Come for big, peaceful bedrooms with views, delicious home cooked breakfasts and riverside strolls through ancient beech woodland

A small, quirky country house hotel with lovely staff, pretty rooms and heavenly food served in a pillared dining room

A very special place to stay, immersed in the architecture and history of the city as well as its traditions, culture, food and wine

A small, rural cottage high in the wooded hills with long views, your own private pool, utter peace and quiet and a superb restaurant nearby

Gather family or friends and take both villa and cottage. The terraces and gardens have long views, the pool is roomy and the peace palpable

The views are breathtaking over forest and field from this lovely barn conversion on a working farm, for special gatherings

A grand place for up to 12 adventurous souls and the young at heart: swim, bob in a boat, hike and cycle or simply revel in the greenery and peace

Between Paris and Rouen, a handsome country house in Monet scenery. Cows graze, bedrooms soothe, friendships bud over bountiful breakfasts

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

A light-filled, modern house with wonderful sea views through vast picture windows stretching all the way to St Kilda on clear days

Immerse yourselves in the heather-clad peaks, moorland, glens and diverse wildlife of the magnificent Pentland Hills Regional Park

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

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

A fine old stone mill, the river rushing by, kingfishers, kayaking, swimming: it’s a dream place with Provence and the Cévennes at the door

Delightful almshouse, steeped in history, in a peaceful churchyard setting with far-reaching countryside views

Bags of character within and without at this four-storey village house with rooftop views over the mountains, next to a 12th-century church

A small, charming house with ravishing sea views within walking distance of a bohemian coastal village at the foot of the Teix mountain

Wonky floors and handmade beds in a restored coaching inn for 4, 6 or 8 - sociable evenings round the farmhouse table, walks from the door