Villa Astor

Set on the cliffs of Sorrento, overlooking the dazzling Gulf of Naples, this spectacular six-bedroom villa offers one of Italy's most exquisite botanical gardens and is the ideal setting for a relaxed holiday on one of the Mediterranean's most famous stretches of coastline. With a breathtaking cliff-top setting overlooking Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, it's no surprise that the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento are must-see places on everyone's bucket list. The ancient town center is constructed out on a Roman grid of narrow alleyways, which are now dotted with fancy gnocchi restaurants and stores selling lemon-themed souvenirs. Away from the well-worn paths of the town center, however, are undiscovered nooks and crannies. The domed and frescoed Sedile Dominova, formerly a meeting place for aristocrats, is now a working-club men's where old-timers pass the time playing cards in the afternoons. Then there are the medieval palaces along Via Pietà, the splendid courtyard of Palazzo Correale covered with antique majolica tiles, and artisan workshops manufacturing the same wood intarsia for which the town became famous in the 18th century. If Sorrento becomes too crowded, the laid-back town of Vico Equense, perched on a sheer tufa cliff just off the shore, is an appealing base. Beachgoers flock to the small pockets of sand tucked into coves at Marina di Vico and Marina d'Aequa, while walkers tackle the old footpath to Positano, a panoramic three-to-four-hour trek clinging to the cliffs on the Amalfi coast, and culture hounds board the Circumvesuviana train to march around the archeological sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum, both destroyed by the volcano.

• Accommodates 12
• Bedrooms 6
• En-Suite Bathrooms 6
• Guest Bathrooms 2