A hilltop setting for this ancient fortress with an illustrious past. You stay in apartments or farmhouses inside or outside the walls

A destination for epicurians who also want exquisite surroundings and comfortable bedrooms. A charming garden too with a very French feel

Vast rooms, thick stone walls and ancient flagged floors skilfully modernised to create comfort, surrounded by romantic château gardens

A romantic creekside cottage down a web of narrow lanes in a tumbling green valley – mess about on the water to your heart’s content

This deeply peaceful retreat will soothe the soul; come to walk, bike, sail then back to a roaring fire and good book. A sublime spot

A smart village local with original timber frames, a lively bar, elegant rooms and delicious food from the fields around you

A cosy cottage on a farm down a long winding track, wonderfully rural with footpaths across fields or along the canal

Be spoiled in this large stone house, with sumptuous bedrooms, thoughtful breakfasts and a verdant garden, just minutes from the city

Kate makes you feel at home the moment you enter her great big beloved house - full of books, guitars and a piano, antiques and huge spaces

A smartly refurbished 500-year-old coaching inn with very comfortable bedrooms, good food and the Peak District at your feet

Birders will love escaping up here, golfers too - visit Hatfield House, Knebworth, Cambridge - come back to a good local pub and a comfy bed

An exquisite Provençal home for a large party, hidden behind grand gates in a small village surrounded by the pine-scented Alpilles

Stay on a secluded private estate by the sea - once the home of the brilliant French writer, Colette

After trekking Offa's Dyke, return to a cosy wood-burner stocked with logs and a sumptuous bed - you'll love this country retreat for two

Tradition and comfort on the border with Wales, a welcoming country-house hotel with warm rooms, pretty gardens and delicious food

An exquisite Provençal home for a large party, hidden behind grand gates in a small village surrounded by the pine-scented Alpilles

A sumptuous spot with luxurious touches at every turn in beautiful Moneglia - far removed from its monastic roots. Opulent and romantic

Former blacksmith’s workshop in a chocolate-box corner of the New Forest, where clematis climbs the trellis and all you hear are the birds