Exploring Basilicata in Italy

Before you start looking for villas in Italy to rent, it is a good idea to do some research first and know just what you would like to get out of your holiday in this wonderful county. The images that often come to mind when we think of Italy are sun soaked beaches, wonderful food and wine and fabulous artwork, but there is so much more. Many areas are still virtually undiscovered, in terms of tourism, and in others you can enjoy a plethora of wild flowers and wild life.

A Longstanding Love Affair

The English have had a longstanding love affair with all things Italian for many years. In the past, it was only the wealthy that could travel, and it was often one of the destinations of the so-called 'grand tour'. Others travelled for health reasons to escape a damp climate. Today, however, with so many villas in Italy to rent at affordable prices it is something many more can choose to do simply for pleasure.

Stunningly Beautiful

A relatively unknown region in Southern Italy is Basilicata. This mountainous area is stunningly beautiful, with small hilltop villages and towns nestling into mountains covered with woods and forests. Staying in this area give visitors a chance to see and experience a side of the country that is not so well known. Basilicata is situated between Calabria and Apulia and, although mostly land bound, it does have two small stretches of coast: one on the instep of Italy’s boot facing the Ionian Sea, and one facing the Tyrrhenian Sea on the west. One of the beauties of renting from the large range of villas in Italy is that you can experience the less touristy areas, and enjoy a flexible holiday encompassing many different activities.

Troglodyte dwellings

There are many historical sites to visit in this region and perhaps one of the most interesting hosts the best example of troglodyte dwellings in the Mediterranean. Found in Matera, these unusual houses are hewn out of caves. They were used as dwellings up until the 1950s, and then in 1994 the Sassi di Matera (Sassi means stone but here it means ‘inhabited rock districts’) became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although the inhabitants were forcibly rehoused in the 1950s by the then Italian government, now some of the dwellings are being renovated. Over the centuries, these houses gradually spread up the side of the mountain, overlapping each other as they crept higher. This has created a terraced effect, where the streets are often actually on the roof of the houses below.

With such a huge range of villas in Italy to choose from, in so many diverse parts of the country, you could consider renting for a week in one region and another for your second week. This entirely plausible option could see you experiencing the quiet and relaxed atmosphere of the mountains one week and the splendid beaches the next!

Jonathan Magoni is Senior Manager of Cottages to Castles, a family owned company specialising in high quality holiday villas, apartments and cottages in Italy. For spectacular villas in Italy in Tuscany, Sicily, the Italian lakes, ski resorts or city centres, we offer only the very best. Discover Italy at your own pace and without time restrictions in our hand picked villas and cottages.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.