Umbrian borgo
Small, historic villages known as borgos are scattered all over Umbria, but it's rare that you can get one all to yourself. This tiny hamlet, called Borgo San Biagio, is high in the hills near Umbertide and is made up of five stone properties with timber beams and open fireplaces galore. They include the 1,000-year-old Renato's Tower, with one room per floor and 80 steps leading to a bizarre battlement roof terrace that comes complete with a small swimming pool and sundeck. There is also a large heated outside pool. There is room for get-togethers in the converted chapel with its satellite television, and also for privacy, with a romantic bedroom area of The Priest's House, which comes with a Jacuzzi in the bathroom. The owner, Renato, lives nearby and will happily arrange everything from horse riding in the surrounding hills to parties with local musicians and feasting on roast suckling pig.
Sleeps: 15
The damage: From £3,485 to £5,065 a week. Properties can be hired individually, from £765 a week in peak season.
Contact: CV Travel (020 7591 2800)
Rent-a-state in Liechtenstein
At just 60 square miles, the statelet of Liechtenstein is actually 11 villages, wedged in the Rhine valley between Austria and Switzerland. Infamous as a financial shelter for drug barons and dictators, Liechtenstein put itself on the hospitality rental map last year. Rent it and you get a scenic Alpine backdrop, plus access to wine-tasting in the prince's cellars and dinner in the castle. Though taking over Liechtenstein is more for business entertainment than tourism, corporate events company Xnet also rents out villages in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, and says it is willing to talk to anyone who can scrape together a few hundred friends. One of its schemes is the Austrian village of Brand, snuggled in a valley at the bottom of the Brandner glacier, where the population of 650 welcome guests into their homes. The cost includes transport from the airport, food and entertainment.
Sleeps: Hundreds
The damage: Anything from £200pp a day to £330 based on large groups travelling.
Contact: Xnet (00 423 230 1696)
Rural Spain
One of Spain's villages abandoned in the Sixties as a result of demographic change, Valdelavilla in the Tierras Altas de Soria has been completely renovated. There are 12 charming stone houses capped by red-tiled roofs dotted along cobbled streets and with low stone walls separating them. Inside, they are rustic but comfortable, with lots of wooden beams. The largest can sleep 10 people. There is also a restaurant, a TV lounge and a farm for children. The village is surrounded by woods, and there are lots of outdoor sports, including horse riding, cycling and trekking.
Sleeps: 73
The damage: Price for the whole village on application. Double room with breakfast £50 (€70).
Contact: Turismo Rural Valdelavilla (0034 975 18 55 32)
Tuscan hamlet
The eight cottages that make up the medieval hamlet of Pieve di Caminino in Tuscany's Maremma region are clustered around a Romanesque church (the Pieve), now used for dining. With large Tuscan fireplaces and timbered ceilings, the stone houses include La Scuola (The School House), Casa della Maestra (The School Teacher's House) and Casa del Guardia (The Gamekeeper's House), plus others named after saints believed to have lived here in the twelfth and sixteenth centuries. The hamlet is set in a natural amphitheatre, with olive groves extending from the wooded, rocky backdrop towards the coast. Beaches are within half-an-hour's drive and mountain bikes can be hired. There are also extensive gardens with plenty of terraces and pergolas, vast tracts of woodland to explore and an ornamental lake with lawns seemingly made for sunbathing.
Sleeps: 18 in beds plus five more in sofa beds.
The damage: From £3,173 to £4,338 a week. Properties can be hired individually, with prices starting at £473 a week in peak season.
Contact: Invitation to Tuscany (0121 429 5016)
Gascon gathering
There are only three buildings in the Domaine de Loustau making up the hamlet of Lamaguere, set in 125 acres in South West France. The main house is an imposing six-bedroom maison de maitre , all stone with oak interiors. It comes with a two-bedroom apartment, both bordered by a three-sided moat and the river Arrats. A four-bed farmhouse is also available on the estate, whose only other buildings are an old mill and a church. It's five miles to the nearest shops at Seissan. The hamlet was once part of the estate of Chateau de Lamaguere in the Gers, which was destroyed by the Huguenots.
Sleeps: 22
The damage: £3,160 a week in high season. The farmhouse can be hired separately for £810 a week.
Contact: The Gascony Secret (01284 827253)
