A heavenly setting for this very well-hidden cottage with its own small pool, amazing views and delightful pebble beach below

On top of sand dunes, this bright and airy cottage has glorious views, walks are lovely and you can bring your dog

A cosy bolt hole near medieval Cartmel with woods, meadows and wildlife – great for walkers in this quiet part of the South Lakes

Families and walkers will be happy at this unfussy seaside retreat with beaches down the road and coastal paths right by your door

Magical for nature lovers, with wraparound views to the coastline of Skye. Inside: warmth, luxury and not a whisper from the wildest gale

Technically in Florence yet immersed in the Tuscan hills: easy comfort, country character, warm wonderful hosts, heavenly views

Winter fires, a summer pool, and gorgeous food all year round... Live slow in the hills of

An island of oyster farms, salt pans and white beaches, woolly donkeys, countless push-bikes and the odd celeb – we love the Ile de Ré!

An historic, moated manor house dating from the 16th-century, fully restored and with all mod cons, including an indoor heated pool

This 300-year-old Cotswold pub, the hub of picture-book Sapperton from which there are glorious walks, is a superb place to eat and stay

Quaint barns dotted among truffle oaks and rosemary, each one constructed the old-fashioned way and close to the Dordogne and Vézère

A 1980s Catalan mas built in a traditional style, with garden and pool, surrounded by olive trees and vineyards near the Spanish border

A newly-renovated barn in a picturesque Cotswold village with an enclosed front garden and the river Eye at the bottom of the drive

A gorgeous apartment in the heart of a Jacobean-style manor house with sweeping views over woodlands and the wonderful gardens

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

A babbling brook, the sound of birdsong and centuries of history steeped into the walls of this medieval barn, plus a heated indoor pool

Like staying in a family home, only with Henri III furniture and rolling green views. Energetic hosts cook, farm, hunt, chat over champagne

Rare as a bird, a proper old fashioned French inn on the side of the road in a sleepy village, a restoration project for the new owners