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

Between Florence and Siena, stay in one of five stylish apartments on a family-run agriturismo; they delight in sharing this slice of heaven

Step into a place full of life, colour, texture and clever design surrounded by beautiful gardens and lakes

An elegantly renovated coaching inn with inspired design, beautifully simple pub food, tempting ales and gloriously comfortable bedrooms

Grand, elegant, sumptuous – a bucolic bolthole for happy holidays in much comfort, with stunning green views to lake and deer park

Stunning Tuscan views over the Tiber valley from the gorgeous pool and gardens and very comfortable living spaces at this home-from-home

Come for a village feel, rural peace and boundless Portuguese countryside at this charming whitewashed home with a super terrace with views

Up, up and away to this stunning cottage perched 1400 feet high in the National Park with big skies, grand walks and much comfort indoors

A very special renovation of a 12th-century convent, now an elegant, tranquil place to stay with beautiful, bird-filled gardens

A really well thought-out escape for a small family with children. A big garden, pool, petanque court and play barn for indoor fun

A real treat to stay in this elegant 18th-century house with pampering bedrooms, gorgeous home-cooked food and stunning gardens with pool

Feel right at home in a thatched farmhouse on South Pool Creek, with cottage garden views, great breakfasts and a good local pub

A peaceful spot for this beautifully restored old barn surrounded by lovely gardens and a sparkling pool on the banks of the Dordogne river

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

Adorable cottage with a Highland lodge feel – walk straight into the hills, swim in the Spey, relax in the whisky room and sitooterie

A converted coach house and stables, now one long cottage with much space, a country house feel and your own walled garden

A privilege to be able to stay within the famous gardens of magnificent Château de Courances. The painter's village of Barbizon is nearby

Gather your favourites for a getaway in deepest France. Bike the countryside, dip in the heated pool and sprawl out in this inviting space