The city of Orvieto, perched on a volcanic plug, on the flat summit of a huge butte of volcanic tuff in south-western Umbria, has been cited as being one of the most dramatic cities in Europe. This ancient city surges above the perpendicular faces of the tuff cliffs, which were made even mightier when defensive walls were built from the same Tufa stone.

The old part of this absorbing city is identifiably Etruscan, developed in Italy in approximately 800 BC and was a major town during the Etruscan civilization, and in a city this ancient yet amazingly well-reserved, there are naturally a plethora of sites and marvels for the historically-minded tourist to get lost in.

The magnificent Orvieto Cathedral (Duomo) is one such site, a huge awe-inspiring structure which was built under the orders of Pope IV in the 14^th century. A large rose window, three mighty bronze doors, walls strewn with golden mosaics and two intrinsically decorated chapels, possessing glaringly stark images of Judgement Day, means Orvieto Cathedral never fails to mesmerise all who catch sight of it.

Stroll across the street from the Duomo and walk into the Museo Claudio Faina, Orvieto’s archaeological museum. Here visitors can muse through this former palace’s many rooms, crammed with artefacts from the Etruscan era.

Asides the hordes of historically-inspirational sites and attractions, Orvieto is famous for its wine, with many of the town’s local wineries putting on tours and tastings. Or, perhaps a simpler pleasure, is sipping classic Orvieto wine from a ceramic cup with watching the sun drench the magnificent Duomo cathedral – life doesn’t get much better than this!

If you are looking for a luxury villa in Orvieto, Vintage Travel recommends II Rosaio, a delightful stone property set within spacious grounds just five kilometres from the city of Orvieto.

This beautiful house, snuggled within a frame of trees and laurel hedges, sleeps eight, with its four airy bedrooms and three bedrooms featuring many traditional delights, such as wooden floors, beamed ceiling and stone walls – in-keeping immensely with the area of which II Rosaio sits.

Outside in the property’s expansive grounds, one can be absorbed by the simply breath-taking views that surround II Rosaio, or be refreshed in the large private pool. Dining outside on the covered terrace which abuts the kitchen, listening to the small stream which runs alongside the grounds, is as pleasurable as dining inside, just another arduous decision visitors are faced with during their stay at II Rosaio!

A week’s rental of the luxury villa in Orvieto, II Rosaio, starts from £1650, rising to £2995 during peak season.

The Italian region of Umbria is home to a large number of unique and interesting museums, with even the smallest and least well-known being most definitely worthy of a visit. With such a vast choice of intriguing, surprising and highly enlightening museums on offer, knowing which one to head to during your Umbrian holiday is an onerous choice.

To help you decide, we’ve highlighted three of the best museums in Umbria.

Museo della Porziuncola, Assisi

Set with the walls of the Museo della Porziuncola, are many rare and important works of art including the Crucifix of Giunta Pisano (1236). This fascinating museum, with an emblem that states “Where Art tells the Story of Faith”, was founded in the 1920s.

Its exhibits are set out in chronological order, with the first section of the museum be dedicated to the Church of Porziuncola and the second half devoted to the Basilica of Galeazzo Alessi.

Museo Burri, Citta di Castello, Perugia

This mesmerising museum is set within twelve great barns, which were once used for growing tobacco before they were transformed into an enormous art studio by Alberto Burri, the Italian abstract painter and sculptor. All of its 12 rooms boast a noble Gothic hall of ‘majestic proportions’, the result of a painstakingly meticulous restoration project in 2000 to restore the rooms to their original character.

There are literally thousands of ancient artefacts and treasured art work on display at Museo Burri, and if you are a history and art enthusiast, a visit is imperative.

Museo Civico, Portica

Not only is the Museo Civico home to hordes of Etruscan-Roman objects, but visitors can access the ruins of the Roman Forum, the foundations of an aedicule which contains ancient statues of Pollux and Castor, and the foundations of the Temple of Minerva, via a corridor in the museum – Definitely not your average museum and most certainly worthy of a visit!

That’s three of the best museums in Umbria, how about a look at the very best villas in Umbria?

From the Romans to the Renaissance, Tuscany is one of the greatest fountains of art in the world. From awe-inspiring paintings, majestic murals, architectural masterpieces to truly sublime sculptures, for centuries, travellers have been arriving in Tuscany in search of fine art and stimulating culture.

Because of its age-old affirmation in producing and displaying some of the finest art in the world, Tuscany plays host to vibrant year-round calendar of art exhibitions and events.

One such event being held in Tuscany is the D’apres Canova exhibition 2012. Until June 25 2012, the D’apres Canova exhibition will be displayed at the Palazzo Binelli in the Tuscan city of Carrara in the province of Massa Carrara.

