The Times Weekend - UK (2020-08-01)

46 Travel Best Italian villas

presumably because of the drop-offs

below the pool, but possibly just because

no house this elegant deserves to be

ruined by shrieks and grubby

fingerprints. The decor is exquisite —

antique headboards and gilded

mirror frames, crushed velvet armchairs

and delicate printed floral textiles —

likewise the views, gazing out over the

late 12th-century fortress that guards the

town of Asolo, 20 minutes’ walk away.

facilities on the side? This beautiful

house — all teak floorboards and family

antiques — stands on an 11th-century

wine estate that has a shared 53ft pool,

tennis court, magnificent 16th-century

main house and golf course with

Michelin-starred restaurant, where you

get a 10 per cent discount. It’s a

40-minute drive from Venice, and only

15 minutes to Padua, Venice’s more fun

and only slightly less pretty cousin.

Details Seven nights’ self-catering for

five from £820 (hiddenitaly.com).

Fly to Venice

11 Valentino Umbria

A solid, old-money interior with

terracotta tiles, exposed beams and

striking artwork makes this handsome

hilltop villa feel much more family home

than holiday rental. Only a 20-minute

walk from the cobbled hamlet of Morre

with its shop and bar, Valentino has

mighty views across the cypress-studded

hills of central Umbria to medieval Todi.

A large loggia with sofas and a dining

table overlooks the pool; guests can join

in the late September grape harvest in

the sea of surrounding vineyards.

Details Seven nights’ self-catering for

six from £2,300 (essentialitaly.co.uk).

Fly to Perugia

12 Almirena Ve n e t o

No under-sevens are allowed at this

achingly beautiful three-floor villa,

adopted home of Puglia. While many

trulli can be pokey — the low, conical

ceilings of these traditional limestone

storehouses are great for keeping things

cool, but a bind for interior designers

— this two-bedroom abode has a

simple, understated style, with salt-

and-pepper textiles matching the

colour of those iconic rooftop cones; a

rattan-shaded sofa area whispers sweet

nothings beside a large infinity pool.

Details Seven nights’ self-catering for

four from £2,575 (villapuglia.com).

Fly to Brindisi

9 Poggiobuono Tuscany

One hour south of Siena, this secluded

five-bedroom villa stands above the

cypress-studded Val d’Orcia valley, but is

still only a ten-minute walk from

Camparis and pizza in tiny Gallina.

Refurbished in 2017, it retains many

original features — Tuscan brick barrel

ceilings, a 200-year-old carpenter’s table

— but sculpture, tall bedroom windows

and a gadget-filled kitchen add a

contemporary vibe. A long patio dining

table and sofas on the poolside loggia

demand holiday novels and chianti.

Details Seven nights’ self-catering for ten

from £3,584 (tuscanynowandmore.com).

Fly to Perugia

10 Casa de Marianna

Ve n e t o

Love villas, but want some hotel

Details Seven nights’ self-catering for

six from £2,730 (scottwilliams.co.uk).

Fly to Perugia

4 Nerola Lazio

Ever wondered how the Amalfi coast

looked before north Europe’s holiday

hordes caught on? Thirty miles south

of Salerno, the Cilento coast is Amalfi

minus attitude — and all the more

loved by Italians because of it. Here,

high above Baia di Trentova Beach, in

five hillside acres overlooking the Gulf

of Salerno, Nerola is a pretty stone

cottage with a hammock by the small

pool, breathtaking views from the

upstairs bedroom and a cute covered

terrace for watching fireflies between

sips of Campania red.

Details Seven nights’ self-catering for

two from £420 (oneoffplaces.co.uk).

Fly to Naples

5 Isola Rossa Tuscany

Slipping quietly under the radar

between Florence and Rome, the

Maremma is Tuscany’s quietest

corner. Here, smuggled away among

pines and palm trees on the Monte

Argentario peninsula, Isola Rossa is

a pretty hillside farmhouse with a

contemporary, open-plan interior,

a cane-covered dining terrace and a

path through orange and lemon

groves, past the pool to a secluded

pebble beach. Walk ten minutes along

the coast and you reach Le Canelle,

which has a beach bar, a fish restaurant

and a shack from where you can hire

paddleboards and kayaks.

Details Seven nights’ self-catering for

two from £1,610 (sopranovillas.com).

Fly to Rome

6 Nido Umbria

No fancy boutique touches here; Nido

is an old-school Italian farmhouse

with exposed ceiling beams, terracotta

floor tiles, a simple, solid kitchen and

a garden filled with the scent of fruit

trees and rosemary shrubs. Just on the

edge of a medieval hamlet on the

Tuscany-Umbria border, the villa has

views from the pool over the Chiana

Valley to Cortona, which is less than

a ten-minute drive away. Boat trips

between villages on Lake Trasimeno

depart another 20 minutes down the

road in Passignano.

Details Seven nights’ self-catering for

two from £1,885 (qualityvillas.com).

Fly to Perugia

7 Baia Faraglioni Sicily

We shouldn’t have favourites, but for

a combo of killer location and sexy

style, nowhere on our list beats Baia

Faraglioni. Seven miles up from Sicily’s

southern tip, and only a five-minute

walk from Cirica Beach, the villa is

right by the water, with steps cut from

the rocky shoreline down to your own

super-clear skinny-dipping bay. The

sea views are endless, whether from

lawn loungers, Jacuzzi, portico dining

table or clifftop parasol and armchairs.

The interior is all Ibiza-chic whites and

seascape blues, with French windows

opening on to the lawn.

Details Seven nights’ self-catering for

four from £1,264 (solosicily.com).

Fly to Catania

8 Trullo Occidente

Puglia

The fine-art dealer turned villa agent

John Dabney rates the views from

Trullo Occidente towards the hilltop

town of Locorotondo as the best in his

9 Poggiobuono, Tuscany

7 Baia Faraglioni in Sicily