A gorgeously tranquil place to escape to and fall in love with the Périgord's medieval villages, valleys, wines, markets and artisan farms

Charming trulli apartments promise rustic comfort and panoramic views (horses too). Perfectly placed for exploring the area

A bright and airy 50s townhouse in a residential suburb with large, light bedrooms and a sparkling pool – cycle into gorgeous countryside

A pretty stone single-storey house, now renovated beautifully into a comfortable hideaway with wonderful views to woodland and river

Get away from it all in 'old' France, where melons taste like melons & hikes start from the door. This rural bolthole is a serious treat

By a bubbling brook in the Mendips, close to Bath and Bristol, a wonderfully revived and welcoming inn with smart rooms and scrumptious food

Come for fine food and drink, sumptuous bedrooms and a relaxed, informal atmosphere at this gorgeous Cotswold manor house with ancient roots

One of five cottages on the Wern Estate, all comfort and charm, with a garden for kids, rockpools at Black Rock Sands and a mountain railway

A really friendly French family home, steeped in history and tradition with delicious home-grown food, a lovely garden and peaceful pool

Rustic, sophisticated, relaxed, charming… ancient Follonico is all these things, and gazes on the loveliest hills in Tuscany

An incredible living museum, dedicated to the history of Sicily and the arts. Stay in the main house or in a cottage in the fecund garden

Come for home-baked bread, eggs from the hens, arrays of fresh fruit, and fabulous river views... your hosts do lovely B&B

Perfect luxury in deepest Normandy: gorgeous gardens, a heavenly pool, and interiors worthy of an art gallery

Six cosy cottages for couples (babies and dogs welcome) on this gorgeous eco farm with enclosed gardens, a summer pool and treatments

A very tastefully restored old stone stable on a gloriously rural estate with woodland gardens, lake and a deer park

A traditional stone bergerie high on a hill and surrounded by woods with east-facing views over the valley for stunning sunrises

Jagged Dolomite peaks frame every view from this farmhouse with two neat apartments – come sun or snow, adventures in nature await

Ease through a beautiful wrought iron gate to a courtyard and an elegant 1700s creamy stone holiday house, part of the château estate