The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
BEST FOR PUGLIA, SICILY AND SARDINIA
THE THINKING TRAVELLER
(thethinkingtraveller.com)
Launched in Sicily in 2002, this company is still one of the biggest specialists on the island with exclusive access to more than 90 varied properties, from tiny escapist retreats to fully serviced villas. It also offers over 40 rentals in Puglia, including masseria farmsteads and trulli in Valle d’Itria and Salento. Top pick: TerraMia, sleeping six, is a contemporary villa in the south of Sicily overlooking the Vendicari nature reserve. From €4,720 (£4,200).
SOLO SICILY
(solosicily.com)
Offers a good selection of 70 villas spread throughout the island, including a price-conscious, budget category with either pools or easy access to beaches. The website goes the extra mile to provide ideas and inspiration. Top pick: New to Solo Sicily’s books is La Balata, sleeping eight, a stylish, modern villa with a pool in Cefalù, boasting contemporary furnishings and sea views. From €3,400.
SIMPSON TRAVEL
(simpsontravel.com)
Its portfolio of nearly 30 villas includes many in Puglia, where properties range from tiny trulli to seven-bedroom manor houses. Tuscany and Umbria also feature. Families are well-catered for, too, with a “Simpson Kids” option including complimentary infant packs and garden games for children.
Top pick: Villa Favorita, sleeping eight, near Monopoli has a poolside kitchen and antique furnishing. From £2,500.
LONG TRAVEL
(long-travel.co.uk)
Has around 30 villas and self-catering apartments at agritourism and hotel resorts in Puglia, Sicily and Sardinia.
Top pick: Trullo Madia, sleeping four, is a stone-built hideaway near Cisternino in Puglia, overlooking a wooded valley with private pool and gardens planted with pomegranate and olive trees. From £937 with car hire.
FREELANCE HOLIDAYS
( freelance-holidays.co.uk)
This Mediterranean island specialist has 22 villas in Sicily – modern, mainly three-bedroom properties in scenic locations on the east and south-east coast, plus a handful in the north-west. Top pick: Corte Moscata, sleeping six, is a modern villa in south-eastern Sicily’s Noto Valley close to the baroque towns of Modica and Ragusa-Ibla with grassy gardens planted with olive and carob trees. From £1,615.
SARDINIAN PLACES
(sardinianplaces.co.uk)
The company has 19 villas scattered across Sardinia, predominantly in the Costa Smeralda and north-east corner, plus a few in the Alghero region and two in the south. Most properties are secluded with private pools, but its premium collection singles out the best. Top pick: Villa Asfodeli, sleeping five, is a three-bedroom, hillside villa between Arzachena and Palau with sea views from the pool terrace. From £495 per person, including flights and car hire.
JUST SICILY
( justsicily.co.uk)
Its villas are mainly in Sicily’s south-east corner, and most have private pools. Sister company Just Sardinia (justsardinia.co.uk) has a smaller portfolio in the island’s north and some hotel villas. Top pick: Villa Dimora di Circe, sleeping four, is a recently renovated Sicilian beach house on the sea front near Ispica with a plunge pool and pergola. From £2,510.