Archive for 'Sicily and Sardinia'

Sicily is a destination with endless appeal for vacations as it boasts amazing beaches, sizzling hot summers, a unique cultural heritage that includes a wide range of influences stemming from the island's rich history, delicious food, beautiful scenery, and plenty to see and do. With lots to appeal to foodies, sun-worshippers, history buffs, and adventurers alike, there is something for everyone in the group if you have found a villa in Sicily. So, what are you waiting for? Get planning your trip to Sicily today! If you're not yet quite convinced then here are just five excellent reasons as to why your next vacation in Italy should be in Sicily...

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.

Seaside towns in Italy are particularly dreamy places for a vacation as they combine all of the best traits of a beach holiday with the charms of the food, culture, and style of a getaway in Italy. Spend days gazing at incredible works of art, going wine-tasting, enjoying delicious meals, wandering around pretty little historic towns and grand architectural gems, playing on the beach, working on your tan, and more, all in the one holiday and maybe even the one day! From the famous backdrops of the picturesque villages of the Cinque Terre to the perfect beaches ringing Sicily to the lovely towns of the Tuscan Coast, there are lots of excellent seaside destinations to choose from for those looking to vacation in Italy and this is your guide to some of our absolute favourites among them...

If you are the kind of person who has very specific tastes then you might find that it is often difficult for you to find the vacation rental that can suit all of your needs. Those who have been looking to book the perfect vacation rental in Italy, however, will find that our advanced search tool will be invaluable in helping to ensure that you can narrow down your options to find a property offering all of the different amenities and features that you most value. Read on to our guide and we'll teach you how to effectively use this tool!

1. Head to our homepage and put in your desired dates for your vacation and the number of people in your party. If you have an idea of whereabouts in the country you would like to travel, you can put this is in too – for example, check out our villas in Sicily here and our vacation rentals in Rome here. If not, you can leave this blank and just hit, “search.”

Italy is home to some truly unique and beautiful parks and gardens. However, most still confirm to certain aesthetics; green manicured lawns, pathways, fountains, trimmed hedges, neat flowerbeds, and more. While these stunning outdoor spaces are well worth exploring in their own right, if you are in search of a more specific and singular yet equally stunning garden and you have found a vacation rental in Sicily, then we recommend a visit to the Kolymbetra Garden in Agrigento, on the South Coast of Sicily.

Kolymbetra Garden, or Giardino della Kolymbetra, is a very Sicilian kind of garden. Located in the heart of the Valley of the Temples, and often overlooked but readily visited if you are already at that other famous attraction, it is a lush and fragrant space that hosts all sorts of events. The landscape of this area is made up of almond and olive tree groves, with irrigated citrus groves and orchards cutting through this. Kolymbetra is an example of an irrigated citrus garden but also boasts great historical and archaeological value. Situated in a small valley to the west of the Hill of the Temples, nestled between the Temple of Castor and Pollux and the Temple of Vulcan, the six hectares of garden are framed picturesquely by these great monuments of the distant past. It is also mentioned in ancient records, noted as the site of a Greek pool mentioned by Diodorus Siculus in the first century AD as the place where Carthaginian slaves were brought in to build aqueducts that delivered water to the sumptuous pool that they also built in the area. While this artificial lake has long since been destroyed and disappeared, the land remained fertile and the profitable fishing industry that had thrived there when it was a fish hatchery was replaced by the Moors with a business based on abundant trees yielding delicious fruits.