Sublime views across the Tuscan countryside, seasonal food and the kindest host. Children are welcome, oenophiles will be in heaven

A very attractive stone building on a smallholding with all mod cons, a bedroom for stargazing, Guest Farm Shop and pretty communal gardens

A charming house in a lush green setting, secluded and quiet and with stunning views of the Tramuntana mountains and Fornalutx village

5 houses near Siena to make design-lovers happy; come for the rural solitude of ancient stone farm buildings with urban interiors

Elegant farmhouse B&B. Drawing room with a log fire, generous breakfasts with home produce, cookery courses and friendly welcoming hosts

A lovingly restored ancient farmhouse surrounded by wildlife-rich countryside just two miles from stunning beaches – a place to mend

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

Snug, simple and delightful casitas with private entrances and courtyards interlink for groups. Stroll through the olives, bask by the pool

An artist's house imbued with an understated elegance. Stay for dinner; be charmed by the garden where fruit trees throng, hens loiter

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

Welcome to an immaculate and historic retreat with private gardens, ten minutes from the Finistère coast (and oysters!)

Spacious rooms and a cosy apartment a stone’s throw from Avignon’s historic sights. Retire to the heated pool after a busy day sightseeing

Just below the Tuscan town of Massa Marittima, an agriturismo loved by sporty types and families, with wonderful food on site

A majestic renovation of a Victorian 'model' farm with underfloor heating, open plan design, light bright lines and not a whiff of IKEA

Come for hearty Lakeland adventures, pretty towns and villages, and a rather special stay in this warm and welcoming country inn

A honey-hued stone farmhouse or a stylish cottage – both are deep in delicious countryside with lovely walks by the rambling river

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

Comfortable apartment steeped in Breton history, in a beautifully renovated gabarier’s house overlooking the marine estuary