The best villas in Italy to rent
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Call it The White Lotus effect, or just a return to classic la dolce vita tastes, but all eyes are on Italy for 2024. The dream scenario? A sprawling palazzo or farmhouse address to call your own, in Sicily or Tuscany, with a pool, a view and plenty of room for the whole crew. Then there are the houses, perched high along the Amalfi Coast, supersized trullos in Puglia and beach-side mansions in Sardinia – it’s little wonder Italy is renowned around the world for its astonishing mix of properties to take over as your own. The buildings on this list include grand mansions once owned by aristocrats as well as more pared-back homestays for a small group. Some are blow-the-budget expensive, while others cost from as little as £11 per person per night. But all are smart hideouts in our favourite corners of the country.
For more, see our dedicated Italian villa guides by area:
Historic villa, Chianti
With its smattering of religious frescoes, antiques and wooden beams stretching across stone ceilings, you feel the history surrounding you in every room of this quaint Tuscan home. You’ll wake up to views over the rolling Chianti hills and Vertine's pretty square – that's the teeny medieval hamlet where this villa sits. A shaded terrace marks the spot for dinner dates, and the pool is modern, with hydrotherapy jets for late-night jacuzzi sessions. Guests can also take advantage of discounts to a nearby spa upon booking. Charley Ward
Sleeps: 8
Price: From around £500 per night, with a seven-night minimum
Villa with Lake Garda views
Forget crumbly stone walls and ancient outbuildings – the interiors here are thoroughly chic. Every detail has been considered – smart red Verona marble blushes on the external walls, triple-glazing reduces the need for air conditioning, and a 24/7 concierge service on WhatsApp waits ready to tend to your every need. Breakfast of fresh bread, pastries, cold cuts, cheese and egg can be taken in the suite or on the private terrace before an aperitivo from the honesty bar and a spell in the whirlpool. But a stay here is all about those views – watching the sun rise and set over Lake Garda’s glassy clear waters, stretching out over to the mountains in the distance. Charley Ward
Sleeps: 8
Price: From £370 per night
Stefano ScataLuxury estate, Dimora Iris
Perfect for wedding parties and big family getaways, this huge villa is yours to take over in its entirety, filled with antiques with stories to tell, thoughtfully curated art pieces on the walls and grand fireplaces to bring the drama. Before supper, the billiards table inside is a welcome addition, and the outside is just as charming. Patter through the loggia, and a private pool awaits among the expansive manicured gardens. For supper, you can harvest the villa’s own organic produce, and when it’s time to head off out, you’re just an hour’s drive from Florence, Pisa and Siena, so you can tick off all the sights. Charley Ward
Sleeps: 19
Price: From around £8,267 per week, with a seven-night minimum
Villa Porto Ercole, Tuscany
If you’ve heard about the town of Porto Ercole before, it’s most likely because of Il Pellicano – the glitzy hotel that rose to fame when the likes of Sophia Loren, Jacqueline Kennedy, Princess Grace and Slim Aarons began soaking up the promontory’s Tuscan serenity in the Sixties. But further up the hill, hidden among towering pines and winding paths, lies a place that takes dolce far niente to new heights. Etched into the hillside, this villa offers what could be the best views in all of Tuscany – endless greenery tumbling down into the blue lagoons of Levante and Orbetello. Beyond, the region’s classic rolling hills melt into the mainland. The villa itself is unassuming from the outside; but what looks like a small terracotta-walled bungalow burrows downwards to sleep 14 guests in cool, stone bedrooms with windows and balconies framed by wisteria. Behind the main villa lies a sloping vineyard which supplies the estate's own Poggio del Crognolo wine collection. There’s a guest house with extra bedrooms and a games/music room complete with a pool table, drum kit, guitars and keyboard (best to be avoided after a few glasses of the estate’s wine). The swimming pool offers the same serotonin-boosting views, behind the privacy of some sky-scraping cypress trees, with sunbeds and an al-fresco lounge area for lazy afternoons snoozing and sunbathing. There’s a shady outdoor kitchen and dining area for barbecuing and playing table tennis or table football, and a gym equipped with a treadmill, rowing machine, shoulder press and punching bag. A chef can be available upon request, and The Luxury Travel Book app comes with a handy guidebook to the surrounding area, services, contact numbers, maps and local recommendations. Olivia Morelli
Sleeps: 14
Price: from £6,900 per week
Stefano CorsoVilla Tasca, Sicily
If you’re here to live out the White Lotus fantasy, you’re in luck – the dazzling Italian palazzo Harper Spiller and Daphne Sullivan (played by Aubrey Plaza and Meghann Fahy) stayed in is available to rent on Airbnb. The lavish 16th-century Villa Tasca is set among 20 acres of manicured gardens, including a swan lake, citrus garden and the famously idyllic swimming pool. Inside, all four bedrooms are kitted out with freestanding bathtubs, mini-fridges and essential air conditioning. Opt to take supper in the formal dining room or alfresco on the terrace – the service of a chef, as well as a butler and two room attendants, is included in the price,
Sleeps: 8
Price: £4,874 per night, or £609 per person per night, three nights minimum
Villa Laura, Tuscany
Movie-buffs will recognise this traditional, centuries-old villa set in Cortona from 2003’s Under the Tuscan Sun. In the film, Diane Lane’s character Frances purchases Villa Bramasole on a whim and sets about renovating the house. In real life, Villa Laura has benefited from a similar revamp, with soaring beamed ceilings, terracotta tiles and original stonework keeping interiors authentic, but also a games room and a contemporary kitchen with a ginormous marble-top island. In the gardens, there’s a pool, a hot tub and a pizza oven, as well as a farmhouse with additional bedrooms. All in, the estate has space for 16. Take it over for a group holiday and soak up that Italian sunshine.
