Delicious vegetarian cooking, a pool, lemon groves and hazy views of the Hyblaean mountains make a perfect escape near Cassibile

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

With incredible views across to distant hilltop towns, olive groves and buzzing bees, this elegant farmhouse has bags of charm

A stroll from the village, this comfy house in its terraced garden comes with a keen-cook's kitchen, a generous terrace and pool

A soothing, deeply romantic bolthole with simple interiors and its own little private garden, next to a winery and surrounded by vineyards

A very pretty old coach house in a south London garden – perfect for a couple or a family. Friendly owners live across the courtyard

There's a pared-back unforced elegance to this stone barn sitting quietly in its own grounds beside a cobbled courtyard awash with roses

An elegant solution to a hotel - no rooms, but 13 charming villas in the heart of the maquis, nearly all with a private pool

Country house set in a secluded valley in a nature reserve with a pool & walks from the door. The small town of Jabugo is just over the hill

Treat yourself to a bit of a rest with the one you love at this dreamy gîte in glorious countryside, with pool, garden and gorgeous walks

Come down to the Meon Valley and be (very gently) nudged towards a better way of living - a Sawday's Community Champion

Treat yourselves to a stay on one of the oldest wine estates in Provence and a family house from the 1740s, complete with antiques

A sweet, very private-feeling annexe in the glorious South Hams with your own west-facing garden

Restored 18th-century farm building surrounded by countryside, with a good pub a short walk away and Lake Windermere a ten-minute drive

Immaculate Cotswold beauty with great food, welcoming staff, handsome rooms and a sun-trap terrace, plus countryside walks from the door

A stylish farm renovation with pools, gym, and flower-filled gardens - find rural tranquillity close to Brittany’s most famous landmarks

An artist's house imbued with an understated elegance. Stay for dinner; be charmed by the garden where fruit trees throng, hens loiter

A beautifully-restored old cow shed, light and airy, floating over a wildflower meadow in spring and summer. 20 mins from the Jurassic Coast