Hilltop château on the edge of a small village half an hour from Saint-Émilion, with a lovely garden, a swimming pool and two lakes

Enjoy the wine festival, cycling and hiking in spring and early summer, the truffles in November, and warm hospitality all year round

Once a pub, now a friendly home, with all you need for a market town break. Park the car (or leave at home) – everything is on the doorstep

An architect-designed bolthole with two art galleries, a restaurant, studios and a paper mill by the seaside - a Sawday’s Community Champion

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

Sumptuous rooms with Renaissance-inspired art, infinity pool and gardens, just a short drive to Mantua’s historic city centre

Get to know Lisbon with ease from this generous and comfortable townhouse hotel bang in the middle of the city centre

Come to walk, cycle, fish and hunker down in style in front of the wood-burner - sleep in deep comfort in a lovingly converted barn

Take a suite with champagne, strawberries and a tower, swim in the saltwater pool, eat a Castilian cocido - unwind in rural peace!

Tucked at the bottom of a long track and surrounded by a gorgeous natural landscape, is this generous end-slice of a 17th-century stone farm

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

Cosy apartment for two in a cluster of farm buildings near Hawkshead, surrounded by countryside and with a good pub a stroll away

Come on down to the farm and this wonderful eco conversion of an ancient piggery with heavily beamed ceilings and much warmth and comfort

A serene riverside retreat on the Lot, with manicured gardens and a shared pool, tennis court and children's playground for socialising

A serene atmosphere prevails in this old Yorkshire stone inn, carefully curated to induce a zen-like calm. You're fed very well too

Explore woodlands, farmland and gardens, plunge into the heated pool, dine at Flora Restaurant at Trelowarren. This is civilized luxury

Set off on blissful walks, trek home to crumpets and tea. There’s no better place to escape the 21st century than rural Devon

A cosy cottage on a farm down a long winding track, wonderfully rural with footpaths across fields or along the canal