Foodies will love the irresistible cooking - along with local wine and a typically Tuscan setting. Bedrooms are pretty

This famous old country house might not come cheap, but where else can you splash out in such decadent style for life’s big celebrations?

Feel like a film star in this fun, 50s-inspired former chapel with its own record collection; walk to the coast path or the friendly local

Come for the glorious Northumbrian countryside and a neat-as-a-pin cottage with much comfort and a private garden near to the coast

A very tastefully restored old stone stable on a gloriously rural estate with woodland gardens, lake and a deer park

A gem of a house in a lovely unspoilt village with an intelligent, interesting owner who gives you delicious food and local wines

A grand yet very homely place with tasty home cooking and 200 acres to explore. Play golf, sail, cycle – wonderfully informal

Part of the original Wensleydale creamery overlooking the river, with bustling Hawes and great walking country right on your doorstep

Birdwatchers and artists delight: acres of peaceful land, close to some of Cornwall’s finest galleries – and the sea

Warm hospitable agriturismo for foodies, designers, wine enthusiasts and all who love the 'real' Sicily. A happy place for families, too

Crackling fires in winter, croquet in the summer. Life ticks by peacefully - rooms are engagingly old-fashioned, the garden is much-loved

A cracking English inn with open fires, great food, gorgeous rooms, happy staff, lovely gardens and well-kept English ales

An 18th-century cottage for four on a working sheep farm: walk the Pentland Hills, get the bus to Edinburgh for culture

In a small town in Salento is a cool southern house of elegant simplicity, ideal for a large family, near to beaches & 45 minutes from Lecce

On its own wooded estate, a special manor house of character. Art on the walls, maps and wellies to borrow, gardens to romp in, super views

A big, beamed contemporary barn filled with light and surrounded by unspoilt countryside for a romantic retreat.

A snug Snowdonia bolthole arranged around a vast boulder, once home to Victorian artists inspired by the setting. For romantic hikers

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