Big house with bags of character and easy access to beaches, cafés and cobbled streets, coastal paths and hidden coves

Warm interiors, pretty bedrooms and excellent breakfasts – good value in a very handy central spot

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

Farmhouse B&B with thoughtful hosts and superb breakfasts; Michelin-star dining is in the village and thermal baths are near

A wonderfully simple and modern studio with stunning sea views in an almost Jurassic landscape, dotted with the owner's sculptures

Your host runs home and B&B with effortless efficiency and you'll find shiny, spotless rooms to retreat to after a day's exploring

Inspiring art-filled Menorcan townhouse in Mahón’s old quarter; explore the city, cycle or hike the island’s gorges and feast on seafood

A sweet little gîte for two in the centre of a dreamy medieval village. Happily private but with loads to explore from your door

Green and serene, a striking array of eco cottages on a family farm where style and comfort reign, close to the coast but far from the crowd

A superb palazzo in beautiful old Florence with 13 design rooms, a cocktail menu and breakfast in your room. Arty, stylish and near the Duomo

A stylish, canal-side inn – you get Sunday lunch, tow paths that lead into Edinburgh, then a pretty garden and cute rooms

Ascot is a trot down the road and there's a really cosy, cottagey feel to this quaint 18th-century inn with great food and comfy bedrooms

A summer hideaway by a lively Algarvian village with a pretty garden. Sundowners, a pool, massages, a BBQ and traditional bedrooms

Delicious vegetarian cooking, a pool, lemon groves and hazy views of the Hyblaean mountains make a perfect escape near Cassibile

The views are sensational, the bedrooms full of charm and higgledy-piggledy beams. Sip Perigord Noir on the terrace and amble to the market

An immaculately restored cottage with a blissful sun room, private terrace, gardens, pool and orchard for a warm and peaceful hideaway

A converted stable on a peaceful farm surrounded by acres of countryside - a Sawday's Community Champion