Sleeps: 16
Price: from £1,769 per night, or £111 per person per night, seven nights minimum
Puglian Paradise, Puglia
Peeping over the Adriatic, this crisp-white villa has an appealing set up for two families – two self-contained apartments set up under one roof. Bedrooms are cheerful with touches of blue and bright yellow. Nab the primary bedroom with yellow curtains and wake up to knockout views from bed. Outside, there’s plenty of room on the sprawling terrace (complete with a pizza oven and double barbecue) for everyone to come together for an alfresco lunch, followed by a dip in the saltwater swimming pool. For more lunch and swimming spots, the charming town of Fasano and Ottagono Beach are both close by.
Sleeps: 8
Price: £564 per night, or £71 per person per night, five nights minimum
Villa San Barberino, Tuscany
From the arched entryways and wooden beams to the roll top baths and antique stone basins, you can tell every inch of this farmhouse has been restored with love. Home cooks will be in their element in the atmospheric kitchen, where a large cooker and double oven sit inside a stone fireplace. Rustle up a rustic Italian feast for the whole crew and serve it outside on the large pergola overlooking the surrounding olive trees and vineyards. All five bedrooms are beautiful, but the standout is on the ground floor, where the bedroom connects to a spa area with a beautiful mosaic tiled steam room, sauna and sunken Jacuzzi.
Sleeps: 10
Price: from £8,295 per week, or £830 per person per week
Trullo Gaura, Puglia
The iconic conical stone huts of Puglia are typically snug boltholes, but Trullo Gaura has cleverly combined all of the charms of a trullo with modern spacious living. The villa comprises two wings brought together by a central open-plan kitchen, dining and living area. The original exposed stone walls are showcased throughout, as are the manicured gardens via various courtyards, terraces and French windows. The sprawling layout lends itself to privacy too, with the bedrooms spread out on either side of the villa and beyond – one of the double bedrooms can only be accessed via the gardens.
Sleeps: 8
Price: from £3,703 per week, or £463 per person per week
Villa Argilla, Tuscany
Picture a traditional Tuscan farmhouse, and you’ve probably imagined something similar to this. Stone arches on every doorway, wooden-beamed ceilings and cool flagstones underfoot make this centuries-old farmhouse a wonderful example of the area’s distinctive architecture. With the four bedrooms set apart from the main villa in three spacious guesthouses, it’s beautifully private and ideal for big group getaways. The main draw, however, is the exterior – set on a private estate of 150 hectares, the home is surrounded by manicured gardens, a huge pool, fire pit, outdoor Jacuzzi, beach volleyball set-up and a bocce court. Outdoor dining, under the twinkling lights of the pretty cabana, make the most of the cinematic views over olive groves and dipping hills.
Sleeps: 8
Price: from £22,733 per week, or £406 per person per night
Villa Cetinale, Tuscany
Baroque palaces dot Tuscany’s landscape – among gnarled vineyards and rolling olive groves, these 17th-century villas stand as a grand reminder of the region’s noble history. This particular property was built in 1680 for Pope Alexander VII, and has drawn a procession of famous names since: Prince Margaret once made regular appearances at soirées here, as did Mick Jagger and Rupert Everett, and Kate Moss has been known to drop by. After decades of decadence, the manor is now in the hands of Ned Lambton, whose father purchased it in the 1970s. Interiors are as opulent as you would expect – four-poster beds, marble-top side tables – and the manicured gardens are lined with cypress trees. The family now rent out the whole house on Airbnb, which can sleep up to 27 – it’s the ultimate place for a blowout party.
