For expert advice on Italy, seek out Sunvil Discovery

April 16, 2013 - PRLog -- The independent Italy specialist features flexible fly-drive, rail and tailor-made itineraries to the most beautiful regions of this captivating country. It prides itself on its bespoke service and handpicked accommodation, which ranges from characterful city-centre hotels and small family-run properties to an unrivalled selection of rural farm stays and luxurious resort accommodation.

The product team, all of whom visit Italy regularly – a completely different team from Sunvil’s Greece experts! – know the ‘real’ country inside out. Their knowledge extends well beyond the hotels and obvious attractions, and includes the cuisine, culture, language and lesser-known regions. It’s not just Greece that Sunvil knows intimately!

Sunvil Discovery real Italy & Sicily – THE FACTS

Destinations
Veneto and the Lakes: Bellagio, Cannero Riviera, Gardone Riviera, Mennagio, Mezzegra, Monzambano, Tremezzo, Venice, Verbania, Verona, Volta Montovana
Tuscany: Campagnatico, Chianti, Corsignano, Cortona, Florence, Lucca, Montespertoli, Pontasieve, San Gimignano, Siena, Valiano di Montepulciano, Volterra
Umbria: Assisi, Gubbio, Perugia, Spoleto, Torgiano
Lazio: Rome
Puglia: Fasano, Lecce, Locorotondo, Pogliano, Porto Cesareo, Trani
Campania and Basilicata: Ascea, Maratea, Positano, Ravello, San Marco di Castellabate, Santa Maria di Castellabate, Scala, Sorrento
Eastern Sicily: Alcantara, Avola, Buccheri, Capo d’Orlando, Castelmola, Castiglione di Sicilia, Catania, Enna, Ispica, Longi, Marina di Ragusa, Mascalucia, Milazzo, Mistretta, Modica, Pettineo, Piazza Armerina, Randazzo, San Giovanni La Punta, Santa Venerina, Syracuse, Taormina, Troina, Valguarnera
Western Sicily: Agrigento, Castelbuono, Cefalu, Erice, Mazara del Vallo, Menfi, Paceco, Palermo
Aeolian Islands: Vulcano, Lipari

Cultural highlights
Sicily Today: Under the Sicily Today banner, Sunvil Discovery has introduced an exceptional range of rural country estates and farm properties, each carefully chosen and vetted. Some of them are in the least-known corners of the island, and most of them specialise in high-quality produce, usually grown on the property and prepared in the kitchen as local specialities.
The Orient Express: Sunvil Discovery offers the opportunity to travel to Verona or Venice in style aboard the world-famous Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. It is possible to incorporate Orient Express journeys into tailor-made itineraries, adding hotel stays, return travel by rail or air, and private transfers or car hire.
Rail you can rely on: Train travel in Italy and Sicily is one of the easiest, most environmentally friendly, economical and enjoyable ways of seeing the country.  A long-term supporter of sustainable tourism and green initiatives, Sunvil Discovery encourages travellers planning a multi-centre trip to make use of the country’s excellent rail network.
Excursions from Sorrento: private and group tours to Herculaneum, Pompeii, Mount Versuvius, Naples and its monuments, Paestum and Salerno are all available.

Activities
Cookery classes: Several properties offer cooking courses payable locally – these include the wonderful Fattoria Corsignano, a converted farmhouse and agriturismo located in the Chianti hills, where tutorials on traditional dishes are held in the old lemon house. Sunvil Discovery can also pre-book simple cookery lessons at the Sorrento Cooking School in Sant’ Agnello on the coast.
Wine tasting: With a whole host of properties that boast their own vineyards, opportunities for wine tasting abound. Try Borgo Tre Rose, a lovingly-restored medieval hilltop hamlet which boasts three wineries and a variety of wine cellar tours and tasting sessions (payable locally).
Walking: two new escorted walking tours feature for 2013. Departing 1 September, A Panoramic Circuit of Cortina is a seven-night walk on lofty trails through serene Alpine pastures, fragrant forests and scenic passes with some fantastic views of the Dolomites. The pretty town of Cortina tops and tails the trip. Departing 29 September, the seven-night Autumn Colours in the Dolomites tour captures the very best of the dramatic autumnal alpine scenery in the Veneto. Bucolic pastures, towering spires and pinnacles in this fascinating border area all feature.

Accommodation
Agriturismo and Turismo Rurale: a wide choice of characterful restored farm properties feature, with over 20 of those in Sicily. No UK tour operator offers a better range of farm stays on the island, or indeed in Italy.  
Families: rooms large enough to accommodate a family of four (two adults and two children) can often prove difficult to find so Sunvil Discovery has compiled a list of properties that offer either family or interconnecting rooms.
Honeymoons and special celebrations: Sunvil Discovery has carefully selected a unique range of luxurious accommodation ideal for celebrating a special occasion.
Spa Breaks: Wallow in the therapeutic mud baths at Hotel Therasia Resort & Spa, a five-star Moorish style property located on the Aeolian island of Vulcano, or try Hotel Borgobrufa Spa Resort with its indulgent treatments and proximity to Umbria’s enchanting hilltop towns of Assisi, Spello and Perugia. The Sunvil Discovery Italy programme features almost 30 properties with spas.

The lead-in price for a week’s stay is from just £590 pp (two sharing) staying in Tenuta Stoccatello in Menfi. The price includes return flights (Gatwick), car hire and seven nights’ B&B accommodation.

To order the new 2013 Sunvil Discovery real Italy & Sicily brochure, please call 020 8758 4747. Alternatively, visit www.sunvil.co.uk for further information and a pdf copy downloadable in sections, or call to speak to an expert on 020 8758 4722.

Ends 16 April 2013                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Press: For more information or high-res photography, please contact Sarah Belcher at Travel PR on 020 8891 4440 or s.belcher@travelpr.co.uk.  

Notes to editors: Sunvil has pioneered many specialist destinations in its 43-year history and has been at the forefront of environmental initiatives and Sustainable Tourism for well over 20 years. Sunvil consistently promotes owner-managed hotels and local tourism enterprises across all destinations in which it operates. Sunvil also uses local suppliers and representatives wherever possible and encourages its suppliers, through many initiatives, to protect and treasure their local environment.