A stunning château with huge rooms, pretty balconies with views, peaceful garden. Super owners, excellent dinners - and child-friendly too

Smart, spacious house for 12 with great views over the family vineyard - arrange a tasting, walk the Cotswold Way, cycle the canal towpath

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

Gorgeous old pile in five acres of blissful country between the Dales and the Lakes - it’s super relaxed and perfect for everybody

What a setting! Gentle terraces, gardens, meadows and jaw-dropping views of Mont Blanc - just metres from Courmayeur

Great gulps of ozone will engulf you at this architect-designed 1960s beach house - light, bright and sparkling, just like the ocean

A pretty upside-down cottage, formerly a dovecote, lovingly restored with sustainability the focus

Portuguese elegance, artistic décor, breakfast on a fountain'd patio or by the fire: a treat. Step out to a kaleidoscope of Lisbon city life

An ancient stone cottage on an organic winery with vines as far as the eye can see, chickens wandering, horses grazing and huge open skies

A scented garden, delicious local delicacies and those coastal landscapes. This place is a sensory feast

A compact eco-serene bolthole in bustling Modica's historic heart with glorious views over the baroque rooftops. Beaches are 20 minutes away

Up in the Cévennes, this big, beautiful family house has superb views, a fine kitchen, lots of space and masses to do and see

A medieval monastery, stunningly revived, in untouristy, car-free Pisciotta. Sip greco on the terrace; scramble through olives to the sea

A sweet, very private-feeling annexe in the glorious South Hams with your own west-facing garden

A grand, 16th-century Breton château complete with dovecote, turret and chapel surrounded by 50 acres of parkland, woods and small lake

Magical for nature lovers, with wraparound views to the coastline of Skye. Inside: warmth, luxury and not a whisper from the wildest gale

Three immaculate rooms in a 17th-century building; step out onto winding streets lined with trattorias, boutiques, fountains and monuments

A light, bright, art-filled space with private garden on a quiet residential street just a short walk from shops, markets and good food