The aim of the exhibition is, according to Tuscanypass.com, ‘to restore rightful critical consideration a sculptural tradition which ideally stems from the work of Antonio Canova, but which developed in original ways through the teaching of Lorenzo Bartolini and Thorvaldsen.’

If you are not completely ‘au fait’ on Italian art, Antonio Canova was an Italian sculpture from Venice who became best known for creating marble sculptures of nude human flesh in a neoclassical style.  Lorenzo Bartolini was one of Canova’s contemporaries, another Italian sculpture who permeated neoclassicism with naturalistic detail in his sculptures.

Spending most of his time in Italian in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, at the time when both Bartolini and Canova were thriving, was the Danish-Icelandic sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, who maintained a huge workshop in Rome where he worked in a heroic neoclassic style into his sculptures.

The  D’apres Canova exhibition is exhibiting the tastes and trends of Italian 19^th century sculpture, focussing particularly on a collection of plaster casts that held by the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence.

For more information on this mind-opening Italian art exhibition in Carrara visit fondazionecrcrrara.com.

With vineyards stretching as far as the eye can see, bordered by a backdrop of the snow-capped Sibillini Mountains, verdurous rolling hillsides, fertile woodlands and pastoral pastures scattered with the cheerful colours of flowers, fruit trees and fauna, Le March has long been a favourite location to inspire and stimulate artists from all over the world.

Given its ageless capabilities of prizing the very best from a painter’s brush, Le Marche is home to plenty of painting holidays and art workshops.

Offering art courses in Le Marche is The Retreat, a family-run business which provides courses for painters of all abilities to relax, take in the sheer beauty of this stunning Italian region and be inspired. Ran by John, a professional English artist and art tutor and Jana, who is an exceptional cook, The Retreat offers art courses in Le Marche for individual painters, couples and groups.

So that artists are inspired to their optimum, The Retreat puts on seasonal themes, and in the spring the landscape theme includes an emphasis on painting the sunflowers, olive groves and vineyards, when they are at their most visually spectacular.

From 7 – 14 April 2012, The Retreat is hosting a seven-day intensive course called ‘Life Drawing: The Human Figure’. The course is aimed at enhancing drawing skills as well as engaging in techniques used by the Renaissance artists.

From 28 April – 5 May 2012, there will be a seven-day ‘Printmaking’ Course, whereby students will be introduced to the process on printmaking, using traditional printing techniques.

From 19 – 26 May there is a seven-day ‘Introduction to Painting’ course available, designed for anyone wishing to take up painting for the first time, or for painters who feel they are a little ‘rusty’. The course will cover many aspects and different painting techniques, including water colour, gouache, oil painting and acrylics.

Although it is during the ‘Painting the Italian Landscape’ course that students will be able to fully appreciate the extent of the beauty of Le Marche. Held from 30 June – 9 July 2012, this ten-day course will provide artists with the opportunity to paint the area’s many romantic, charming and breath-taking assets.

For more information about art courses in Le Marche at The Retreat, visit lemarcheretreat.com. And for some breathtaking luxury villas in Le Marche, just click on the link.

With seven beautiful beaches, friendly and hospitable locals, legendary cuisine, particularly seafood may we add, sites of historical importance scattered amid admirable architecture; it is hardly surprising that the ancient seaside town of Gaeta in the southern Italian region of Lazio boasts a roaring tourism trade.

Although despite this old and interesting town being a hub for tourists, it seems to be notably missing from many a tourist guidebook, which may have something to do with the fact that there is no train station at Gaeta.

Being one of the most southernmost cities in the region of Lazio, Gaeta is located on a peninsula that projects into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Given its strategic position on the west coast of Italy, seafood is served in abundance in Gaeta, and is as fresh as fresh can be!

Both the narrow streets of Gaeta’s Old Town and the prosperous streets of its New Town are lined with restaurants, making choosing which one to dine in an arduous task. Most of the restaurants here specialise in dishes made up of the local fish and seafood. ‘Tiella di Gaeta’ is a recommended local dish of Gaeta, a delicious local delicacy of bread with two crusts stuffed with seafood, vegetables or a mixture of the two!

Festivals are a common occurrence in this quintessential Italian town, which, being renowned for their vivacity and flamboyance, attract an even greater surge of visitors while they are on.

If you are thinking of spending this Easter in Italy and want to experience some true Italian tradition then visiting this rather special town in Lazio on Easter Monday, may prove to be just the break you are after.

What is known as the ‘Pasquetta’, thousands of pilgrims from near and afar gather at the foothills of Gaeta’s Monte Orlando and make their way to the Holy Trinity Sanctuary on the crest of Monte Orlando.

Although be warned, this popular ‘Pasquetta’ event attracts hordes of visitors to Gaeta on Easter Monday, so if you don’t want to participate in the pilgrimage and don’t like crowds and tour buses, leave discovering this magical Italian town and its many charms to another day!

