Italy

Italy is best taken one region at a time, because every one has its own architecture and its own way of welcoming guests. In Tuscany it is the agriturismo – a working farm or an old stone farmhouse among vineyards, olive trees and cypress-lined roads, where some stays also have a pool among the fields. In Puglia, whitewashed trulli with conical stone roofs and fortified masserie stand among olive groves that are centuries old.

In the north the Dolomites rise in pale walls above green meadows. A mountain apartment or a stay with a private sauna turns a day of walking into an evening of warmth. Lake Garda, with its lakeside towns and promenades, is popular with families, while the Cinque Terre and the Amalfi Coast cling to cliffs above the sea, their colourful houses stacked in terraces.

Stylish accommodation in Italy can also mean a city flat in Rome, a few minutes' walk from a piazza, or a base for Venice, a city whose canals keep their own slow rhythm. Sicily and Sardinia bring the light of the south. Our selections gather stays for couples, families and friends, from whole homes with a pool to small places for two.