The website: Historic Britain allows you to book B&Bs, hotels and holiday lets with notable character. Properties range from a 15th-century manor house B&B to an 18th-century Cotswold farmhouse (historicbritain.com).

Ivy-clad exteriors, private paths and mountain-facing rooms

Tolstoy thought it 'perfect'. And who am I to argue with Tolstoy?

The second day of action

Hitzacker is one of those idyllic red-brick, north German towns that seem to have been purpose built for the tourist trade. Its 18th-century timbered houses and narrow streets attract thousands of visitors each year.

The Hedonist: What to see and where to be seen

MOD lawyers pressed on with prosecution of soldier over souvenir pistol despite medical report that could exonerate him

The BBC defended its Panorama film about North Korea as being “strongly in the public interest”. One certainly imagines a lot more members of the public were interested after the row over the methods employed in filming it, which included its excitable reporter John Sweeney growing a beard and — if you buy the line of attack mounted by academics at the London School of Economics — using innocent students as camouflage.  But the question only the film itself could answer was whether it actually contained anything that would interest the public — this being the kind of country where they may let the occasional Trojan horse in but never, ever leave it unattended long enough for the occupants to climb out and get up to mischief.  

We're not sure about… MIC mania

Andean-style furnishings, hot springs and private beaches

Ranging from 20C to a blistering 31C, Sophie Lam and Ben Ross have suggestions for holidays to thaw your spirit

Middlethorpe Hall and Spa is a York institution: a gorgeous red-brick William and Mary country house, built in 1699 and lovingly refurbished into a sumptuous, historic hotel. 

Spiral, Sat, BBC4 // The Spa, Sun, Sky Living