Maybe you would be interested in Vintage Travel’s collection of Luxury Villas in Lazio?

With its name descending from the Latin word ‘Latium’, it is also a region steeped in history that goes back to the very early days of civilization, with many ancient Latin sites and remains attracting thousands of tourists to the cities, towns and villages of Lazio each year.

Although because this unique region comprises of so many ancient cities and sites, and thus creating an interminable, year-round cycle of tourists, Lazio is not a region that is typically known for its child-orientated activities.

On the contrary however, there is plenty to do and see with children in this stunning Italian region, the trick is knowing about them. Below are three great activities for Children in Lazio.

Bomarzo Monster Park in Northern Lazio

Situated in Bomarzo, just south of Bagnoregio to the north of Lazio, this mythical park, which was created during the 16^th century, provides a fantastic day out for all the family.

Huge mythical stones statues scatter this enchanting park, including a three-headed dog, guardian of the ‘gates of hell’, a sleeping nymph and her guard dog, an Orc which lures children inside to eat them, a winged dragon, Hannibal’s fortified elephant, and a tilting house.

Intended to astonish rather than please, Bomarzo Monster Park certainly succeeds in enthralling its visitors, both young and old.

Museo dei Bambini di Roma – The Children’s Museum of Rome

Having been dubbed as being ‘even more amazing than the Children’s Museum of Manhattan’, if your trip to Rome is with children then a visit to the Museo dei Bambini di Roma is essential.

With numerable sections exploring almost every aspect of life, including space, the human body, a ‘children’s city’, society and the world of communication, to name just a few, this fascinating museum never fails to mesmerise all that enter through its doors.

Bioparco di Roma

Since it was opened in 1911 the Bioparco di Roma has prided itself on being a place where nature becomes knowledge, and has been providing children and families with a fun and educational day out for more than a century. This truly impressive zoo strives on creating environmental enrichment, both for the many exotic animals it houses and the thousands of visitors it attracts each year.

For more information the Bioparco di Roma visit bioparco.it.

Umbria, Tuscany, Le Marche and Lazio are some of the most popular regions in Italy among travellers, and like most well-visited places, these regions are popular for a reason.

Being blessed with a formidable climate, these captivating Italian districts are bursting with vineyards, aiding not only the nation’s insatiable love-affair with producing world-renowned quality wine and the many wine-tasting events that go hand-in-hand with being a top wine producing region, but the row upon row of vineyards enhances the natural beauty of these enthralling regions of Italy.

Exceptional local wine would not be complete without some exceptional local food to help wash it down, and the cuisine in Tuscany and Umbria is truly delectable.

Although to make sure that you don’t spend all your holiday in restaurants and bars experiencing Italian cuisine at its best, both Tuscany and Umbria vaunt numerable historical towns, villages and monuments, all set against a backdrop of classic Italian landscapes.

Being such naturally beautiful and culturally absorbing regions, Vintage Travel has felt compelled to increase the number of hand-selected villas we have on our books in these provinces of Italy to recommend to our clients.

One such luxury Tuscan villa is Madonna del Bagno, situated in the medieval town of Cortona in Tuscany. This 19^th century farmhouse has four bedrooms and three bathrooms and can accommodate up to eight guests. Snuggled in a hillside above the Val di Chiana, the views from this property are equally as divine as the villa itself.

Possessing a stone exterior, lush, natural and verdant gardens blend immaculately with Madonna del Bagno, a balance that superbly fusions with the surrounding landscape of diversity, fertility and natural splendour, terraced with olive groves on numerable levels.

On the inside, Madonna del Bagno boasts a tremendously Tuscan vibe, with terracotta tiles providing cool in the summer months, yet a pastel colour scheme and exposed wooden beams, providing a warm, cosy and almost cottage-like feel.

This truly Tuscan ambience can be found in the nearby town of Cortona, which, with its steep cobbled streets, almost unnerving passageways and exquisite galleries, bars and restaurants, means Cortona has remained a popular place for tourists and artists alike for decades.

If you desire a touch of Italy at its most awe-inspiring, then a stay at luxury Tuscan villa, Madonna del Bagno should definitely be on your holiday property shortlist.

You have until June 30, 2011 to visit possibly one of the most incredible exhibitions taking place in Florence in recent years, aptly titled – “Crystals – world’s most dazzling exhibition.”

Being held at “La Specola” Museum in the city of Florence, this spectacularly impressive exhibition displays more than 500 pieces from arguably the most famous and important crystal collections in the world – the Giazotto collection.

This remarkable display of crystals consist of gems from all over the world, all extraordinary unique in their aesthetics, richness and colour. The display includes crystals of topaz, aquamarine, quartz and tourmaline, all unique yet equally eccentric in the shape, colour and size.

