Like staying in a family home, only with Henri III furniture and rolling green views. Energetic hosts cook, farm, hunt, chat over champagne

Completely refurbished 18th-century roadside inn with special views, good food, restful bedrooms and all the benefits of Another Place

An adorable little 1800s cottage with a garden – simple, unpretentious and filled with the owner's colourful art on walls and lampshades

A joy for foodies, peace seekers and lovers of period architecture… note the Honduran mahogany banister with inlaid jet and pearl

On its own wooded estate, a special manor house of character. Art on the walls, maps and wellies to borrow, gardens to romp in, super views

Ensconce yourselves in the Black Périgord and stay in the East Wing of a 16th-century castle with private garden and surrounding parkland

A clutch of airy properties, most with their own jasmine-scented terraces arranged around a funky pool

An 18th-century beamed inn with tasty food, pretty bedrooms and a large garden just a ten-minute drive from Chichester

From the delicious scented garden with its limestone pool to the cool rooms with perfect linen, this is a place for a special occasion

Orchards and ducks, open fires, deep comfort in glorious Wiltshire countryside. Courtyard bedrooms and lovely big kitchen too

In peaceful walled gardens, this former convent is a quiet retreat just a stone’s throw from the Riviera coast and the best of Tuscany

Sumptuous bedrooms and delicious breakfasts at these two magnificent wings in glorious gardens and grounds next to the castle

Peaceful, traditional country house just 2 miles from central Dorking. Relaxed hosts, good food, beautiful gardens, walks galore - a retreat

A comfortable and characterful 1775 gatekeeper's lodge on the Mount Congreve Estate with access to the magnificent gardens

A cool converted barn on an organic farm near Brittany’s loveliest beaches, with a kitchen garden and play area, perfect for foodie families

An 18th-century chapel in the heart of the village with stone mullioned windows, bakery, wine shop and art gallery – a bustling hub

Fragrant gardens full of fruit trees, a lovingly renovated house just a few minutes’ walk from the village, and excellent breakfasts