Gorgeous 3 bedroom holiday home in Palombaro

This is Rosabella, my beautiful house in the small classically Italian village of Palombaro, in the Chieti province of Abruzzo. Palombaro is perched on a rocky finger (see video below) with stunning views across to the Adriatic on one side and the Majella mountains on the other. It is available for rental throughout the year and is perfectly positioned 30 minutes from the beach, 40 minutes to the nearest ski resort and 10 minutes to stunning mountain walks. It is a popular area for rock climbing and cycling (or just sleeping, eating & truly getting away from it all).

From the moment you open the shutters on the first morning and absorb the view you will feel the peace and calm infusing you. 

Rosabella is an old lady. She's not pristine, but she's gorgeous. Parts of the house are fully refurbished and some are shabby chic, but they all have character.

There are three large double bedrooms (with king/superking) beds and there's a double sofabed in the cosy lounge. Three further single beds are available enabling the house to sleep up to 11.  

Stone house with arched door in narrow street with blue sky behind

Address

Via Orientale 12
66010 Palombaro CH
Italy

Here are the three bedrooms. When you arrive all the beds will have fresh bedding. When you leave you simply need to strip off the bedding and leave it in the kitchen. Spare/extra bedding is available from the linen cupboard in the gold bedroom.

Large ornate wrought iron bed against a light pink wall
interior photo of bed and window
An art deco wooden bed with gold and white bedding by a bright open window
The three main bedrooms (Click to view large)
Panoramic view of mountains, old houses and a large cypress tree
View of kitchen table with worktops and shiny deep red cabinets in the background
Blue sky through an arched door
A table laid with pasta, salad, wine and a retro napkin
A distant view of a hill top village in misty shades of grey and blue
The moon over grey-green hills with a blush pink sky
A view from the balcony (with rainbow)

Rosabella is very well equipped with everything you're likely to need - fast wifi, bath and beach towels, all the kitchen kit, hairdryer, DVDs and a small player, adaptor plugs, electric fans for the heat of summer and hot water bottles for the winter months after a hard day's ski-ing.

You do need a car to get around the area. They can be rented very affordably from Pescara airport. I book via www.rentalcars.com. Do not be tempted to pay for the extra insurance from the car rental companies but do pay separately for Excess Insurance from insurance4carhire.com or carhireexcess.com which is about £20 for a week's or £45 for a year's cover.

The upstairs consists of two large bedrooms (one with a dressing room/child's room off it), a landing with cushioned reading area and a lovely bathroom with walk in shower and underfloor heating.

The downstairs consists of a small entrance hall, a big family kitchen with a large balcony, the third double bedroom and a cosy lounge. 

There are two further floors of cellars (cantinas) accessed from the kitchen where there is a second bathroom with a toilet, sink and washing machine and lots of space for clothes drying.

Large grey corner sofa bed with scatter cushions
Green retro 50s armchair in a sunlit window by a basket of logs

This is what Rosabella looks like on a crisp snowy January day. Whilst there is snow every year on the nearby Majella mountains (9,000 ft) it doesn't always snow as far down as the village. In fact its often possible to walk on the beach and have a sunny coffee or gelato at a cafe in shirt sleeves in December and January. 

There is a fabulous ski area 55 minutes away called Alto Sangro (also look up Roccaraso and Rivisondoli) with 110km of piste and 24 lifts, and a much smaller resort - Passolanciano - 40 minutes away.

View of the end wall of the house and snow covered street
Sunset shot of small pool with parasols
Poolside shot of loungers and parasols
A dash cam and drone's view of the village
Villa Santa Maria river picnic spot
The open fire in the lounge

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the best way to exchange money?

I strongly recommend getting a Revolut account for all your foreign travels. It is an app based account which enables you to switch currencies at excellent (inter-bank) rates in seconds - pound to Euro, dollar to yen, you name it. 

You can get cash (in Euros) out of the Palombaro village cash machine (without a charge) as well as working as a debit card anywhere in the world. Its the simplest way of paying me for your stay too. Every transaction you make shows instantly as a text on your phone and you can get a second card which you can put a limit on (great for parents to give to their kids when they travel abroad on school trips etc). Opening the account is really quick and free, but getting a physical card is usually £5, but free if you follow this link:  revolut.com/r/katepujj  

Are towels provided?

Bathroom towels and beach towels are all provided. If you want to make your holiday even more economical you can do your own laundering at the end of your stay (saving £7 per load of towels/bedding).

Do I need to bring UK power adaptors?

There are two UK 3-pin plug sockets with USB ports in the kitchen so you can plug your cable straight in. There's also a speaker dock to charge/play music from an iPhone (with lightning input) and a second bluetooth speaker for any phone to connect to. There are four UK-Italian plug adapters so if you bring anything additional such as hair straighteners you don’t need to bring an adaptor to Rosabella.

Is the house child friendly?

Its not great for small children, but fine for sensible older ones. There will soon be a high chair and cot there for babies.

How do we get to Palombaro?

Flights go from London Stansted to Pescara airport (on the Adriatic coast) five days a week (not Tues and Thurs in the winter; not Tues and Fri in the summer). It is then a one hour drive to the house from Pescara. Prices can be very low off peak and can get ridiculously high at the last minute in peak season.

Alternatively you can fly from any UK airport to either of Rome's airports (Ciampino is a little better) and then drive for 3 hours. It's a fairly straightforward, very pleasant drive mostly on motorways (with a small toll). Flight prices can often be cheaper on Rome routes when the Pescara flight has filled up.

Theoretically you could also fly to Ancona, Bari or Naples and have a similar (3 hour-ish) drive but I've never done these routes.

What else is there to do in the area?

Apart from beaches, ski-ing and mountain walks there are stunning castles (look up Roccascelegna), a great high ropes adventure centre, white water rafting, lovely markets (a great one on Sundays in nearby Guardiagrele), horse riding, a nearby organic vineyard, churches, some stunning turquoise icy cold rock pools that feed into the pasta factories in Fara San Martino (15 minutes away), eateries, caves (Grotte di Cavallone), waterfalls and constant festivals and events (just look out for posters in the village).

Oh, and did I mention the Prosecco is 1.80 Euros in the supermarket!

A spindly wooden fishing structure just off the beach against a bright blue sky