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

A very pretty old converted cart shed at the end of a track on an organic farm, surrounded by wildlife, birds and animals in the fields

A cosy, very comfortable stone cottage with fine views across the valley, just a couple of miles from the southern tip of Ullswater

Heaps to do on-site: organic farm shop & café, cookery & cheese-making courses, farm tours. A brilliant base for exploring the Cotswolds too

A unique 1900 house and garden on the edge of Lyon, steeped in history and authenticity – a beautiful home with museum-quality objects

Refined palazzo with a rooftop terrace near the historic centre of Ostuni. The Valle d’Itria region and the coast is on your doorstep

An elegant, super central bolthole for two (or three): stroll everywhere, hop on a vaporetto, sit in piazzas drinking cappuccino, live like a local

Beauty, charm and tranquillity an hour from Florence, on a bio-sensitive farm known for Chianina cattle and white truffles

This secluded New Forest inn is a magnet for families in summer: a good pint and the log fire make it a superb winter hideaway too

Come for wide open countryside criss-crossed by a myriad of footpaths and this very comfortable, stylish and roomy retreat

Stunning design and buzzing community vibe. This pod is for 4 (+ 2) and the lower floor is fully accessible - a Sawday's Community Champion

Perched on a hilltop in a nature reserve, two lovely places to stay. Hike and beach-hop all day before relaxing in the pool

A fuss-free, informal place to stay with family - your own entrance straight from the garden and tasty breakfasts set up in a summer house

A beautiful old farmhouse, carefully renovated with great authenticity and charm, surrounded by other farm buildings and a walled garden

For walkers and lovers of wildly beautiful coastal country: two cosy old cottages and a bright, modern renovation in a cluster with others

A renovated Dordogne farmhouse infused with new life, plus a saltwater pool, an ancient fig tree, and Lascaux on the doorstep

Swings, a terrace and pool in 2 acres ringed by fields and tranquility, and lakes and vineyards beyond. Family bliss in Quercy

A renovated bright apartment with lots of space, a hop, skip and jump away from the shingle beach of seaside-jolly Deal