Touring Parties
Traveling with family and friends needn’t mean big hotels with zero character. Mark Sansom finds the best villas in Europe for you to create a bespoke break to laze in absolute luxury for less.
Villa Tiha, Brac Croatia
Private beach, check. Private pool, check. Panoramic windows overlooking pool and sea, check. For the same price as a week in a Greek five-star, take this fully staffed, ultra-modern villa on the island of Brac, near Hvar. The open-plan living space bleeds into a Miele kitchen, just upstairs from a climate-controlled wine cellar and games rooms with Bose kit. Each bathroom has a Jacuzzi bath and spa-grade toiletries (villasofcroatia.com)
Travel Details
The Detail From £6,065 per week; £760 per person (sleeps eight) Nearest airport: Brac (10km)
Villa Luna, Novigrad Croatia
Set 20km from Croatia’s border with Slovenia and Italy, Villa Luna offers the best of the Med at Croat prices. The cuisine is the real pull here, with dishes cooked using the best Istrian olive oil, prosciutto and Adriatic shellfish. The villa itself blends modernity with ancient history, with glass fronts encased by original city walls on the perimeter of the site. The terrace and pool are separated by retractable glass windows so you can swim all year round, and there are three levels for sunbathing. The roof space has unrestricted 360 ̊ views out across the Adriatic and beautiful town of Novigrad (villasofcroatia.com)
Travel Details
The Detail Prices vary, and depend
upon request (sleeps eight)
Nearest airport: Pula (75km)
Villa Gelice, Labin Croatia
As child and parental paradise goes, it doesn’t get closer to utopia than this. Youngsters have the run of a private playground, replete with slide, swings, sandpit and playhouse; while mum and dad enjoy the farmhouse-style kitchen created out of local stone and timber, with four-poster beds and a sun terrace to rival anything the Mediterranean has to offer. Nearby Trget Bay is an Istrian gem, with a regular food market and top-drawer marina-side restaurants. Yacht charters from here are a must: around £85 for a full day’s hospitality onboard for the family, including a lunch of the fishing catch of the day (oliverstravels.com).
Travel Details
The Detail £1,144 per week; £190 per person (sleeps six) Nearest airport: Pula (43km)
Palazzo Dei Leoni, Orta San Giulio Italy
It’s not just that it has its own private Turkish bath, or that it’s set on Lake Orta – one of the most beautiful in Italy – but it’s also the sheer quality of the finish at Palazzo Dei Leoni that puts it in the top three villas in Italy. The baroque 17th- century mansion has marble bathrooms, frescoes and murals aplenty; it’s also packed with high-end tech, not that you’d need it. Five minutes’ drive away is either San Giulio, one of the most traditional villages in Italy, or the Unesco World Heritage Site of Sacro Monte, with its 21 chapels that are deemed to be the best-preserved and most authentic in the country (homeaway.co.uk)
Travel Details
The Detail £3,780 per week; £472 per person (sleeps eight)
Nearest airport: Malpensa (45km)
Masseria Petrarolo, Puglia Italy
Once a fortified farmhouse, this must be one of the most luxurious properties in Europe. Recently refurbished, each room is a masterpiece in design, with soft hues that chime with the building’s character perfectly. Standout features are its pools: one on the roof with 160° sea views; the other, which blends into the surrounding countryside, has an 18m lane for laps. A Michelin-star chef is at your disposal (masseriapetrarolo.com).
Travel Details
The Detail From £8,333 per week; £520 per person (sleeps up to 16 guests); Nearest airport: Bari (58km)
Villa Donati, Tuscany Italy
Just 15 minutes from the medieval city of Siena, Villa Donati is part of a group of traditional 18th-century houses on a 2,400ha estate, beautifully restored in true Tuscan style. Whitewashed walls, terracotta floors and the original wooden beams set the tone. The rustic-style kitchen is the perfect backdrop to authentic Tuscan suppers, with some of the best ingredients in the world sourced from the surrounding countryside and available for sale at the local market a few miles away. Eat lunch round your private pool in the shadow of the olive groves. This is true Italy at fantastic value (montestigliano.it)
Travel Details
The Detail From £2,108 per week; £150 per person (sleeps 14) Nearest airport: Florence (75km)
Goddards, Surrey UK
If you’ve ever wondered how it feels to live like landed gentry, step right in. Built by Edward Lutyens around 1900 and landscaped by Gertrude Jekyll as a holiday home for ‘young ladies of small means’, Goddards’ character is as well drawn as any period novel. Housing an original skittle alley and many Victorian features, it’s like stepping into a scene from Downton. The dining room is the standout space with room for 14, while the kitchen has everything required to prepare the very best food (holidaylettings.co.uk)
Travel Details
The Detail £1,892 for three nights; £157 per person (sleeps 12) Nearest airport: Heathrow (30km) and Gatwick (39km)
Auchinleck House, Ayrshire UK
Picture the scene: Dr Johnson conversing with his biographer James Boswell in a well-stocked library, taking sips of local whisky while discussing the morning’s hunt. It could be you in that same library, with your family or friends. Retire to the vaulted dining room for supper, then on to the withdrawing room for cigars and spirits (or board games and hot chocolate). Spend the morning exploring the grounds after a breakfast from the estate’s produce (landmarktrust.org.uk)
