Property of the month...

Our holiday villa rental of the month is The Penthouse, a luxurious apartment in Mullins, Barbados. To see the property's website click here.

The Grape Escape

Parties, shopping and sightseeing revolve around a harvest festival, Festivale Stampa di Toscana, based in the ancient spa town of Montecatini in northwest Tuscany, between Lucca and Florence, and taking place at the end of September and early November.

Decked out in traditional grape-treading regalia, visitors will stomp grapes under the tutelage of locals: photo ops galore and the kind of fun that most people would think could happen only in the movies. At a party in the private castle of a celebrated vineyard the night before the Stampa, amid music and dancing to a live band, participants learn the history of stamping and the age-old techniques that begin the wine-making for each year. Each visitor receives a gift of three personally labeled bottles of Chianti.

Sightseeing can include excursions to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower and to Lucca for its medieval mansions and palaces, orientation in Montecatini, and in the Chianti region to Siena and San Gimignano. You can also spend time shopping the factory outlets around Florence: the likes of Fendi, Prada, Gucci and Armani are represented!