“People choose Sicily for the virtually guaranteed climate, culture and history. It’s thirty years behind the rest of Europe socially, so young people are polite to their elders. The food is excellent and the cost of living half that of Tuscany”


Chia. “There are few British buyers, easy access to vibrant Cagliari and gorgeous beaches,” she says. “Other than the rural areas around


Santa Teresa Gallura in the north, which provide easy access to the coast, I would avoid the inland areas of Sardinia, as they can be very remote and inaccessible, with next to no services.” After rising by 50 per cent from 2003, property prices on Sardinia have dropped by 10 per cent over the past two years, says Veillon.


Sicily Sicily is the largest island in the


Mediterranean, with an impressive 620-mile coastline, but it has never matched the popularity of Sardinia for second-home buyers.


48 aplaceinthesun.com


A shortage of new-build properties, poor infrastructure in areas and a wariness of the Mafi a are all to blame. Yet the wonders of this island,


invaded over the centuries by Greeks, Romans, Arabs and Spanish, are legendary. Baroque towns, intimate seaside resorts, with no high-rises to sully the view – it’s at once supremely Italian and uniquely Sicilian. “It’s mainly well-educated,


professional couples or families who buy on Sicily,” says Ramsay Gilderdale of Modicasa (www.modicasa.com). “They choose Sicily for the virtually guaranteed climate, culture and history. It’s 30 years behind the rest of Europe socially, so young people are polite to their elders. The food is excellent and the cost of living is half of that in Tuscany.”


Modica, south-east Sicily, €220,000 (£174,000) Authentic stone farmhouse, set in carob and olive groves, with three bedrooms, an old stone kitchen, traditional oven and own water borehole. Contact: Go Sicily Properties, www.gosicilyproperties.com


The most popular areas of Sicily


are touristy Taormina, where prices peak, Syracuse and Cefalù. In Taormina, Marina di Ragusa and


the historic centre of Palermo, property can reach €4,000 (£3,160) per square metre, double what you pay elsewhere. Picking the right spot is crucial


to fi nding your ideal home, advises Gilderdale. “The development of the airport


in Trapani, where passenger numbers


BUDGET BOLTHOLE


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100