Travel Details
The Detail From £791 for three nights; £60 per person (sleeps 13) Nearest airport: Prestwick (30km) and Glasgow (62km)
Dewsall Court, Herefordshire UK
Lush countryside, sculpted grounds and the biggest property we’ve selected bring Dewsall into the top three in the UK. Perfect for big birthday weekends away, it comes with celebrated chef Matt Tebutt to cook for your party and a fitness centre, yoga studio and massages to get you up in the morning. The kitchen has a four-oven Aga and huge dining table, plus individually designed suites boasting huge baths and gorgeous tapestries. Guided walks, clay-pigeon shooting and foraging can make up daytime entertainment. A huge courtyard and a wine cellar stocked with excellent vintages keeps things interesting after sundown (dewsall.com)
Travel Details
The Detail £9,150 per week; £338 per person (sleeps 27) Nearest airport: Bristol (75km) and Cardiff (86km)
Chateau De Cource, Normandy France
The fixtures and fittings and the landscape are nothing short of Napoleonic at Chateau de Cource. Aubusson carpets, master paintings and gilded walls scream opulence, while Jacuzzi baths, high-end AV kit and wi-fi bring the chateau right up to date. A secluded shale tennis court is well covered, meaning you can play even when the sun is high, while the 20m pool has room enough for even the largest groups to splash and play through the afternoon and long into the night (holidaylettings.co.uk)
Travel Details
The Detail £4,496 per week; £321 per person (sleeps 14) Nearest airport: Cherbourg (31km)
Le Bournaguet, Dordogne France
Surrounded by forest and spread over 50ha, this is the ultimate family retreat. A tennis court, pool, cinema room and PS4 will keep younger guests happy, while the huge dining table and spectacular furnishings set the scene for leisurely dinners of produce from the local farmers’ market in beautiful nearby Sarlat. Split into three wings, each group is assured privacy, should you want it (anglofrenchproperties.com)
Travel Details
The Detail From £5,000 per week; £333 per person (sleeps 15) Nearest airport: Bergerac (73km)
Chateau De Chasse, Brittany France
Set in a 121ha private estate in the heart of rural Brittany, the 19th-century Chateau De Chasse looms on the horizon, towering above even the largest properties in the region. Sleeping up to 22 across three different accommodation wings, it has a pool, tennis court, forest and private lake. For the interiors, think traditional bourgeois: huge fireplaces, salons and wood-panelled dining rooms with a kitchen to rival the very best restaurants. There’s so much space; you could wander the estate all afternoon without crossing paths with anyone else in your party, should you want the peace and quiet (oliverstravels.com)
Travel Details
The Detail From £8,105 per week; £368 per person (sleeps 22); Nearest airport: Rennes (50km) and Nantes (75km)
Castro Barona, Santiago De Compostela Spain
If the kind of celebrity chic, ultra-modern villa appeals, there’s few better than Baroña, in Galicia. Having won awards for its architecture, the clean-lined, white-walled space is mere metres from a secluded beach and just 15 minutes’ drive from a sailing school. Here you can also take part in canyoning, riding and masses of outdoor pursuits, should you manage to tear yourself away from the villa’s perfectly appointed living spaces (ownersdirect.co.uk)
Travel Details
The Detail £2,130 per week; £355 per person (sleeps six) Nearest airport: Santiago de Compostela (54km)
Spirit of the Sea, San Antonio, Menora Spain
Perched beside one of the most picturesque jetties of Menorca, Spirit of the Sea breathes Balearic bliss. An oval infinity pool gives way to the gently lapping sea, where a boat will take you to unspoiled fishing villages and fantastic restaurants. The roof terrace has it all. From its own kitchen, dining and seating area, you can watch the slow-paced world unfold beneath. A shady, vine-covered pergola is the perfect place to lounge in the evening, watching the sun set over the water. Indoors, a chic dining space has sliding doors opening straight out onto sea views, while bedrooms are fresh and pretty. Most have ensuite shower rooms and private terraces. It also has a mooring for boats; you can either bring your own or charter one from the local village. If you fancy a night away from the pass, hire a chef. One trained by Ferran Adrià is on call (exclusivelyvillas.com)
Travel Details
The Detail From £2,438 per week; £243 per person (sleeps ten) Nearest airport: Mahon (47km)
Casa Edouardo, Ronda, Andalucia Spain
Set in the heart of rural southern Spain, though looking like it could be fresh out of The Hamptons, Casa Edouardo is pared-back elegance at its best. Don’t expect any of the high-tech amenities on display in other villas here. Rather, enjoy a well-stocked library, an outrageously comfortable lounge space, a pool that oozes calm (with its own private bar) and grounds big enough to spend a day exploring. For a day trip, Jerez and sherry country are just around the corner. Spend the morning learning (or fine-tuning) horse riding skills, then settle down for fino tasting and lunch in one of the town’s many tabancos (sjvillas.co.uk)
Travel Details
The Detail From £3,680 per week; £307 per person (sleeps 12) Nearest airport: Gibraltar (96km) and Malaga (105km)
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