PHOTO: La Bergerie puts you in the warm path of the sun through South of France. (courtesy La Bergerie)

The appeal of classic European villa vacations is at least as old as ancient Rome, where the stressed out court poet of Caesar Augustus, Vergil (who later worked as a tour guide for Dante) longed for his villa in the country when he wrote “to lie tired in the vine shade and let the summer hours pass, and round your nodding head let the roses twine.”

Peter Mayle launched the modern longing for villas when he published “A Year in Provence" in 1989. The European villa market has been a vital sector ever since.

Over the years the concept has undergone some product segmentation as tour operators began offering villa modular segments to compliment longer tour packages as a sort of real life relaxation component in a tour.

A further segmentation came with the “Villa Hotel,” a type of lodging that that offers many of the best aspects of the villa experience (food, setting and rural atmosphere), but in properties that rent individual rooms as hotels do, as opposed to the original villa idea of hiring an entire property for friends or family with cook, usually for a week.

There are a couple of new players in this market from the traditional homelands of villas, Italy and France.

The best European villas are extensions of their natural landscape and Umbria’s Villa Hotel Torre Palombara is no exception. Located near the medieval hilltop town of Narni, the hotel resides in a 15^th century dove tower that was recently restored into one of the most exclusive villa hotels in Italy, with seven guest rooms and suites where family antiques co-exist with air-conditioning, Wi-Fi and flat-screen televisions.

The breakfast room and pool both look out on classic Umbrian landscapes and the owners have created several suggested “insider” excursions.  Though Rome is just an hour away by car or train, the owners recommend the Umbrian destinations including Spoleto, Perugia and Assisi as well as the local viniculture that produces the wines of Orvieto and Montefalco.

PHOTO: Umbria’s Villa Hotel Torre Palombara resides in a 15th century dove tower.

On the top of all that is the Umbrian countryside itself, a land of waterfalls, vineyards, olive groves and walled villages. Summer comes in with a harvest of festivals presenting jazz, opera and celebrations of medieval heritage. The owners can arrange truffle hunts with a local farmer, tours of the local workshops that produce Umbria’s exceptional cashmere or tours of Narni and its underground city. dating from Roman times.

Rates at Torre Palombara start at €160 ($219) a night for two, with continental breakfast. One two-night package, the Secrets of Umbrian Cashmere, is priced from €460 ($629) per couple and includes a superior room with buffet breakfasts; a tour of a nearby family-run cashmere workshop; two gifts of Umbrian cashmere and discounts for Torre Palombara guests.

A Sunlit Land of Scent and Vital Color         

Located 30 minutes from Cannes, La Bergerie Villa is reaching out to American travelers for the first time. The villa’s setting captures the scents and sunlight of the Cote d’Azur with a bounty of mimosas, roses, pink laurels, rosemary, lavenders, cypress and pine in its gardens.

The villa sits within the Terre Blanche resort in Tourrettes, a short drive from the sea. The villa sleeps 12 guests in luxurious accommodation, in a private house with views of the golf course, the mountains and the perched villages of Callian, Seillans and Fayence.

Each spacious room in the villa has the touch of interior design, with a mixture of antique and contemporary furnishings. Each bedroom has en-suite facilities and four have French Windows opening onto balconies or terraces which overlook the gardens surrounding the property.

The kitchens are equipped with professional appliances and the rooms feature long dining tables for enjoying meals in style. The chef at the villa will create menus to suit all guests – ranging from three-course meals to barbecues on the terrace.

The wine cellar is always fully stocked and chef ensures the fridge and pantry have all the guests’ favorites for their stay. There are also dining areas surrounding the pool as well as a drawing room, cinema room and den.

Guests at La Bergerie can also use the Terre Blanche Resort’s golf course, tennis courts, spa and restaurants. Cannes, St Tropez, Antibes, St Paul de Vence and Nice are close enough for day trips and the villages of the local area are steeped in history, culture and character. Guests often wander the region wine tasting in local vineyards, mountain biking, sailing and other local pursuits.

La Bergerie is available for long weekend breaks and starts from $55,000 per week/$7,900 per night (maximum 12 guests) for seven nights’ luxury accommodation, including a team of three live in staff.

There are numerous companies that book villas. The Thinking Traveller is a good example. The company has been expanding its inventory of villas to add Greece’s Ionian Islands to their core destinations in Sicily and Puglia, in 2013.

The company seeks the more traditional villa that can accommodate families and friends traveling together. Other specialists include Villas of Distinction and Wimco, to name a few.

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