Here are the available villas for rental in Italian Lakes.

Where Callas found a kind of peace

From the Mail on Sunday

Sometimes, when Onassis had been especially cruel to Maria Callas, ordering her to go back to her cabin on the yacht Christina and change her dress just as she had sat down to dinner, claiming he didn't like the colour but actually because he was in that kind of dark mood, she would retreat to her cool villa to try to reclaim her pride.
It was always tranquil here at the Villa Meneghini, near the town of Sirmione on the shore of Lake Garda. In the summer Callas would sit in the garden, her privacy protected by banks of guardsman-straight cypress trees, the air perfumed by pine, the eye dazzled by the pink-tinged oleander.
There would be late afternoon cruises on the Madonna-blue waters of the lake, where the giant peaks of the Dolomites seemed to reach clear to the sky, and she would look at the beauty around her, an exotic mixture of Alpine and Mediterranean, of snow-capped mountains, and palm trees, and swear she would never go back to the Greek.
And then the telephone would ring somewhere inside the cavernous, Romanesque, five-storey villa and it would be Ari, promising this and that, and within a few minutes the great diva's bags would be packed and the only taxi in the ancient fort town of Sirmione summoned. Then she would be off again, back to Athens, or Paris, or New York, or wherever he was.
Before returning to the arms of the Golden Greek, she would sometimes pause for a moment to say goodbye to her friends at the Villa Cortine, the spectacular, sugar-white, neo-classical palace, with its extravagant fountains, statues, grottos and acres of sub-tropical gardens, that had its elaborately-gated entrance right opposite Villa Meneghini.
They were always sorry to see her leave but knew it wouldn't be long before she returned .
The cream-jacketed barman standing before me in the Villa Cortine's open-air terrace restaurant is Enzo Cali, a better-looking version of the Sixties Italian movie star Vittorio de Sica, all beautiful white hair and immaculate teeth. Behind him is Danielle, his youthful, black-tuxedoed assistant, who holds a silver tray which he has carried 50 yards from the bar and upon which are perched two Bellinis. Enzo takes the drinks and sets them down very carefully on the blue tablecloth. ... more

I fell in love

Lake Garda is breathtaking. I fell in love with it the moment I saw the lake.
We always stay in Tignale, which is a small village above the lake in the mountains. We generally drive there so that we can enjoy all the surrounding scenery en route.
Excitement wells up inside me just at the thought of visiting Lake Garda.
We are going again this year in August. We do know one couple who have been for at least 30 holidays.
I hope that I shall be revisiting for years to come.

Forgotten Italy

The best thing about Lake Garda is that nobody goes there anymore. Well, clearly some people do, but not the madding crowds that plague Tuscany and Umbria.
And that's one of its virtues: come here and there is only a fettuccine-slim chance that you will bump into some New Labour think-tank on summer manoeuvres.
To the chattering classes Garda may be unfashionable, but I can live with that.
In fact, I'm grateful that Garda has become strangely excluded from that slightly sick-making state of adoration that many people have for All Things Italian.
This is not the place to go to if you wish to strut around noisily shouting 'bellissima' as you search for the ultimate bottle of balsamic vinegar.
But you will find good value, simple hotels, terrific food and jaw-dropping scenery.
Of the three or four Italian lakes that form those inviting blue splodges on the map of the Lombardy Plain, Garda is the largest and the cleanest.
Como and Maggiore are both beautiful, but they can be stuffy and uptight. Garda, meanwhile, is much more geared to families.
It is set amid the vivid colours and the varied geography of Lombardy, which has splendid, slightly decaying villas in soft pinks, lush greenery and beautiful lake-front towns, all placed against the backdrop of the Dolomites.
Parts of the lake enjoy a benign micro-climate which has resulted in beautiful gardens in the villas around its fringes: many of the towns are surrounded by lemon groves. One, Limone, takes its name from them. ... more

Five of the best

Sunshine, beautiful scenery, splendid art treasures and a rich historical past - Italy is a charmed land, which seems to have been stuffed full of good things like some giant Christmas stocking.
All the great things in life - beauty, food, wine, opera, football, art, religion, ice cream and the pursuit of happiness - matter more in Italy.
It is no wonder that the British have been going there for more than 1,000 years, as pilgrims, adventurers, poets, on the Grand Tour and as package tourists.
But it is important to remember that Italy is a modern invention. The nation came into being only in the 1860s, and it retains strong regional differences.
This diversity - of cuisine, art, outlook, landscape - is one of the great joys of the country, making it a pleasure to visit and re-visit.
There are lots of different Italys to discover. Here are five of them.

Lake Como's captivating charms

What's the Italian connection between James Bond, Star Wars, a Brazilian football star and George Clooney? Lake Como of course.

