Casa sul Canale

There is no shortage of beautiful towns and villages in Italy. Picturesque towns that look like something ripped right from the pages of a storybook or like a postcard come to life are scattered all across the country.

Made up of historic buildings, winding streets, great views and scenic surroundings, these little gems are the perfect place to well and truly get away with it all and experience the unique culture of Italy. One of the most beautiful among all of these lovely towns is the village of Novara di Sicilia in Sicily.

Located around 70 kilometers from Messina, the town is steeped in legend. Built where the Nebrodi mountains and the Peloritani mountains meet, it is fabled to have been inhabited by the Cyclops. Today, sadly, there are no mythological creatures to be found but there is still plenty to discover in this incredibly pretty town.

Montalbano Elicona is a comune in Sicily which is well known for its medieval splendour and the castle built by Emperor Frederic II that watches over its various hamlets. This year, its beauty and history have been recognised in a more official manner and the comune has been voted the Best Borgo in Italy, 2015.

Surely, this is the perfect excuse to find a luxury villa nearby in Sicily and experience it for yourself.

This prize has been awarded to the comune by “Alle Falde del Kilimangiaro”, a famous television show broadcasted by Italy’s national public broadcasting company, RAI.

One of the most enduringly famous portrayals of Sicily that has ever graced the silver screen has to be Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 masterpiece, “The Godfather”, starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. This iconic movie is set in 1940s and 1950s Sicily and New York and tells the story of the Corleone family, characters from Mario Puzo’s novel, “The Godfather.” Many tourists have gone in search of filming locations from the movie throughout the years since its release. Many head to Corleone, the town that shares its name with Don Vito Corleone, but it was not actually where the film was shot as when they began making the movie in the 1970s, it had changed drastically in the time since Puzo wrote his novel. Modernised and greatly expanded, it no longer resembled the rural place from the books. However, never fear, if you have found a vacation rental in Sicily and are a fan of the movie, there are plenty of filming sites to visit as the villages of Motta Camastra, Forza d’Agro, and Savoca were all featured in, “The Godfather”.

The charms of taking the train can often be lost in the terrors and horrors of commuting but, while on holidays or travelling, there is something quite Old World and delightful about sitting back in a train carriage and just watching the world go by.

This is particularly true of places such as Italy, where the train is both the best way to traverse the country and also happens to cut through swathes of the incredible countryside, offering you wonderful views of the beautiful surroundings and scenery.

If you were to take just a single train route while exploring Italy, however, the Circumetnea train is one keep in mind.

The Aeolian Islands are seven small islands located off the northern coast of Sicily. They are famous and well-regarded for their great natural beauty and as perfect holiday destinations, where you can get your fill of sun, sea and fun.

One of their most fascinating features is that they were formed by volcanic activity that has not yet stopped and two of the islands are still active volcanoes. As a result they are the perfect place to hike and explore.

In fact, these islands are considered so lovely, unique and attractive that they have even been labelled a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Just find a luxury villa in Siena and come fall for their singular charms yourself.

The landscape of Sicily is not soft and pretty but rather striking and beautiful. It is a fascinating thing; rugged, wild, untamed, formed by volcanic processes, dotted by intriguing towns with a multitude of cultural influences marking their architectural characters, hugged by a stunning coast that boasts some of the best beaches in the world. Those seeking a sense of adventure and something new and interesting at every turn will find themselves very much at home in this part of Italy. If you want a great place to trek, hike, cycle, swim, play, and explore, a vacation rental in Sicily is just the ticket.

In particular, we would recommend setting aside some time and heading to the island of Vulcano, 25 km north of Sicily, at the southernmost tip of the eight Aeolian Islands. As the name immediately suggests, this wonderful little island in the Tyrrhenian Sea is a veritable hotspot of volcanic action with several volcanic caldera and one of the four active volcanoes in Italy that are not submarine. However, it is not it that is named after volcanoes but, rather, the other way around, the word for “volcano” coming from the name of the island, which was derived from Vulcan, who was the Roman god of fire. In fact, in both Greek and Roman mythology, the island was a forge for gods, being the labelled as the private foundry of the Olympian god Hephaestus, the patron of blacksmiths, and the chimney of Vulcan's workshop, with earthquakes and explosions of ash thought to have been evidence of the god being busy making weapons for the war god Mars and his armies.