Essential Italy

We know car choice is important for the enjoyment of your holiday, our supplier – Maggiore Car Rental – will guarantee the following:

• highly competitive prices
• no major tour operator is working with them, therefore we are quite sure that queuing will be kept to a minimum, even in high season
• all cars have air conditioning
• a full and comprehensive back-up system

Request Car Hire quote ›

We do not book flights, we leave it to you to choose the best departure point and flight times to suit your party. We have compiled a list of airlines flying to those regions in which we offer accommodation.

Flights are from the UK, if you are travelling from elsewhere, please don’t hesitate to contact us, we will recommend an airline flying from your departure point. If you are unsure which airport in Italy is closest to your accommodation, please call us on 01223 460100 or email

Subscribe to our monthly newsletters to recieve all the latest on Special Offers, Properties and Regions, fabulous Italian recipes plus much more.

Cefalicchio Country House Canosa

Set in the wonderful rolling countryside north of Bari, the super country house takes you back in time. Originally built in the 1700’s, this majestic building has been lovingly restored keeping all the original features and beautiful floors – a real taste of just how the more affluent famers lived! Cefalicchio provides not only superb accommodation but is also part of a working farm – the 80 acres that make up the estate are packed full of fruit trees, olive groves and vineyards which are all put to very good use.

Located just a few kilometres from Andria, home to an impressive Castle (now a UNESCO site) and grand cathedral, Cefalicchio is in a great location for visiting many of the neighbouring small towns and villages including Trani, Canosa and Minervino. Your hosts Kathrin and Livio will ensure that your stay will be the most memorable with their care and attention to detail, local knowledge and warm welcome.

The gates lead up a tree lined avenue taking you to the house. Much of the ground floor has been turned into lounges with vaulted ceilings, stone floors and contemporary furniture – the perfect place for contemplating your day, enjoying your book or sipping a glass of local wine. There is also a small spa area on the ground floor where several treatments are offered. The 7 en-suite rooms are all different in size and design as no structural changes have been made to the elegant building – 3 double rooms, 2 suites and 2 apartments (with limited cooking facilities) are available making it a great choice for couples, friends and families alike. The furnishings and decor have all been carefully chosen to fit in with the country house style – you really feel as if you are house-guests in this amazing setting. We can recommend short and long stays and are pretty sure that whatever you choose will not be quite enough.

The glorious gardens provide both sun and shade – breakfast is served outside under large umbrellas in the hot months giving you the very best start to the day. Many beautiful old trees surround the property and the addition of some scented flowering bushes makes it something of a paradise for the nature lover. The pool sits to the side of the house with plenty of loungers from where you may soak up the Pugliese sun before taking a cooling dip in the inviting water.

To complete the picture, a fantastic restaurant is to be found on the grounds where you may try some of the tasty local fare rustled up by the local and famous chef who will be able to tempt you to some really super Pugliese food – needless to say this will be accompanied by some excellent wines from the Cefaliccio estate.

For those of you that love nature and are looking for something a little different, we can not recommend Cefalicchio Country House enough.

New in Puglia for 2012

Helen & Sarah have just returned from a very fruitful trip to Puglia...

Read more ›