Light-filled retreat full of character and vintage finds, with handmade touches and farm-fresh produce on your doorstep

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

11 rooms yet huge personality: travel mementoes, bright colours, local breakfasts... in a fun market town under the Cotswold escarpment

Lovely old manor house and clever garden with a relaxed, happy vibe and home-baked or homegrown treats on arrival and at breakfasts

A lovely 1650 Welsh longhouse, beamed and flagstoned with a verdant garden in a totally unspoilt spot in the Snowdonia National Park

Independent B&B in an ancient hamlet with modern interiors, immaculate bedrooms and a pleasant wooden terrace for sunny days

A beautifully converted building, part of an old mill, now a gorgeous place to stay with the stream running through and shared parkland

On the doorstop, Dovedale, Buxton, Chatsworth House... Come home to snooker, books, logs, a patio with views and masses of lovely space

Come for big skies, grand walking and hilly cycling. Style and comfort abound in this cottage set on the hillside with views to North Uist

A Regency farmhouse sitting in a wrap-around garden with views to mountain and sea for wonderful walking, cycling and swimming

Come to be doused in nature, tradition and rare Vino Santo at this soulful retreat, girded by orchards between the Dolomites and Lake Garda

Tranquil manor house deep in Bordeaux wine region with six acres of grounds, a tennis court and swimming pool

Plenty of uncluttered easy space both in and out by the private pool - children love the freedom - great wine, food, and cycling country

A big, homely farmhouse on the Umbria/Tuscany border for family holidays filled with sunshine, outdoor frolics and good food

Choose between airy bedrooms up an elegant stair, or magnificent rooms at garden-level with private terraces. Find sweetness and warmth

Immerse yourself, luxuriously, in beautiful rural Picardy – mirabelle jam, peaceful parkland, walking in the hills – near historic Amiens

For escapists, wannabe writers and lovers of rural bliss: two boho hideaways for two (four at a squeeze) in this lush corner of Galicia

Two elegant village houses for big happy gatherings of friends and family with a yoga studio, spacious courtyard and glistening pool