Gloriously green rural self-catering apartments with pool and lovely, friendly owners

A light, spacious house sitting on a nature reserve for very comfortable stays and magnificent birdwatching, walking, cycling, riding

Come to a gorgeous bolthole, just for two, in a sleepy riverside village with the delights of the Corrèze at your feet

Come for lots of space and a lawn for sunny days at this 19th-century farm cottage deep in the Perthshire hills near the Meikleour Arms

Superb architecture & design reflect the industrial past, present and future in this cutting-edge pod for 2 - a Sawday's Community Champion

Beautiful views over Bantry Bay from this thoughtfully restored house with stylish rooms, gardens and woodland – a wonderful escape

Fabulous Drôme gîtes: contemporary in old stone buildings, uncluttered, fresh. Take all 5 for a party, laze by pool, doze in lavender

In the glorious Howardian Hills, a homely cottage with an open fire for chilly nights and a lovely, country-style kitchen filled with light

An elegant, historical building in the heart of Catania - an intimate hotel, yet grand with gorgeous architecture and a wonderful welcome

An exquisite, serene B&B with sweeping views, tucked between hills, vineyards and meadows and the ancient remains of a Benedictine abbey

Comfortable, traditional, accessible and in the grounds of an old rectory with meadows and the river Frome nearby for summer dips

A cottage in a conservation village with logs in the burner, sloe gin on the table, and a good dining pub you can walk to

Come here in the summer (it’s closed Nov-April except by arrangement) for candlelit dining, chintzy bedrooms, long views over the park...

Four pretty cottages with private terraces, a shared garden and muted interiors inspired by Norfolk’s landscapes. A short drive to the coast

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

A delight to stay in this 1880s croft house on the quieter west coast - fabulous vegetarian and vegan food, thoughtful rooms, lovely owners

Pluck grapes, splash in the child-shallow pool and explore the ‘Yorkshire of Italy’ with rolling green hills and conical trulli

A lovely little bolthole to return to after days out exploring pretty Cotswold villages and walking in an AONB straight from the door