Birders will love escaping up here, golfers too - visit Hatfield House, Knebworth, Cambridge - come back to a good local pub and a comfy bed

A magnificent Victorian clock tower on a peaceful, bird-filled estate with a garden, gorgeous views across the park and activities to join

A family-run 1700s thatched Inn in a rural hamlet with super food, a grand team to look after you and picnic benches in a pretty garden

A glorious country house with everything you need for a fun family holiday: games, pool, big bedrooms, two living rooms & a gorgeous garden

A small hotel with gorgeous interiors, friendly staff, spacious rooms, a proper library, pretty garden and a relaxed, homely feel

For escapists, wannabe writers and lovers of rural bliss: two boho hideaways for two (four at a squeeze) in this lush corner of Galicia

A sweet retreat for a nature-loving couple, with soul-searching views and the smell of the sea. Logs and Breton cider are on the house...

Up in the Cévennes, this big, beautiful family house has superb views, a fine kitchen, lots of space and masses to do and see

Elegantly restored mariner’s cottage with tasteful interiors and sweeping, uninterrupted views over the ever-changing estuary

A chalet-with-everything: great mountain style, space and comfort with views of Mont Blanc, a sauna and bubbling hot tub

A hilltop setting for this ancient fortress with an illustrious past. You stay in apartments or farmhouses inside or outside the walls

An immaculately restored cottage with a blissful sun room, private terrace, gardens, pool and orchard for a warm and peaceful hideaway

Come for a sense of complete peace surrounded by country and coast with wonderful interiors to boot – a bolthole for two (plus two)

A very grand façade for this handsome Charente village house with a beautiful, peaceful garden, creamy stone walls and olive trees

Come for dreamy river views, a lovely garden and this bolthole for two, beautifully renovated inside and out and with a private hot tub

Exquisite apartments and houses in an old monastery in tranquil Umbrian countryside. Stylish interiors, fabulous views and a sparkling pool…

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

Come for big, peaceful bedrooms with views, delicious home cooked breakfasts and riverside strolls through ancient beech woodland