A truly authentic place to stay on a Sicilian working farm with roaming hens, wheat fields, wild flowers and a distant view of the sea

Authenticity and originality combine at this family chateau with its panelled rooms, theatrical flourishes and charming candlelit dinners

A proper old-fashioned inn dating from the 1600s with beamed ceilings, low doorways and winding staircases up to comfortable bedrooms

A very pretty old coach house in a south London garden – perfect for a couple or a family. Friendly owners live across the courtyard

A cottage for two on a wonderfully eco wine school and vineyard. Gaze at magnificent views from your terrace

Beautifully connected, engagingly old-fashioned London pad, with a garden. Head out for Vauxhall Park, the Tate, Westminster...

A striking 200-year-old coaching inn in a sleepy village with a classic, traditional pub feel, superb food and wines, pretty bedrooms

Colourful coastal apartments and studios where you can be nicely independent, and enjoy a communal café and health club with Art Deco pool

The largest of three secluded cottages that share a gravel courtyard and a beautiful garden with cathedral views

A large, attractive 18th-century house with sweeping lawns, outdoor seating areas and two free-standing baths by an ivy-clad wall

Three beautiful apartments (one with a pool) within a stunning Tavira townhouse, designed by Manuel Aires Mateus and with gorgeous landscaping

Two family-friendly gites with gardens and a big pool, surrounded by corn fields and sunflowers, ideal for a larger family to take together

Bold, bright decor within the 19th-century walls of this pretty courtyard cottage, with a hot tub and long views over parkland and lake

A rather grand, opulent house with warm owners, interesting furniture and art and some fine Renaissance architectural elements intact

An ancient trullo saraceno, carefully restored and sitting in a huge swathe of nature, with a serene pool, gnarly olives and wide skies

Two cottages for couples: one more traditional, the other fresh and modern, both comfortable and romantic and there's a good pub next door

Overlooking Menton and the Mediterranean, this lofty apartment in a grand Belle Époque palace is perfectly placed to explore the Riviera

A modern take on an Iron Age roundhouse with stunning sea views in Scotland’s wild west, perfect for couples