Villas & Country Retreats (Agritourism)
If you're looking for something different, a villa or country retreat may be the perfect alternative to a conventional visit to Sicily. Before contemplating either alternative, it's naturally best to know what to expect. Here's an idea, but first....

Be very careful. Things are not always as simple as they seem. You may have to walk through a consumer's mine field to reach your villa or country estate! Terms like "agritourism" and "villa" are not clearly defined in Italian law, and renting or reserving these through an agency is no guarantee that you'll get what you want in these vacation (holiday) options. So let's talk.

Villas
These are private country or seaside homes available for rental. A villa is usually a luxury home or rather spacious country cottage built as a private residence. Villas are typically located in rather secluded settings. Don't be deceived by Sicilian resort firms that rent simple country condos or apartments as if these were real villas. A villa is not part of a planned development, resort complex or enclosed suburban community, and it's not usually surrounded by other (nearly identical) structures. It's not part of a hotel and it's not usually owned by a real estate company. Such rip-offs are possible because, like the word "palazzo" (originally a palace or mansion but now used to refer generically even to apartment buildings), the term "villa" has no clear definition in Italian law.

Because the term villa is not precisely defined in Italian law, it can refer to a free standing historical dwelling in the country (the image envisioned by most people) or it could be a pre-fabricated bungalow developed by somebody seeking to exploit the foreign market. In Taormina, many historical villas, originally the homes of English expatriates, have been converted into hotels or luxury lodging. However, many so-called "villas" are nothing more than small cottages or beach houses. Here in Italy, the field of villa rentals is not rigidly regulated. Prices for villas rented via agencies outside Italy are sometimes lower than prices for the same properties when rented from Italy-based agencies. That's because when renting to foreigners the owners don't always declare taxed income on these commercial transactions. It's amazing that some of the largest rental companies specializing in Italian villas work outside the law yet enjoy a rapport with the Italian tourist boards, but that's not our concern. What's most important is that the Sicilian villa you rent is the real thing, not just a misrepresented property. This rule applies whether it's a villa in Taormina, Cefalù or the Lipari (Aeolian) islands.

Here's the best part: Many villa owners in Sicily will undercut the foreign agencies that represent them. In this way, your price from the villa owner (directly) may be lower than the price you pay when working through an agency. It's often best to rent directly from the owner if possible. However, there are several internet-based firms that can assist you (and that rent real villas). (In the interest of fairness and ethics, we do not link to the sites of villa rental agencies.) Each has a different approach to helping you find the villa that's right for you, and some offer bed and breakfasts and things similar to "agriturismo" (following section). It's only fair to tell you that most online agencies charge you DOUBLE what they're paying the villa owners. If that seems like an excessively high commission, try a wide search engine search using key words like villas sicily or villa rental sicily. With an Italian search engine (linked below), try ville siciliane or villa in sicilia or even villa siciliana in affitto. Other choices are villa estiva in sicilia and agenzia immobiliare in sicilia.You might also consider one of the "offline" rental agencies that advertise in travel magazines.

A stay in a Sicilian villa can be a delightful experience. However, as you may have inferred by now, we believe the cost of villa rentals via sales agents to be inflated. It's usually best to consider such rentals only when price is not very important.

Country Retreats (Agriturismo)
"Agriturismo," as it's known in Italy, is a rural alternative to urban sightseeing. The name is misleading because this isn't "tourism" in the traditional sense. (Official guidebooks translate the term "farm house resorts," which is perhaps more precise, though it sounds strange, and "ecotourism" would not be very accurate. We prefer "guest farm.") These holidays offer a week or weekend in a rustic setting, usually a farm house, with a number of other guests. (See out agriturismo page for more information.)

Quality and prices vary widely, as do the activities available. Some of these country retreats have pools, others have riding facilities. Accommodations usually aren't too Spartan, and you may even have a chance to visit wine making or cheese making facilities; other "aziende" raise fruits, vegetables or livestock. Most of these "aziende turistiche" are working farms or estates located near small towns; others are more remote, so you may have to drive some distance into the country to reach your retreat (plan on renting a car). Some retreats are located amidst orchards or fields, while others are set in lush woods. The majority are in the mountains. It's actually a bit difficult to describe these retreats; they're not exactly American style ranches or camps (though there are campgrounds in Sicily), nor are they much like English estates or French farms.

However you describe agriturismo, the food, based on the local cuisine, is usually excellent. In the midst of such diversity, we can offer a few practical suggestions. Keep in mind that most of your fellow guests will be Italians, and most of the staff probably won't speak English, French or German. The smaller retreats are run by families and host just a few guests at a time. Another factor to consider is that you might not want to spend much time at one of these retreats unless you have time to spare. However, a country retreat is a good place to spend a weekend, when many attractions in the larger cities are closed, and nights in the country are usually cooler.

Apart from deliberate misrepresentation (see below), our main criticism of agriturismo as it presently exists in Sicily is that it hasn't yet been developed very effectively as far as advertising and reservations are concerned; few of the retreats have English-based web sites, email addresses or even fax numbers, and fewer still are represented by travel agencies in English-speaking countries. This makes finding the retreats rather difficult, and renders bookings nearly impossible unless you speak Italian. If, however, you read Italian (or know somebody who can translate for you), we recommend Italian sites on Sicilian country retreats, which can be searched on the Italian search engines (linked below) or even some international ones with the phrases azienda agrituristica in Sicilia or agriturismo sicilia.

"Agritourism" or "Rural Tourism?"
Buyer beware!!! Legally, Italian regulatory authorities distinguish between agritourism (agriturismo) and something called rural tourism (turismo rurale). What's the difference?

"Agriturismo" means you'll be staying on a working farm whose cuisine is locally produced. The estate, typically fairly large and family operated, will include orchards, vineyards or livestock, and the meats, wines and cheeses served will be produced on the farm or nearby. Some of the best agritourism choices are historic farm houses, mills, monasteries or aristocratic estates converted into lodging areas in the midst of farms, vineyards or cattle estates (ranches).

"Rural tourism," on the other hand, defines various forms of rural lodging which differ from agritourism in that they are not actual working farms. Often, they're just bungalows or small apartments constructed in the country for rental, but rural tourism could also describe many historical rural dwellings (houses or barns) which no longer function as the centre of working farms. In some cases, the owners have established working relationships with nearby farmers or livestock owners to make these things available to visitors, thus creating the misleading image of a working farm. They may even sponsor things like cheese making and sell local products (olive oil, wines). As the authorities cannot prevent the owners' use of the word "agriturismo" in the commercial name of the firm, trickery is easy. In itself, rural tourism is okay, but it should not be promoted as agritourism. Setting up a cheap lodging facility, inn or hotel in the country isn't the same thing as operating a working farm!

Better Searches with Italian Search Engines.
If you've searched everywhere for a Sicilian villa or country resort --even Google-- but still can't find what you're looking for, try searching in Italy. This presumes that you can read at least some Italian, and that you enter the appropriate key words in that language (though an English phrase may occasionally yield results), but it offers better chances of finding information on highly specialized searches. With Arianna, enter the key word or phrase and hit the TROVA button. With Virgilio, enter the key phrase and hit the CERCA button. Arianna uses its own database generated by Italia On Line with help from Google. Virgilio uses its own database in conjunction with the Lycos network. There are also Italian versions of Yahoo and Google.