Airy interiors, good local food and a blissful rural setting for this refurbished inn, popular with locals and with a happy, bustling vibe

Tranquillity and comfort in a guesthouse in the Marche countryside - airy rooms for couples with huge windows onto good views

This is Somerset at its most quintessential: a thatched roofed, honey-coloured Hamstone cottage with a pretty courtyard garden; sleeps four

It's not often you get an entire hamlet to yourselves but here it is – 10 traditional stone houses with big communal spaces in rural bliss

Modest and authentic, a top-floor apartment in an eco-friendly Provençal farmhouse, with dogs and hens. River swims are a stroll away...

A self-catering apartment in the wing of a traditional Burgundian winemaker's house in a tiny hamlet, surrounded by fields of vines

The cottage looks down over Lough Swilly, idyllic for boats and safe swims... and the neighbours are friendly, just sheep and cows

Welcoming Julia fans passions for Arlesienne cuisine and culture in her art-stuffed Provence home where everything catches the eye!

A modern, architect-designed renovation of a 19th-century building, sitting in harmony with nature yet only a short drive from Bordeaux

A pretty upside-down cottage, formerly a dovecote, lovingly restored with sustainability the focus

A 17th-century traditional Welsh longhouse in a very sheltered spot facing south and with a pretty garden surrounded by fields and meadows

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

A dramatic transformation of an old shepherd's cottage deep on a remote hillside in Perthshire farmland with masses of space and light

Spend restful days in a verdant garden, slip into the cooling pool, sip wine on your private balcony, stroll into arty Benissa

Come for sea air, independent shops, great places to eat and this quirky cottage with plenty of room and a sunny walled garden

Three comfortable, modern apartments with private terraces, a lovely garden to wander, a pool, a vineyard and views of rolling hills

Beautifully refurbished inn with good food, calming rooms and the South Downs all around. Chichester, Petworth and Goodwood are close

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