gorgeous rolling views

A clutch of airy properties, most with their own jasmine-scented terraces arranged around a funky pool

Lovely rooms in this characterful villa, perfect for exploring Burgundy’s Grand Crus, walking to vineyards or sipping wine by the pool

A cosy cottage on a farm down a long winding track, wonderfully rural with footpaths across fields or along the canal

You'll find comfortable rooms, great food and a lovely bar at this friendly inn – Heartbeat country, Castle Howard and Whitby all wait

Lodge and gardens – superbly designed, immaculate, fresh, eco friendly – rest in unspoilt Picardy. Anglo-French hosts take turns to cook

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

Share an authentic and unpretentious part of Sardinia with generous hosts. Stay in rooms set across three properties, enjoy memorable meals

You’re wrapped in parkland here and close to the coast, gardens and war memorials. A treat of a stop-over for foodies

Former blacksmith’s workshop in a chocolate-box corner of the New Forest, where clematis climbs the trellis and all you hear are the birds

Family-run B&B in traditional trulli with hands-on hosts. Swim in the pool, explore the countryside, the coast is half an hour’s drive away