A dog-friendly hotel with traditional bedrooms, excellent breakfasts & a cool bar set on a peaceful side street, minutes from the centre

Books, meadow flowers, a rocking chair by a cosy fire at this treasure-trove cottage of beautiful things - down tiny lanes in west Cork

Two charming cottages a stroll from the Coast Path, surf school, shop, pub and restaurant. Take both cottages for a big family get-together

Gloriously green rural self-catering apartments with pool and lovely, friendly owners

Peace, space and sophisticated living at a serene villa-apartment in the hills above Cannes

Come for peace and quiet down a long lane, pretty buildings and big, beautifully-kept gardens with a secluded outdoor pool

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

An island of oyster farms, salt pans and white beaches, woolly donkeys, countless push-bikes and the odd celeb – we love the Ile de Ré!

Charming 15th-century farmhouse near Montrésor and Loches with immense lawns, orchards and a fabulous pool

A lovely little bolthole to return to after days out exploring pretty Cotswold villages and walking in an AONB straight from the door

A smart riverside inn with airy interiors that brim with character – old beams, open fires, well-kept ales and comfy bedrooms

A sylvan hideaway tucked into the hills of the Southern Alps, full of Provençal charm inside and out – Saint-Cézaire and the coast are close

Wild beauty and hundreds of birds on the shore of a freshwater lake. Frank and Daniella look after you in a homely, fuss free way

An 18th-century beamed inn with tasty food, pretty bedrooms and a large garden just a ten-minute drive from Chichester

A dramatic transformation of an old shepherd's cottage deep on a remote hillside in Perthshire farmland with masses of space and light

Big house in peaceful lush oasis among the bananas, vines and aloe vera, a 20-minute walk down into Funchal

Surrounded by delightful gardens, these gîtes are serene retreats from which you can discover the Dordogne, or gently unwind

Come for big skies, loch views, much wildlife, acres of forest and a charming wood-clad cottage from which to explore such a remote spot