Near lively Lyon, this handsome family house is perfect for a Zen-like escape with delicious vegetarian meals and well-travelled hosts

A stunning château with huge rooms, pretty balconies with views, peaceful garden. Super owners, excellent dinners - and child-friendly too

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

Stylish apartment overlooking a vibrant market in the old city, with restaurants and historic attractions in easy walking distance

In a chocolate-box village just an hour on the train, and a short hop in a taxi, from London is this foodie inn with pretty bedrooms

A small, delightful hotel, perched on a high hill within a 14th-century convent with stunning views, garden and pool - very special indeed

Crackling fires in winter, croquet in the summer. Life ticks by peacefully - rooms are engagingly old-fashioned, the garden is much-loved

Chocolate-box cottages in deepest Normandy, owned by bright young things with a passion for organic cuisine and the good life

A very grand façade for this handsome Charente village house with a beautiful, peaceful garden, creamy stone walls and olive trees

Be inspired by owner Oriane's interiors, explore the region’s famous markets, and soak up the charm of the Perche countryside

A striking 19th-century landmark deep in ancient woodland, reborn as a pub with beautifully restored rooms just a short hop from London

Friendly hosts, lovely log fires, delicious dinners, interesting antiques – and Frederick’s special tours of a WWI memorial site

Three restful B&B apartments, unique and stylish with communal spaces, wellbeing and healing, delicious home-cooked food

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

A Victorian house on a 5000 acre estate, snazzily renovated and tucked down a track with a private lake, in the quieter part of Cumbria

Feel at ease in a lovely old townhouse filled with pictures and personality and including a separate loft apartment

A sculptor's studio, flooded with light, converted into a restful holiday home surrounded by glorious countryside, near Totnes

Built in 1518 to gaze across the Loire to Amboise and decorated with discreet elegance and respect for its history. Guests love it