Loved by estate-workers, visitors, well-heeled locals, and walkers, this spruced-up pub is a friendly launchpad for Chatsworth

5 minutes from the Vatican in a tall palazzo above the British school. Owners share local tips, serve bakery-fresh breakfasts on the terrace

Come for strawberries in summer, walnuts in winter, and a wonderful welcome all year round. Thierry and Charlotte are living their dream

A beautiful house with Pyrenean views, generous hosts and wonderful hiking, biking and skiing nearby. A rare pearl

A gorgeous house with oodles of original features, a lovely garden and the owners' pub, farm shop, brewery and spa a short walk

Traditional beamed cottage, tucked in the hills, with views to distant beaches plus colourful gardens and a pool

Very relaxed B&B at this 17th-century country house just 5 minutes from the perched village of St-Paul-de-Vence and 10 from the sea

Bountiful breakfasts, the warmest of owners and Breton adventures. Enjoy romantic ruins, quaint villages and delicious seafood suppers

Heart-soaring Pyrenean views, animals roaming, natural materials in simple rural rooms, organic food: it’s a superbly welcoming eco-lodge

A beautifully curated 1910 architect-designed summerhouse, filled with light and stunning views, with gardens, grove and refreshing pool

An exquisite, serene B&B with sweeping views, tucked between hills, vineyards and meadows and the ancient remains of a Benedictine abbey

Get away from it all in 'old' France, where melons taste like melons & hikes start from the door. This rural bolthole is a serious treat

A warm and convivial place steeped in French history with an interesting, kind host who really looks after you. Under an hour from Paris too

A dear little gingerbread-style house in the prettiest part of the estate with your own pontoon and boat on the edge of a shimmering lake

A heartwarming 250-year-old pub with roaring fires in the flagged bar, attractive bedrooms and a special welcome for children and dogs

Glorious airy living space in this superbly restored barn, a terrace with long views and a pool across the garden - bikes to borrow too

A gracious 17th-century manor house and a pretty Grange hidden down a tree-lined drive and with stunning views over woodlands

Comfortable apartment steeped in Breton history, in a beautifully renovated gabarier’s house overlooking the marine estuary