Come to shed your city cares, eat wonderful local food, spend time in simple, authentic surroundings and remind yourselves about serenity

Gite retreats in château grounds - welcoming and wonderful for young families. Build castles in the sandpit, make friends around the pool

A great base from which to explore beautiful Pembrokeshire - walk by the coast, take to the hills, check out ancient St Davids

Chatty Madame is a superb cook, and her pretty house and garden in a quiet Yvelines village are equally delicious. Zip to Paris by train

A romantic creekside cottage down a web of narrow lanes in a tumbling green valley – mess about on the water to your heart’s content

This friendly, Scottish island B&B has the Atlantic at the end of the garden and air so clean the lichen grows like beards from the trees

A family-run, environmentally friendly bistro with rooms near Grasmere: climb to the nearest viewing spot. Dogs welcome too

Come for deep beds, real fires, Scottish breakfasts, a generous welcome, great walking, cycle tracks and grand lochside views

An 1820s farmhouse at the end of a quiet road in the North York Moors National Park, overlooking a forest and surrounded by fields

On the doorstop, Dovedale, Buxton, Chatsworth House... Come home to snooker, books, logs, a patio with views and masses of lovely space

A serene retreat in a residential area of Ragusa, with the historic centre just a short distance. Enjoy pool, spa and gardens

Stylish interiors, beautiful rooms, lovely staff and wonderful food – all this in the Forest of Dean with great walking and cycling trails

Cast yourselves away to this beautiful island and a bright, spacious apartment with a rooftop terrace bang in the middle of the town square

Rural bliss at the end of the lane: a cottage for 2 with wine and local biscuits in the hamper and farmers’ markets within a 5-mile drive

Delightful B&B on a working farm, generous hosts welcome you with tea and homemade cake. Bring a piece of furniture and give it a facelift!

Immerse yourself in sentiment and romance at Valeria’s charming Veronese villa. The walls sing with framed opera programmes and music scores

Come for the rural charm of this cottage. Green as far as the eye can see, near a village surrounded by rivers. Wellies essential

Relaxed country-chic worthy of a photo shoot at these beautifully turned-out apartments in deep countryside... gaze on heaven from the pool