After a bountiful breakfast of Loch Fyne kippers and homemade scones, head for Oban, gateway to the isles. Return to a dram by the fire

A charming inn on the village green with beautiful interiors - you’ll find low ceilings, pretty rooms and a fire that burns on cold days.

Come for dreamy river views, a lovely garden and this bolthole for two, beautifully renovated inside and out and with a private hot tub

Welcome to a beautiful space for six in Sicily’s chocolate capital - baroque jewel Modica. Laze in the garden, dip into the pool

Superbly comfortable house with beamed rooms, lovely views, club-like morning room, antiques, terrace, pool, fitness centre and lily pond

A deliciously rural stone house with charmingly simple rustic-chic interiors and saline pool - an hour from Perugia

Delicious vegetarian cooking, a pool, lemon groves and hazy views of the Hyblaean mountains make a perfect escape near Cassibile

Sleek, smart apartments on the first floor of a 19th-century building in Verona's most fashionable residential/commercial neighbourhood

Gather your favourites for a getaway in deepest France. Bike the countryside, dip in the heated pool and sprawl out in this inviting space

Towering 5 storeys above lively Palermo, a gracious B&B with sunlit rooms, lovely Sicilian hosts and breakfast in fine china on the terrace

Everything you’d want of a lovely country inn – pretty rooms, tasty food, local ales in a beamed bar and fabulous walking

In pretty Vernon, a peaceful and comfortably large townhouse with roses rambling around the door

Escape to the heart of the Haute-Savoie and this impressive château near Annecy, Mont Blanc and Lake Geneva

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

Three tranquil apartments in the Ria Formosa nature reserve with a stunning natural pool, near to a village and sandy beaches

A lovely old house and rambling garden in a medieval village with a monumental château, 12th-century church and a good local restaurant

A cluster of traditional farm buildings making up three holiday cottages in very attractive grounds with fruit trees, meadows and woodland

Wood-burners, water sports and wildlife at four cosy farm conversions a half mile from their own quay. Wild swimming and barbecues await