Grade II-listed country hotel with lovely gardens and an excellent restaurant, a short walk from Ambleside and the top of Lake Windermere

Family-friendly hotel on Ullswater with a pool and a variety of bedrooms, some super-cool - swim in the lake, walk in the hills, eat well

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

A beautiful little collection of trulli near the Valle d’Itria – restored with flair and with gardens, woods and pool

One of five cottages on the Wern Estate, all comfort and charm, with a garden for kids, rockpools at Black Rock Sands and a mountain railway

Light-filled gites share a lovely pool, with pétanque, ping-pong and bikes to borrow – bring friends and take all three

A pretty cottage in the grounds of an 18th-century house in the heart of southern Burgundy, with stunning gardens and a shared pool

Your own apartment in a listed manor house with lovely light rooms and stunning grounds with views over farmland to the coast and Lundy

Small country hotel in a riverside setting near Giverny, with a superb restaurant and a charming village a few minutes’ walk away

With Snowdonia on the doorstep and the Menai Strait at your feet, this handsome Welsh manor has history, heritage and heavenly views

A beautiful villa with a medieval tower surrounded by formal gardens, gentle slopes of perfectly maintained vineyards and wooded hilltops

Chatty Madame is a superb cook, and her pretty house and garden in a quiet Yvelines village are equally delicious. Zip to Paris by train

Sit back and relax at this luxuriously elegant grand manor in the heart of the Dordogne with a concierge service to take care of everything

A lovely old stone house with a covered veranda and sparkling pool in a small hilltop hamlet overlooking a lush forested valley

Come to this cosy barn down a winding lane for a back-to-nature escape: hike the Black Mountains, splash in the stream, gaze at the views

High in the Tuscan hills, at the end of an avenue of cypresses, surrounded by parkland and acres of olives... a 13th-century dream

A townhouse with a walled garden by the church in a peaceful village where friendly Scottish owners feed and look after you well

A harmonious B&B in Chinon wine country. Home-cooked food, comfortable beds, easy conservations with your host and starry skies at night