A delightful home-from-home village house with large gardens and walks from the door – perfect for families

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

A light-filled, modern house with wonderful sea views through vast picture windows stretching all the way to St Kilda on clear days

A lovingly restored ancient farmhouse surrounded by wildlife-rich countryside just two miles from stunning beaches – a place to mend

Come for an exceptionally inviting 17th-century inn, a chocolate-box Cotswold village, excellent local food and ales, very comfortable rooms

Gaze over to glorious Curemonte from the pretty cottage, loll by the pool, play games in the barn. Bring friends and book the main house too

Five tranquil apartments surrounded by Tuscan countryside just over half an hour's drive from Siena - hire them all for a group holiday

A light larch-clad space for lovers, or a retreat for walkers and writers in pretty Orford, once a medieval sea port but now on the river

Come for an oasis of peace - no crowds in the National Park, just olive groves, mountain views and tranquil nature

Beautiful, fresh townhouse with spoiling touches just outside the city walls of Canterbury. Whitstable close by, eateries a walk away

A gorgeous wooden-clad off-grid cottage deep in the National Park with far-reaching views, unfussy interiors and spoiling extra treatments

Cross an ancient stone bridge to a 1790s estate cottage, completely on its own down a little-used green lane and with the river rushing by

Beautiful Noto is 4 miles from the Ionian Sea, and this creative renovation, with lush garden, stands above the throng. Heaven in Sicily

In a sleepy village near Oxford, a characterful 17th-century inn with contemporary flair, seasonal menus and a terrace for summer music

An exquisitely restored 1850s townhouse, steeped in history, with a sweet garden and within walking distance of the historic centre of Porto

A very attractive stone building on a smallholding with all mod cons, a bedroom for stargazing, Guest Farm Shop and pretty communal gardens

An old farm worker's cottage, niftily done up and nicely remote, with walking and fishing on the doorstep, four miles from Hadrian's Wall

Three simple, traditional apartments in an ancient convent building with a beautiful botanical garden in the heart of the historic centre