The founder of the “crystals – world’s most dazzling exhibition” is Adalberto Giazotto, who, since he was a young boy, has been fascinated and enthralled by the seduction of crystals.  Since 2003, Giazotto has dedicated most of his time to acquiring crystals from all over the world, adding gems from Brazil, China, Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan to his phenomenal collection.

This hobby for finding the rarest and most beautiful crystals to grace the world with their presence is reflected in the La Specola Museum exhibition, as the collection includes the crystal of gypsum of Niccioleta, Tuscany, the elbaite of Coronel Murta, Brazil and the piece of cuprite of Onganja, Namibia, amongst many, many more deeply alluring crystals.

Situated in the heart of Florence next door to the Pitti Palace, “La Specola” museum, in hosting “Crystals – world’s most dazzling exhibition”, does the exhibition the justice it deserves.

“La Specola” was officially inaugurated in 1775 and is the oldest public museum in Europe.

This hugely popular and internationally-acclaimed museum is part of Florence’s Museum of Natural History and houses specimens that are now extinct. Asides its comprehensive display of some incredible wildlife and natural artefacts, the museum is best-known for its wax anatomical collection.

One collection that particularly stands out in “La Specola” are the wax anatomical Venuses, wax models of naked women posed in semi-erotic poses.

With some of the world’s rarest and most breath-taking crystals on display here alongside wax women stood in semi-erotic poses, what more reasons do you need to visit Florence’s “La Specola” museum?

Until March 12, 2012, the ‘Salvatore Ferragamo: Inspirations and Visions’ exhibition will be held in the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum in Florence. The show explores the visions and inspirations that influenced the famous designer when he arrived in California in the mid-1910s to his phenomenal success as a designer of footwear for the grand dames of Hollywood.

The Salvatore Ferragamo Museum was opened to the public in the basement of Palazzo Spini Feroni  in 1955 by the Ferragamo family.

The museum was intended to provide the public with insight into Ferragamo’s unique artistic talents and the vital role he played in evolving shoe design and fashion on the worldwide stage.

Salvatore Ferragamo died in 1960 and right up until his death was influencing shoe and fashion designers throughout the world. The museum boasts a sublime collection of more than 10,000 pairs of shoes designed by Ferragamo.

Besides this extensive collection of shoes, visitors to the museum can look at photographs, sketches, magazines and books all dedicated to the famous Italian artist.

Salvatore Ferragamo was renowned for possessing an uncanny ability to capture the cultural mood of any given time through the shoes he designed. The shoes displayed at the museum are set on a biennial rotation and are deliberately chosen to reflect the different themes and issues being focused on by the museum.

There could not be a more spectacular location to show off such an outstanding collection of shoes. The Palazzo Spini Feroni is a medieval palace situated in the heart of Florence. This dazzling palace was built by Geri Spini, a wealthy merchant to Pope Boniface VIII in 1289.

The Inspirations and Visions exhibition includes almost 100 of Salvatore Ferragamo’s shoe samples from the 1920s until the 1950s, as well as over 150 works of art from his Florentine and international collections.

If you are a fan of Salvatore Ferragamo, a fan of Florence, or perhaps just have a partiality for being drawn towards shoes and a footwear collection to prove it, be sure to get to this artistically inspiring city before 12 March, 2012.

Why not have a look at Vintage Travel’s portfolio of luxury villas in Tuscany?

The hillside town of Perugia in Umbria, central Italy, has a lot to offer. With a history dating back to the ninth century BC, this walled town is steeped in history.

Although despite being a fantastic place to learn about Italian history and traditional culture, Perugia has evolved with the times and maintains plenty of modern culture to be enjoyed by those who reach its walled borders. One such ‘modern treat’ is Perugia’s love for chocolate.

Each year the Eurochocolate festival returns to Perugia, and this year is no exception. If you are a lover of chocolate than the city of Perugia is the place you should be this October.

On the 15 – 16 and 22 – 23 October, 2011, this mesmerising city erects stands selling every possible type of chocolate you could imagine. Besides a plethora of stands, there will be chocolate fountains, chocolate sculptures and all the cafes, restaurants and bars will be devoting their culinary talents to creating some delicious chocolate treats – the quirkier the better.

There will be fun activities put on for both young and old, including gastronomic tours, guided tours of the city of Perugia and even chocolate-making workshops.

The Eurochocolate Festival seems to increase in popularity with each passing year, and now attracts more than one million visitors to flock to the city’s streets and enjoy chocolate to suit all tastes.

With such an intense devotion to chocolate, Perugia has become world renowned for its chocolates, and, being home to the famous Baci chocolates and having the world’s first hotel dedicated to chocolate known as the Hotel di Perugia Etruscan chocohotel, it is hardly surprising that this fascinating Italian town is often referred to as ‘Chocolate City’.

The delightful 3 bedroom villa in Deruta, Casale Laura (pictured) could be the perfect base for such a chocolate fest!