Great taste – in decor and food – and a delicious heated pool. Views swoop over field and valley; trails, villages, wineries tempt

A small, rural cottage high in the wooded hills with long views, your own private pool, utter peace and quiet and a superb restaurant nearby

Stunning views from sunny bedrooms. Delightful lively hosts, good breakfasts with homemade jams, colour galore in the acre of garden

On a farmstead near Ronda where views stretch for miles are 2 houses, one old, one new, brilliant for families, sharing a fabulous pool

The Gautiers have the finest sense of how to treat guests: dreamy bedrooms, fantastic food & the pool beneath the orange trees is a delight

A tranquil and tucked-away feel for this terraced cottage with private patio, communal garden and plenty of room for six

Between Paris and Rouen, a handsome country house in Monet scenery. Cows graze, bedrooms soothe, friendships bud over bountiful breakfasts

A renovated, comfy Victorian cottage behind a small village pub, a hub for the local community and with good food, ales and wine

Once a shooting lodge, this stand-alone big building was part of a medieval estate and you can still see the grassy mount and dungeon tower

Two homely gîtes sleeping 4 and 2 in rural farm country. Walk to the bakery; drive 15 minutes to Saint-Malo and riverside restaurants

In a profoundly peaceful spot between arty St Ives and stunning Marazion, a hideaway for two surrounded by gardens and parkland

Canoeing on the Tamar, valley walks galore, with the woodland garden a sea of daffodils in the spring. A magical self-catering hideaway

Three simple, traditional apartments in an ancient convent building with a beautiful botanical garden in the heart of the historic centre

Steeped in history and romance, with a great big sleigh bed and open fires, is this 14th-century defence tower above the river Tweed

The views take your breath away, the breakfasts are beautiful, and you feel like you're staying in the home of dear friends

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

A quintessential Grade II listed thatched cottage with glorious gardens near a 13th-century church and surrounded by rolling hills

A hammock by the pool, dinner under the stars, Andalucian nature (wild boar, birds, olives) all around. Chatty English hosts charm all