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

Two villas on opposite shores of a big lily-covered lake, fed with natural spring water from the Ticino river and surrounded by gardens

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

The Gautiers have the finest sense of how to treat guests: dreamy bedrooms, fantastic food & the pool beneath the orange trees is a delight

Stay in the very first holiday let in the history of this lovely little hamlet of nine houses, with a superb sailing club and a decent pub

A quirky, colourful house with views to the Aveyron river, green forests and stunning cliffs across the valley. A short stroll into town

The perfect country cottage made of pretty Quercy stone, with generously sized rooms and outside dining with gorgeous rural views

An ancient inn, spruce and restorative, in a picture-perfect village with open fires, tasty food and stylish, comfortable bedrooms

A lovely restored house on a farm beside a cluster of ancient buildings surrounded by lush forest and grasslands – a deeply rural spot

Drink a toast to your good fortune as you gaze across to Elba from a vast free-standing bath. You breakfast on the view-filled terrace

Come for a bright, roomy, uber-green and accessible larch-clad space with garden and pond in pretty countryside

A classic period property right on the river, perfectly placed to explore the delights of nearby Marlborough

Two cottages for couples: one more traditional, the other fresh and modern, both comfortable and romantic and there's a good pub next door

A stylish, canal-side inn – you get Sunday lunch, tow paths that lead into Edinburgh, then a pretty garden and cute rooms

An 18th-century limestone barn, now a quiet hideaway for a group of friends or family in a very rural spot surrounded by fields and woods

Chocolate-box cottages in deepest Normandy, owned by bright young things with a passion for organic cuisine and the good life

Cosy Lakeland stone barn in acres of peaceful countryside for walkers, wildlife lovers and those wishing for a retreat

Enjoy warmth, comfort and some jolly good food at this family-run village inn with inviting bedrooms – a haven for weary walkers