Top Ten Painting Holidays

Stunning views from around the world will inspire the artists among us to get out their paints. Here's ten vistas good enough to crack open a burnt sienna, or even an ultramarine.... 

1.Down to the Douro Valley, Northern Portugal

From Pinhao follow the lane which winds steeply up through hillsides covered in vines to the tiny hamlet of Casal de Loivos, two miles away. From its small viewing terrace you get a breathtaking panorama over the Douro Valley that's perfect for painting. The vineyards which produce the area's famous port wine stretch over softly sloping hills as far as the eye can see, turning them from pale green in spring and summer to mellow reds and browns in autumn after the precious grapes have been harvested. Far below, the blue river sparkles in the sun as it snakes through its long gorge.

2.The red rooftops of Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Built by the wealthy Medici family during the city's 'golden years' around 500 years ago, the whole of Florence is like a work of art. Cross the River Arno and climb the steep narrow streets to see it at its best, from the spacious terraces of the Piazzale Michelangelo. Who wouldn't be inspired to get their paints out to capture the view over the city's mellow red rooftops? Dominating the scene is the huge cathedral dome - 138 feet across - which is larger than either St Paul's in London or St Peter's in Rome.

3.Collioure on the western Mediterranean coast in France

No wonder Collioure has been a magnet for artists ever since the Impressionist painter Matisse settled there in 1905. It's a charming little port where fishing boats tie up at the quayside beside a colourful terrace of quaint old buildings. Watched over at one end by an 800-year old castle and at the other by a small church whose tower, a small pink dome, was once a lighthouse, it is a much-painted scene. Meanwhile less artistic companions can soak up the sun on one of the small sandy beaches nearby.

4.Cape St Vincent, Western Algarve, Portugal

Bleak and windswept Cape St Vincent, mainland Europe's most south-westerly point, was known as the 'end of the world' until the15th century when Prince Henry the Navigator founded his school of navigation in nearby Sagres. Topped by a lighthouse, its 75-metre high cliffs from which fishermen silently dangle their long lines are constantly lashed by Atlantic waves. With wheeling seagulls and ships passing in the distance, you have a dramatic seascape that positively cries out to be painted. How different from the crowded sun-baked beaches elsewhere along the Algarve.

5.Skyros Town, Skyros island, Greece

Skyros island's tiny capital - and only town - makes a quintessential Greek scene. Small cube-shaped houses, gleaming white, cascade down the hillside beneath the ruins of an ancient castle. Bathed in pink at sunset and dotted with twinkling lights after dark, the town is just as picturesque at close quarters - a maze of narrow stone alleys and steps beneath wooden balconies that blaze with bougainvillea and geraniums. Old ladies in black gossip in doorways while the men drink ouzo in the bars. Occasionally a heavily-laden donkey passes by. Capture all that on canvas and you'll have a splendid souvenir of your visit.

6.Up in the Tramuntana mountains, Mallorca, Spain

Forsake Mallorca's sea and sand to discover one of the island's best vistas. It's hidden away in the Serra de Tramuntana, the 60-mile spine of spectacular mountains which runs down the rugged west coast. In the hills behind Puerto Soller, a signposted path bordered by flowering bushes soon brings you to the turquoise-blue Cuber lake tucked beneath two jagged grey ridges. Puig Major, the island's highest peak, peeps up in the distance and red kites fly overhead. As a mountain and lake scene, it's perfect to paint - and the pure cool air and sense of serenity make it even better.

7.Konigssee near Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany

Enclosed by high grey cliffs and steep forests that drop to the water's edge, the Konigssee - King's lake - is truly awe-inspiring. Five kilometres long and two wide, it is Germany's deepest lake. A white chapel with red onion domes and a 600-year old hunting lodge nestle neatly on the shore at its remote far end. The most dramatic picture is when a breeze ruffles the water, the sun casts shadows across it and any boat seems utterly dwarfed by the majesty of the surroundings. To capture the scene, you'll need plenty of blues, greys and greens.

8.Corsica's dramatic coastline around Cap Corse

Few coastlines are as dramatic as Corsica's mountainous northwest tip where steep cliffs drop to a rocky seashore. The picture is completed by the narrow road cut into a shelf which twists precariously round the headlands from the little port of St Florent to Cap Corse. Below are sandy coves and rocky creeks; high above are crags and castle ruins. It looks all the more hair-raising in summer when a string of tourist coaches are negotiating the tight bends and narrow village streets. As a picture it makes the perfect souvenir of that rugged holiday island.

9.Promenade des Anglais, Nice, France

The vista over the Promenade des Anglais as it sweeps around Nice's wide bay captures the essence of the French Riviera, which has inspired so many painters over the centuries. The best viewpoint is up in the castle gardens on a headland at the eastern end of the town, well above the relentless traffic. You look down on the turquoise Mediterranean lapping the pebbly shore, usually calm as a lake though sometimes angry and grey. Behind the three mile long promenade and its lines of palm trees, the town's cream-coloured buildings stretch away to wooded hillsides fringed by distant mountain tops.

10.Ziller Valley, Austria

The Penken cable car whisks walkers up over forests from the Tyrolean village of Mayrhofen to a panoramic view over the broad Ziller valley. Chalet-style houses with steep sloping roofs and balconies lined with geraniums radiate from the village church whose slender spire is a landmark for miles around. The fast-flowing Ziller river sparkles and plump cows graze in the meadows. On both sides of the flat valley, dark green forests stretch up the mountainsides and in the distance some of the highest peaks are snow-capped even in summer. Or there is a completely different scene to paint in winter when everywhere is covered in snow.