For faded grandeur and realistic prices check into Hotel Cappuccini Convento (00 39 089 871 877) in Amalfi. Le Sirenuse (00 39 089 875 066; sirenuse.it) is still the smartest address in Positano. The ornate palazzo-style property has glamour written large across its 22 suites – Gore Vidal described the view from the terrace as “the most beautiful in the world”. You’ll have to kill to reserve a suite during the Wagner Festival in July, when the likes of Hillary Clinton and Placido Domingo visit.

Back to Italy’s glory days Back in its Fifties heyday, Italy’s Amalfi Coast was the playground of the rich and famous. Now the smart set are returning to enjoy the refurbished Hotel Caruso in Ravello. The harbourside alone has had a £21m facelift and the town has grabbed two Michelin stars in the new 2006 guide. The Elephant (01803 200044) is a stylish bar restaurant right on the harbourside and Orestone Manor is a country-house hotel on the rural outskirts.
Who goes there? Rik Mayall, Cilla Black and G?rd Depardieu Contact: Orestone Manor (01803 328098; orestone co.uk) offers dinner, b& b from £370 for two nights for two. Out go the cream teas, in come Michelin-starred restaurants and boutique abodes. OK, so you can still stay in Fawlty Towers-style guesthouses, but Torquay has tidied up its act.

Throughout May, rent the Domaine de Carignan, a villa sleeping nine at Coursan in the Languedoc with Pure France (0871-288 4198; purefrance ) The price is for a week’s rental Ref 11044. Prices correct at time of going to press and are per person based on two sharing, unless stated Subject to availability. That British riviera touch

Torquay and the English Riviera are back. Get seven nights for the price of six at Queen Ada resort in Bodrum in Turkey with The Mediterranean Experience (0870-499 0676; themed ) until 14 May The price includes flights from Gatwick and b&b £995…

NCL (0845-658 8010; uk.ncl ) is offering a seven-night western Mediterranean cruise for departures on 14 May. The price of the trip, which calls at Naples, Rome, Florence, Villefranche and Barcelona, is all-inclusive but flights are extra £599… The price includes return flights from Gatwick, transfers and b&b £295… Spend seven nights at Lake Garda with Voyages Jules Verne (0845-166 7035; vjv ). The price, for departures on 6 May, includes flights, transfers, half-board and the services of a local guide £499… Aoife O’Riordain

£269…