Archive for 'Curiosities'

While a villa in Sicily ensures a holiday in Italy full of fun and sun and relaxation, there is more to the stunning island than playing on the beach, sunning oneself on the sand, tasting local delicacies, and wandering around the more typical tourist attractions. There are also some rather more unusual and, even macabre, attractions that will delight and intrigue the more curious tourists in search of fascinating and strange sights that are well off the beaten path. One such impossibly interesting and somewhat morbid gem for those who have found a villa in Palermo, in particular, is the Catacombe dei Cappuccini.

The landscape of Umbria is rather picturesque, made up of rolling hills, towering peaks, and lush meadows. However, if you have found a vacation rental in Umbria and are planning a trip between May and July, then there is a particular part of the region that you will want to visit. Looking like something from the Sound of Music and too pretty to be quite real, the Piani di Castelluccio, or Plain of Castelluccio is a plain made up of three different sections that is blanketed in flowers in the early summer months each year. Incredibly photogenic and cinematic in its breathtaking beauty, it is a must for photographers and nature-lovers vacationing in Umbria.

Located at the bottom of an old Apennine lake in the area that of town of Castelluccio de Nursia that has since dried up, the Piani di Castelluccio is made up of three plains that are situated 1,350 meters above sea level and extend over a surface of 15 km²: il Pian Grande (or, “the Great Plain”), il Pian Piccolo (or, “the Little Plain”), and il Pian Perduto (“the Lost Plain”). Part of the National Park of The Sibillini Mountains that was created back in 1993, the area is now highly protected in order to preserve the wonderfully rich flora and fauna of the area and its impossibly great natural beauty.

Salento, the, “heel,” of the boot that is Italy is a stunning coastal area of Apulia that is an exceptionally beautiful part of the world. Here you will find a landscape that is dotted with incredible beaches featuring impressive and scenic rock formations and bluer than blue waters, stunning ruins and historic buildings perched picturesquely on hilltops, peaceful lakes that make for the perfect place for relaxing and enjoying picnics, meadows blanketed with colourful wildflowers in National Parks, and some uniquely charming and unusual natural attractions. If you are looking to surround yourself with the most breathtaking of landscapes that you could possibly imagine, then browsing our villas in Salento and our villas in Apulia is a great idea as it makes for a truly incredible and picturesque vacation destination.

Those who love the great outdoors, outdoor pursuits, and pretty scenery will find that if they secure a vacation rental in Piedmont they will quickly discover that it makes for an excellent holiday destination. Home to a famously gorgeous and UNESCO-awarded landscape blanketed by rolling green hills covered in vineyards, snow-capped peaks, glassy lakes, pretty little towns and elegant cities, Piedmont boasts rather breathtaking vistas.

In one of the most scenic parts of this beautiful and lush region, you will find a very unique and special amusement park: Alpyland. Located on Mottarone, a mountain in the Western Alps of north-western Italy, Alpyland takes full advantage of its scenic position and boasts fun for all of the family as well as offering sweeping views over the surrounding area; taking in the Alps, the stunning Lake Maggiore, and more.

Many people throughout the world are fascinated by abandoned places, by ruins, by underground passages and caverns as there is just something inherently intriguing about these empty, ancient, and no longer used spaces. Seemingly untouched by the outside world, though no longer as they once were and once looked, they are both steeped in history and removed from the passing of time. Furthermore, these places manage to be both eerie and beautiful at the same time.

Such places are often made more appealing by the contrast with the bustling of the busy cities above or around them in which they are located. Take, for example, the hauntingly lovely and truly impressive Piscina Mirabilis, a giant ancient Roman cistern that is located on the north-west side of the Gulf of Naples, not far from the daily hustle and bustle of daily life in the electric city of Naples. For those who are interested in such things and those who simply enjoy getting off the regular beaten path for tourists and taking in truly remarkable sights, this is a must-see if you have found a vacation rental in Campania and are exploring the region.