A great base from which to explore beautiful Pembrokeshire - walk by the coast, take to the hills, check out ancient St Davids

Come on down to this working farm for delicious organic food, an on-site sourdough bakery and crisp bedrooms in a pretty farmhouse

What a setting! Gentle terraces, gardens, meadows and jaw-dropping views of Mont Blanc - just metres from Courmayeur

Rabid fans of smashing city breaks will flock to this oasis with gorgeous garden and pool in a quiet residential street near a big park

Pluck grapes, splash in the child-shallow pool and explore the ‘Yorkshire of Italy’ with rolling green hills and conical trulli

Warm family hospitality, magnificent surroundings, bedroom breakfasts, candlelit dinners and elegant windows overlooking the park

Peaceful Highland hideaway on a wooded lochside: spy dolphins and otters, stargaze, and soak up the deep silence

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

Welcome to a cosy, country-rustic bolthole for four, in a friendly, community village inn, with some of the best food in Shropshire

This eco-friendly farmhouse in the hills of Fiesole is 10km from Florence. Good company, superb views of Tuscany, and food for the soul!

Cosy 17th-century cottage in a village inland from Wells-next-the-Sea and with easy access to north Norfolk's main attractions

A traditional coaching inn dating from the 18th century with good food served in private and public dining rooms on the Wellington Estate

Chichester, blessed with a stunning natural setting, is great for a city break - and this Georgian coach house the perfect bolthole for 2

A chalet-with-everything: great mountain style, space and comfort with views of Mont Blanc, a sauna and bubbling hot tub

Sofas in front of the fire, English wines and local ales, ambrosial food and smart rooms, all a short stroll from Sissinghurst Castle

A lodge house in magnificent gardens, which are all yours when visitors leave. A sweet retreat for anyone, but gardeners will adore it

Former blacksmith’s workshop in a chocolate-box corner of the New Forest, where clematis climbs the trellis and all you hear are the birds

Swim with frogs in the freshwater pool, breakfast in the sunshine, play boules by moonlight. Châteaux don't get much more rural