Designed with style and comfort, peaceful, sophisticated and serene with countryside views. And you have your own lovely pool

Elegant B&B tucked down a quiet alleyway close to St Mark’s Square, with friendly hosts and a rooftop offering spectacular views of the city

Two family-friendly gites (big groups can take both) with beautiful gardens, sparkling pool, activities for children and peace for parents

Welcoming, dog-friendly pub with food to rave about, cracking countryside views and very comfortable bedrooms

Come down to the Meon Valley and be (very gently) nudged towards a better way of living - a Sawday's Community Champion

Escape to your own barn. Brimming with beams and natural colours - surrounded by peaceful lavender-filled gardens and corn fields

Gorgeous rooms and splendid breakfasts – for sybarites, history-lovers, cyclists and canoeists - bang in the middle of ancient Long Melford

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

Atmospheric English pub with rooms by the green with its duck ponds in a pretty village, with walking and cycling routes to join

Comfortable apartment steeped in Breton history, in a beautifully renovated gabarier’s house overlooking the marine estuary

Three tranquil apartments in the Ria Formosa nature reserve with a stunning natural pool, near to a village and sandy beaches

Rural bliss at the end of the lane: a cottage for 2 with wine and local biscuits in the hamper and farmers’ markets within a 5-mile drive

Up at the top of Scotland’s west coast, a small, stylish and welcoming hotel with lovely owners and some nicely priced rooms

Something to astound at every turn where the traditional and downright quirky collide to stunning effect. Friendly, flexible hosts too

Come for lots of space and a lawn for sunny days at this 19th-century farm cottage deep in the Perthshire hills near the Meikleour Arms

This small hotel with pool has elegant communal spaces, spoiling bedrooms, kind staff, delicious food and panoramic mountain views

Bring boots, maps, your dog and an appetite for high places and deep comfort in this restored farm conversion

A beautifully restored cottage in a rustic-chic style, set above the dramatic Gorges de l’Aveyron; perfect for couples or families of four