8 May 1, 2022The Sunday Times
Travel Summer 2022
MEDIEVAL-MODERN HVAR
In season the Croatian island
of Hvar is a honeypot for
beautiful people and their
superyachts. Villa Hvar is in
the historical core of its main
town, just 60ft from the
waterfront, with culture,and there’s a railway station
at the foot of the hill for
connections to Assisi and
Perugia.
Details Seven nights’
self-catering for six from
£2,611 (bookingsforyou.
com). Fly to PerugiaAEGEAN IDYLL
Traffic on Hydra has legs, not
wheels. Cars are banned, so
mules and donkeys clip-clop
along its narrow lanes — the
metronomes for this Saronic
island’s unhurried rhythm.
When all you can do is walk
or ride, everything stays local
on a three-mile-long paradise,
so Villa Pherenike on the
north side of Hydra is ideal.
This stone-built holiday home
with a pool is sufficiently
uphill for seclusion and
sweeping sea views, and yet
just a stroll down to the
tavernas, bars, cafés and
harbour of Hydra Port.
Water taxis work the seafront
a 15-minute walk away, and
Athens is 90 minutes by ferry.
Details Seven nights’
self-catering for nine from
£7,247 (thethinkingtraveller.
com). Fly to AthensITALIAN RIVIERA BOLT HOLE
The Cinque Terre, five side-
by-side villages that spill like
coloured paint down the
steep shores of Liguria, are
unfriendly to cars. Instead,
boats nip along the shore
below, while a local train
stitches through tunnels
above. Calm reigns here,
particularly over the Unesco-
registered Portovenere, just
south of the five, where Casa
Palmaria merges indoor and
outdoor spaces in burnt
orange and ochre tones, its
guests gravitating throughits arches to its sea-view
balcony and gardens. From
Portovenere ferries connect
to the Cinque Terre and the
port city La Spezia, and the
house even has its own boat,
which you can use for an
extra charge.
Details Seven nights’
self-catering for nine from
£4,972 (oliverstravels.com).
Fly to PisaARTY UMBRIA
Sweeping rural views and a
hinterland of traditional shops
and restaurants come with the
territory in historic hilltop
towns. The surprise, though,
with Casa Giardino in Spello
is its eclectic contemporary
interior, furnished with brightHEART
OF THE ACTION
What car-hire crisis? These are the villas where
you won’t need any wheels, says Andrew Eames
artworks from the owner’s
extensive travels. Outside,
tradition is restored with the
view over the Chiona valley
from a garden (plus pool)
shaded by fruit trees.
Cobbled lanes lead off to
Spello’s enchanting centre,