10 minutes from La Rochelle, a place of peace and style. From scrumptious breakfasts to a splash in the pool, your hosts are eager to please

Victorian country house for 8-15 with gardens overlooking the Howgill Fells for happy reunions with family and friends

Two villas on opposite shores of a big lily-covered lake, fed with natural spring water from the Ticino river and surrounded by gardens

A hammock by the pool, dinner under the stars, Andalucian nature (wild boar, birds, olives) all around. Chatty English hosts charm all

A hugely seductive and stylish special place - with magnificent views, pool and bikes, vineyards and hilltop villages to visit

Your own cottage sitting room downstairs and a swish bedroom up – breakfast in the courtyard before venturing forth to discover Canterbury

An elegant townhouse made up of two apartments on a lively piazza a short stroll from the sea. Live like a local in pretty Monopoli

A 15th-century Venetian palazzo, lovingly restored with stylish rooms overlooking the Grand Canal and a designer's insight into the city

A renovated, comfy Victorian cottage behind a small village pub, a hub for the local community and with good food, ales and wine

Unwind comfortably here with views to the crystal-clear lake, surrounded by forest trails and meadows for wonderful walking and cycling

Three eco-friendly, fully accessible timber-clad lodges and three cabins on a private, beautiful lake - a Sawday's Community Champion

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

You're overlooking the main square in medieval Umbertide from this cosy, second-floor apartment, so you'll feel very much like a local

An elegant townhouse, built in 1830 and once the sous-préfecture for Rochefort, with spacious, light-filled rooms and a garden with pool

A period manor and pretty rooms in old stables: a quiet base for Pas-de-Calais and Picardie. Madame loves the house, animals, story-telling

Magnificent house with old-fashioned charm and gardens leading down to the Beaulieu River – take the footpath to Beaulieu or Bucklers Hard

Come for huge skies, birds and wildlife, rare flora and fauna, precious pingo ponds and a comforting retreat from the hectic whirl

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