This alluring manor house, built in 1598, is buried deep in the tranquil West Sussex countryside, some 33 miles south of London.
One day during our visit to Mecklenburg, Germany, we followed winding country roads and reached the grizzled, yet majestic 1,000-year-old oaks of Ivenack.
Most travelers to Hungary experience only the capital, but a stay in the provinces makes a rewarding extension of a Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest itinerary.
Located 60 miles southwest of Dublin, Ballyfin is perhaps the greatest Regency house in all of Ireland. In the front hall, we found an antique mosaic brought from Italy during the building's construction in 1822.