A swish and very generous eco barn with a wood-fired hot tub and a view-filled deck close to fabulous walking in the Dales or the Lakes

Float in the infinity pool above the canyon, dine under the stars, revel in the silence, head to the Cavagrande di Cassibile Nature Reserve

Come to shed your city cares, eat wonderful local food, spend time in simple, authentic surroundings and remind yourselves about serenity

Lovely old house with award-winning restaurant and indoor swimming pool. Sleeps up to 18 so just the ticket for a big family gathering

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

You have your own entrance to a private wing with a garden and an elegant sitting room. Bedrooms are beautiful and breakfast scrumptious

An old sporting lodge in Argyll renovated with sensitivity – fish in the river, gaze at the night skies, climb Ben Udlaidh

Music evenings, pop-up theatre nights and great food at the Sash brasserie. You’re just a stroll from shops and bars

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

Rural peace just an hour from London in your own gorgeous converted hay barn, ten minutes from Alton

A smartly refurbished village pub with its own micro-brewery and a huge emphasis on cooking great food from a network of local suppliers

Take a suite with champagne, strawberries and a tower, swim in the saltwater pool, eat a Castilian cocido - unwind in rural peace!

A cosy, very comfortable stone cottage with fine views across the valley, just a couple of miles from the southern tip of Ullswater

Come for a quintessentially English country cottage tucked down a village path with wisteria in the garden and a short walk to a foodie pub

An elegant townhouse made up of two apartments on a lively piazza a short stroll from the sea. Live like a local in pretty Monopoli

Come for a spot of indulgence, with seriously good food and wine, oodles to do in the courtyard, great bedrooms and a cool spa for a splurge

What a surprise to find a masseria in the heart of a Puglian village. Welcome to Anna’s elegant agriturismo