Come to discover Beaujolais, Mâconnais and the Rhône from this sumptuous retreat with a pool and heavenly views

Leave the car, everything is walkable & buses are practically free. Visit restaurants, vineyards & markets from your lofty village bolthole

Former blacksmith’s workshop in a chocolate-box corner of the New Forest, where clematis climbs the trellis and all you hear are the birds

Swim with frogs in the freshwater pool, breakfast in the sunshine, play boules by moonlight. Châteaux don't get much more rural

Family-run B&B in traditional trulli with hands-on hosts. Swim in the pool, explore the countryside, the coast is half an hour’s drive away

A cosy bolthole near Paris's best museums, monuments and churches. A peaceful sleep and simple buffet breakfast set you up for sightseeing

Loved by estate-workers, visitors, well-heeled locals, and walkers, this spruced-up pub is a friendly launchpad for Chatsworth

A small, trendy hotel, very much of its time, with oodles of style, stunning bedrooms and fantastic staff

Good old-fashioned service, fresh and gleaming surroundings, great food and very comfortable rooms at this rejuvenated roadside inn

A well-equipped cottage with a big beautiful garden and murmuring brook. Come for peace, wildlife, a welcome cocktail, and grand walking

A light and bright converted milking parlour in a rural idyll with a barbecue hut, a spa overlooked by horses and a shared hot tub

A grand old chartreuse, dating from 1649, with terrace, garden and pool surrounded by tranquil countryside and near a pretty village

Cosy country cottage for four on an organic farm in the Welsh borders. Wake to the sounds of birds and sheep, walk off supper on rural romps

Three eco-friendly, fully accessible timber-clad lodges and three cabins on a private, beautiful lake - a Sawday's Community Champion

A reader writes, 'This place turned out to be one of life's wonderful experiences - a beautiful setting, gorgeous food, kindest of hosts...'

Very relaxed B&B at this 17th-century country house just 5 minutes from the perched village of St-Paul-de-Vence and 10 from the sea

Flop in a hammock and be lulled by Mediterranean scents and breezes, relax in an ancient Trullo – come here for raw beauty not for frills

Come for the gorgeous, wild North York Moors and this very pretty 1911 stone cottage in the grounds of an elegant manor house