FIND a bolthole that is forever Tuscan, yet little more than an hour’s drive north from frantic Pisa and heavenly Lucca, in the hills of Lunigiana. This rolling landscape is studded with Malaspina and Medici castles and timeless medieval villages, and the Gulf of La Spezia is less than 45 minutes away by car.

Hello Italy specialises in the area which few Brits have yet penetrated, but recommends boning up on your Italian — or at least your hand gestures — to cope with the markets and trattorias.

The firm’s properties range from an old mill to a 16th-century manor, as well as houses owned by the naturalist David Bellamy. Casetta Franca, which can cater for a couple or family of four, probably rates as everyone’s idea of a Tuscan country cottage with its vines round the door and al fresco dining terrace. It’s the last house in the sleepy hamlet of Varano, and the only passer-by is likely to be the local shepherd and his flock. River bathing is within a few minutes drive or a walk through the hills.

The cottage occupied by four (with reductions for two) costs £245-£399 a week, and self-drive and flight packages can be tailor-made.

• Hello Italy (01483 284011, www.helloit.co.uk).

  Star-spangled historical highlights
  
  Celebrate America’s Independence Day (July 4, 1776) in its birthplace, Philadelphia, on a new Heritage Highway self-drive tour from Connections Worldwide. The 16-day holiday takes you through America’s history, from Philadelphia, Amish country and Gettysburg, site of the most notorious battle of the Civil War in 1863, then on to the vibrant former steel town of Pittsburgh.

  You’ll visit Jamestown, the first successful English colony in the New World, and Williamsburg, the old colonial capital and the most heavily restored 18th-century town in the US. Washington is also on the itinerary, as is Charlottesville, home of Thomas Jefferson, who drafted the Declaration of Independence.

  The tour costs £1,230-£1,548 per person for flights, car hire, room-only accommodation and a private transfer between your home town and the UK airport and back.

• Connections Worldwide (01494 473173, www.connectionsworldwide.co.uk).

  Seoul mates

  AFTER South Korea’s success as co-host of the 2002 World Cup, Asiaworld has created a new programme of ten destinations and several tours there.

  A four-day city break to Seoul starts at £885 for flights and room-only accommodation at the centrally situated Pacific Hotel.

  Crammed with palaces, pagodas and temples, South Korea’s capital is also nirvana for shopaholics, with its malls, markets and factory outlets. Seven-day tours are also available.

  Take pride and sail away on a spree

  THE time looks to be right for a shopping spree across the Channel. Bargain deals, available until July 14, mark the launch of two new P&O ferries on the Dover-Calais route.

  The 2,000-passenger Pride of Canterbury made her debut on May 9, and Pride of Kent will make her maiden voyage next month.

  Two-day returns for car and two people cost £20 and the price increases by £10 a day, making three-day returns £30, with a maximum stay of ten days (£100). Additional passengers travel for £10 return; motorhomes cost an extra £25.

• P&O Ferries (0870-520 2020, www.poferries.com).