Our places in the sun

The Express on Sunday published an interesting list of popular destinations abroad for Britons, including Calabria.

See the full article here: www.express.co.uk.

About Calabria, they say:

The toe of Italy used to be notorious for its wild scenery and kidnappings.

Thankfully, the kidnapping has stopped but the region remained Italy's best-kept secret until the British started noticing it about five years ago. The market dipped last year when Ryanair stopped flights to Lamezia, forcing visitors to fly via another Italian airport to Reggio Calabria, the capital of the province.

However Monarch is introducing direct flights from Gatwick to Lamezia from April. The Tyrrhenian (west) coast is more popular and has Europe's best beach of 2009 at Tropea, while the Ionian (east) coast is quieter. James Dearsley, who has just bought a home in Calabria, says:

"It's for people who want to buy into the Italian lifestyle. English is not widely spoken but the locals are extremely friendly. There are a few thousand Brits scattered over the region but they're not gathered into colonies."

One-bedroom apartments start at ?76,000 (£63,000), two-beds from ?100,000 (£83,000) and three-bed villas from ?200,000 (£166,000). Dearsley adds: "Calabria is where the Italians love to go on holiday so it is fantastic for buy-to-let."

Read more: www.express.co.uk.