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

A stylish farm renovation with pools, gym, and flower-filled gardens - find rural tranquillity close to Brittany’s most famous landmarks

A beautiful cream stone building in the grounds of a grand château, with a large and view-filled outdoor terrace for peaceful dawdling

There’s a Tuscan feel to this lovely, family-friendly place – walk to the sound of cicadas, stargaze, visit vineyards, markets and castles

Enjoy views over the lake, eat good food in the restaurant, sleep in antique-filled bedrooms, have a proper rest

A very attractive stone building on a smallholding with all mod cons, a bedroom for stargazing, Guest Farm Shop and pretty communal gardens

The road hugs the rocky coast with glorious views to the Mull of Kintyre and three fishing village cottages where modern comforts abound

Airy, spacious, sunny. This Lot gîte is a delight: linen curtains, oak stair, sunny pool. Sarlat and painted caves are an easy venture away

A lovely old traditional mas, built around a courtyard with lots of outdoor space and rambling gardens for happy gatherings, and sunny days

A niftily restored, open-plan, beamed hayloft, just the ticket for romantics, with gorgeous views of fields and open countryside

A stunner of a setting for this restored croft house with long views to a sparkling loch and a lively village nearby. Good beaches too

A natural idyll made even better by friendly owners. Bask in the mountain views, explore astonishing Asturias, settle into the slow pace

Coffee served in silver cups & cakes are homemade in this duke’s palace, a throwback to the Moorish kingdom - a Sawday's Community Champion

In peaceful Burgundy countryside, a beautifully-restored farmhouse with B&B rooms, delicious regional food and an inviting pool

Up at the top of Scotland’s west coast, a small, stylish and welcoming hotel with lovely owners and some nicely priced rooms

Surrounded by wildlife and water, this ultra-modern house has huge windows, white walls and designer furnishings. Blissfully remote

An old farm worker's cottage, niftily done up and nicely remote, with walking and fishing on the doorstep, four miles from Hadrian's Wall

Old wooden sleigh beds, check-clothed tables, log fires, a courtyard of centuries-old trees, a claw foot bath. Stacks of character