A 17th-Century Irish castle on the water’s edge. Watch the yachts from your bedroom, join local wine nights, discover the rich history

Tucked down a private driveway, this restored 19th-century farm building offers superb breakfasts, well-dressed beds and a beautiful garden

Drink a toast to your good fortune as you gaze across to Elba from a vast free-standing bath. You breakfast on the view-filled terrace

Stay in a celebrated French author’s holiday home, beautifully restored and tucked among pines next to one of Brittany's loveliest bays

Feel like a film star in this fun, 50s-inspired former chapel with its own record collection; walk to the coast path or the friendly local

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

Come for summer breakfasts of pastries fresh from the local bakery, afternoons reading by the pool and long, lazy lunches

Elegant country château with a family feel, for big groups with or without children, and those who seek inspiration

A striking cabin, drenched in light, with views over open countryside to the Sugar Loaf in the distance

An exquisitely restored 500-year-old inn, where the accent is very much on food, reared and grown nearby and with very comfortable rooms

A very thoughtful and peaceful house with a garden for happy holidays with family or friends, surrounded by glorious countryside for walks

Stylish hotel for couples and families on the side of a peaceful Cotswold hill with big views, a choice of rooms and a 500-acre estate

Outside a perfect bastide village, an elegant manoir for lazy days in the Dordogne, fabulous dinners and glorious gardens

Leave crowds behind for this charming stone farmhouse in the olive groves of rural Umbria – bring friends and have it all to yourselves

Wonderful views of the Cantabrian Sea, locally sourced food and fine bedrooms at a boutique hotel on the Asturian coast

A lovely old stone house with a covered veranda and sparkling pool in a small hilltop hamlet overlooking a lush forested valley

Two duplex apartments filled with art and sculptures inside a beautiful 18th-century orangery, minutes from magnificent Versailles

A very comfortable and attractive 1820 gate lodge surrounded by mature trees on a family estate, in gently rolling countryside