Sleeps: 27 across 13 bedrooms
Price: from £5,950 per night, or £221 per person per night, three nights minimum
Oliver PilcherReschio, Umbria
Not just one house but a whole jumble of them (plus an astonishing hotel) – Reschio is Umbria’s most extraordinary estate. Built 1,000 years ago, its farms were left to ruin until the 1980s, when Austro-Hungarian expat Count Antonio Bolza discovered the place. He and his family went about renovating the rickety outhouses, but it has been a slow process – 26 of the buildings have been restored and sold to private buyers, and nine of these are available to take over when their owners are out of town. Every structure is distinct from the next: Arrighi is a former watchtower set in the hills, while Casa delle Suore is thought to have once been a convent. The grounds are also home to a hotel in a tumbledown castle, a couple of restaurants with ridiculous oil-painting views, stables and a cookery school. This is an incredible stretch of land to discover.
Sleeps: 6 to 12
Price: rental houses on the estate cost from about £12,000 for a week
Serena EllerVilla Valguarnera, Sicily
The Sicilian seaside town of Bagheria was once where Palermo’s high society disappeared for the summer, staying in neoclassical mansions along the coast. Villa Valguarnera is one of these former escapes, now owned by Princess Vittoria Alliata di Villafranca, whose ancestors built it in the 18th century. The piano nobile, or first floor, of the vast building is available to rent – it has its own entrance via an external staircase, and encompasses three frescoed reception rooms, a ballroom, a huge kitchen and three terraces that overlook the impeccable gardens. The place comes fully staffed with a cook and a butler, and guests can explore the whole house, where Vittoria will regale them with stories of the famous people who have stayed here over the years (Salvador Dalí is likely to be name-checked).
Sleeps: 6
Price: from about £9,800 for a one-week stay (fully staffed), or £233 per person per night
Pamina, Positano
Peeping over the Amalfi Coast, this 17th-century seafront villa has been brought up to the minute with fresh blue-and-white tiles, walls the colour of steamed milk, pops of bright yellow and green geometric fabrics and huge, arched windows overlooking the gardens. There’s room for nine to spread out over six ensuite bedrooms and two shady terraces. Breakfast is prepared daily in the pretty kitchen by the housekeepers, who also keep the villa freshened up during your stay. And there’s a pool, hidden behind tall hedges in the garden, for serious seclusion.
Sleeps: 9
Price: from about £2,148 per night, or £239 per person per night, seven nights minimum
Rocca delle Tre Contrade, Sicily
The only property on this hill near Santa Venerina on Sicily’s east coast, Rocca delle Tre Contrade has some of the most jaw-dropping views on the island – on a clear day, you can see Mount Etna as well as the glittery Ionian from its carefully manicured garden. The house is staffed with a housekeeper and a chef who will pick up the freshest produce from the market for late lunches by the horizon-pushing pool or suppers on the terrace. There are 12 bedrooms and as many bathrooms, with reclaimed furniture and vintage finds beneath triple-height vaulted ceilings. Plus the water is heated with solar panels, and the vegetable garden supplies many of the ingredients used in the kitchen, making this a villa to book for those keen to lessen their ecological footprint.
Sleeps: 24
Price: from £28,887 for a one-week stay, or £1,203 per person per week
Rustic villa, Sicily
Noto is one of our favourite towns in Sicily, and this renovated house is a brilliant base from which to explore it. Huge glass doors lead from the pastel-hued bedrooms to the rugged garden, where a little pool has panoramic views of the treetops below. Back inside, there’s a farmhouse-style kitchen for long breakfasts of locally sourced pastries (pick them up from Caffè Sicilia in town) and strong coffee.
Sleeps: 7
Price: from about £292 per night, or £42 per person per night, seven nights minimum
Trullo Apulia, Puglia
Trullo Apulia, a two-bedroom spot a few miles outside the whitewashed town of Ostuni, has been simply made over to create a pretty retreat. Stone-walled rooms have been cleverly reimagined to fit two double bedrooms, a family room, a charming kitchen and a living room with an indoor fireplace for those staying in the winter. And in the summer, there’s a pool surrounded by wild greenery.
Sleeps: 8
Price: from about £124 a night, or £16 per person per night, seven nights minimum
Pool villa, Tuscany
Lofty arches lead from the rustic, beamed sitting room in this traditional home to the pretty tiled kitchen. Host Rose has kept things simple, with a cream, terracotta and azure colour palette throughout the ground floor, where shelves are stuffed with books and trinkets. The three bedrooms are dominated by iron four-posters and vintage wardrobes. A dinky pool is surrounded by scrubby farmland, and there are two terraces with mountain views for aperitivi.
Sleeps: 8
Price: from about £244 a night, or £31 per person per night, seven nights minimum