Wow. The sort of place you long for on dreary days - inspired architecture, heavenly views, delicious home-cooked food, a lake for swimming

Warmth and comfort on the Pink Granite Coast where the wind and waves lull you to sleep, and bedrooms overlook the cedars or the sea

A slice of rural heaven close to the Pembrokeshire coast - good rooms, hearty food, wonderful walks and beautiful beaches wait

A lovely old stone cottage in a group round a pretty courtyard, with your own private patio and seating area, on the Pink Granite Coast

Agriturismo at its best - delightful hosts, communal meals of superb home-grown food, homely rooms, a garden filled with fragrant flowers...

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

Glass-and-timber doors bathe you with light, gaze at big skies and the river Dart lapping. Sublime year round, it's one of our favourites

Stay in a celebrated French author’s holiday home, beautifully restored and tucked among pines next to one of Brittany's loveliest bays

Attractive country barn - great for two families sharing, for river trips, for playing in the pool, for running free

A very peaceful, family-run hotel on the shores of Lake Garda with rose and jasmine-scented gardens for summer dinners by candlelight

An 1820s farmhouse at the end of a quiet road in the North York Moors National Park, overlooking a forest and surrounded by fields

If you need a great place in which to relax and don’t want to pay too much for it, try these excellent suites, which spoil you all the way

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

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

Comfortable redbrick cottage with views on the Heydon Hall estate. It’s delightfully rural, yet close to Reepham for pubs and shops

Weaving medieval magic, this dreamy hideaway is an ideal base for nature-loving gourmands to explore the region

Three eco-friendly, fully accessible timber-clad lodges and three cabins on a private, beautiful lake - a Sawday's Community Champion

Understatedly stylish with French antiques, sofas and balconies overlooking town and gardens. A grown-ups' retreat, 200m from the ocean