As if the natural wonders of being on an Italian lake in summer weren't dazzling enough, there are plenty of celebrity haunts and movie locations to spot as we discovered on a five-day trip to and Lake Maggiore in the Lombardy and Piedmont regions of north-western Italy.
A two-hour coach journey from Verona Airport found our group whirling around the inverted Y shaped lake Como, dipping through mountain tunnels to reach the Hotel Britannia Excelsior in Cadenabbia. Perched on the western edge of the lake, jit offers fantastic views of Bellagio on the opposing shore line against a huge mountainous backdrop.
At dinner we were serenaded by an Italian tenor, who also doubled up as the local butcher, whilst tucking into some regional produce; the salted Missoltini fish from the lake and limoncellos making a mouth-watering impression.
The following morning we ventured along the tranquil coast of the lake by boat to Tremezzo where Villa Carlotta is situated; an impressive 300-year-old villa surrounded by a vast array of different types of gardens. In fact the whole coastline seems to have been set upon not just by millionaires, but also the best gardeners in the world.
A little further along in Lenno is the Villa del Balbianello. Preserved as a homage to its last owner, the Arctic explorer and Mt Everest climber Guido Monzino who died in 1988, it houses African art, an Arctic sledge, secret passageways and bullet proof windows.
It's the sort of place you'd expect to find James Bond hanging out in - so it's hardly surprising that part of the latest Bond film, Casino Royale, was filmed here just a few weeks prior to our arrival. Scenes from Star Wars II were also filmed in the grounds of the same villa.
After a day spent in searing 35C degree heat, a late dip in the hotel pool cooled us down enough to enjoy watching the sun set, whilst sipping a few Bellinis and Fragolinis in Bellagio, at the tip of Lake Como's dividing peninsula. This small town stands out as perhaps the most exclusive or expensive area of Como. It was here, behind a hive of boutique type gift shops, we dined at the hotel Belvedere. Former Brazilian football player and commentator Leonardo also dined - sadly not at our table.
The following morning we were back on another boat and zooming out to where George Clooney's impressive villa sits on the lake. Strangely enough, George either wasn't at home or didn't feel like responding to a boat full of camera-wielding journalists bobbing up and down on the water close to his back lawn, so off we sped back to Como town for a spot of lunch before heading on to Lake Maggiore.
Stretching more than 60km from Italy into Switzerland, Lake Maggiore and its islands are totally captivating, laced with history and give one a real sense of serenity.
We stayed in the Regina Palace Hotel in Stresa, an insanely grand elegant building which was once the setting for a Miss Italy contest where former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is rumoured to have tinkled the piano ivories.
A 10-minute walk from the hotel brings you to a cable car which offers trips up from Stresa to Monte Mottarone. Ascending 1,491m up Mottarone provides stunning views of the lake set against an Alpine backdrop from which, on a clear day, Switzerland can be easily spotted. Six other lakes can also be seen as well as Lake Maggiore and the view also offers great perspectives of two of Maggiore's Borromean Islands which we visited; Isola Dei Pescatori and Isola Bella.
Back on terra firma, we followed in the footsteps of both Napoleon and Mussolini, amongst others, and visited Isola Bella – a tiny island which Charles III Borromeo bought and named after his wife Isabella. The island houses a palace and amazing terraced gardens which billow upwards and outwards, making it resemble a ship. Everything seems ever so slightly over the top here, particularly with white peacocks strutting around the place. It's easy to imagine how Napoleon would have felt right at home while taking a break from world domination.
Much more understated is the Isola de Pescatori – the fisherman's island where were stopped for a fantastic lunch. Our guide explained that the common pastime for tourists is just to sit and look out at the lake; it's hypnotic effect more evident at sunset when the rippling water is said to change colour dramatically.
However the only colour we saw that night was blue, as an evening drink back in Stresa coincided with Italy's progression to the final of the World Cup. For the next few hours the quiet grandeur of the area was rocked by the sight of blue shirts and Italian flags being waved about and the sounds of car horns tooting. But then the lake's majestic calm was restored and it was time to sleep.
*Thomson Lakes & Mountains (www.thomsonlakes.co.uk) offers holidays to Lake Como and Lake Maggiore. Prices for a week's full board accommodation start from £489 per person in the three-star Hotel Britannia Excelsior in Cadenabbia on Lake Como, including return flights from Gatwick, transfers, unlimited drinks and afternoon tea and coffee.
* Prices for a week's half-board stay in the four-star plus Hotel Regina Palace in Stresa on Lake Maggiore are start from £649 per person, including return flights from Gatwick and transfers.
Regional departures from nine UK airports are available at a supplement starting from £10.
* Feeling inspired? ... more