I'm planning my honeymoon for late May in Italy. My fiance and I have traveled rather extensively throughout the country so this time we want to rent a place (for a week or two) and feel like natives. We are currently considering the lake region, Sardinia, the Amalfi coast or Tuscany/Umbria. <BR>Can anybody recommend a reputable comapany that has properties to rent?<BR><BR>Thanks in advance for your help.

I can recommend three that I have used - and one that I have not used, but everyone knows by reputation.<BR><BR>www.domani-usa.com<BR>www.rentvillas.com<BR>www.regencyintapt s.com<BR><BR>and<BR><BR>www.theparkercompany.com<B R><BR>Anything I could write here about choosing a company or a property is exceeded a hundred times over by a website that specializes in vacations of just this type. Highly reputab;e and enjpyable with the input of dozens and dozens of travelers who have stayed in &quot;self-catering&quot; properties: www.slowtrav.com<BR><BR>Whatever your decisions, congratulations for your new life in marriage... and...<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

I agree with Rex 100% -- go to slowtrav.com for reviews of rental agencies as well as the rentals themselves. There's a great message board with folks who can give you a lot of help. You may also find that the Parker Co. rentals are quite overpriced.

topping, for bodhisattva<BR><BR>the Parker Company does indeed have the reputation for having some of the nicest properties and the very highest prices.

Pick your location before you start to shop rentals. I think you may get bored in Sardinia for that long, but the other 3 are all superb. You will have tons more options in Tuscany, but May will be perfect for any of them.

I have 2 apartment for rent in villa in Florence.<BR>If interested look at www.genie.it/utenti/carlo.nocentini<BR>reviews on www.slowtravel.com

Thanks for your help everyone! Keep it coming...

WE rented from a co. called Salve Umbria 2 yrs ago and stayed in a fabulous villa just outside Perugia (salveumbria.com). It is no longer on the rental list, but other nice houses are. Also see italiareservations.com and check out Casa La Quercia, Casa Carina and one other that is a part of that complex of 3 rentals. They vary in size and perhaps one would accomodate your needs. I plan to rent Carina when we return to Tuscany next fall. Good luck finding a place to stay. Sally PS Umbria is a wonderful place to visit--lots of the smaller towns are very charming---we loved Spello!

We used rentvillas.com for a rental this fall, and were very happy with their service, and with our villa.

We rented a villa in Lucca for a week this past August/September and it was incredible!! Right in the middle of a working olive grove it was a 16th century farmhouse with a beautiful swimming pool. TUSCANY NOW was a wonderful company to work with, very professional, very efficient, very personal. Simon Ball runs it and we were very pleased. It was peaceful and quiet, about 6-7 miles out of Lucca, so you need a car. They have a brochure of all of their properties and they only rent out properties that have swimming pools (well, maybe a few don't especially those in the cities). If you would like to e-mail me about how to reach them, or their prices feel free. We had 7 people in this villa and it was great!

any more?<BR>

we rented from rentvillas.com and were quite happy with them as a company.

Fot Tuscnay you can also browse www.agriturismo.regione.toscana.it. This site lists all the agritourisms in Tuscnay and neables you to contact directly the owners. The essential informations are conveyed through symbols that require no knowledge of Italian, while the search pages are available in English and other languages too.

Up for Di.<BR>