Great taste – in decor and food – and a delicious heated pool. Views swoop over field and valley; trails, villages, wineries tempt

Glorious boutique hotel on the Sorrento Peninsula with Michelin-starred restaurant and superb cellar to explore

Two family-friendly gites with gardens and a big pool, surrounded by corn fields and sunflowers, ideal for a larger family to take together

You’re right in the midst of Portuguese life here: cafés, shops and restaurants buzz and there are panoramic views from the roof terrace

Dreamy, languid beauty at this spacious, airy, arty house with garden and pool in typical Pugliese countryside

Soak up Provençal peace in a charming estate in the Alpilles, with stylish ground-floor B&B rooms, olives, vines and a friendly family dog

This old stone building, a former olive warehouse, is beautifully restored and sits on its own – a simple bolthole for rest and recuperation

Historic village inn with wonderful cooking and a Provençal-style courtyard garden; drive to the Jurassic Coast in half an hour

A luxurious springboard for the wineries, villages and treasures of south Tuscany in the magical Orcia valley - if you can bear to leave it!

Grand and old and filled with history, the estate and such a pretty house are a tonic, as are the well-tended grounds and parkland

Stylish B&B rooms in a peaceful little château, amongst rolling hills, woods and farmland - bikes and boules to borrow, lovely pool to share

An attractive, sympathetic barn conversion, full of light, pleasingly uncluttered and hidden down a lane in stunningly beautiful countryside

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

This is a superb base to explore the island's glittering bays, vibrant coastal cities, mountains, valleys and forests

A destination B&B. Hunker down in thoroughly spoiling surroundings with delightful owners near St Jean de Luz, Biarritz and Bayonne

A family retreat high above the river Dordogne and deep in woodland - with heated pool, games room and village restaurants a stroll away

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