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

The inn is the hub of this thriving village in 'the blue remembered hills' with great food and super rooms - a Sawday's Community Champion

A lovely bolthole in remote North Yorkshire – follow stunning hill walks with a soak in the roll top bath, and a glass of bubbly

A small yet elegant place for couples or small groups to enjoy the open countryside, rest, join a cooking course or book a massage

A grand, 16th-century Breton château complete with dovecote, turret and chapel surrounded by 50 acres of parkland, woods and small lake

The wow factor is set to eleven at this magnificent château steeped in French history and surrounded by acres of land (and a moat)

Once a lofty edifice for music recitals, now an original place to stay - with stained-glass windows, a bed on a stage and wild gardens

An absolute peach of an apartment on the first floor of this iconic building with stunning views over the harbour and St Michael's Mount

Pluck grapes, splash in the child-shallow pool and explore the ‘Yorkshire of Italy’ with rolling green hills and conical trulli

A deliciously rural stone house with charmingly simple rustic-chic interiors and saline pool - an hour from Perugia

Hilltop château on the edge of a small village half an hour from Saint-Émilion, with a lovely garden, a swimming pool and two lakes

A light, airy and comfortable barn conversion on a farm with stunning views over the Dorset/Devon border just five miles to the sea

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

Tucked down a private driveway, this restored 19th-century farm building offers superb breakfasts, well-dressed beds and a beautiful garden

Gather your favourites for a getaway in deepest France. Bike the countryside, dip in the heated pool and sprawl out in this inviting space

Romantics will love this small converted hut-on-a-hillside surrounded by pines and olives with stunning views over the old town and the sea

The sort of inn we all love – open fires, original beams, ancient flags, tasty food, with lovely bedrooms thrown in for good measure

Books, meadow flowers, a rocking chair by a cosy fire at this treasure-trove cottage of beautiful things - down tiny lanes in west Cork