The grandest mansions in France and Italy to buy, rent or visit

France and Italy are home to some of the most storied castles, palaces and grand homes in the world, ranging from Loire Valley chateaux to Sicilian strongholds and French Riviera mansions. Many are available to hire for weddings or parties, overnight stays or wine tastings. You can even buy one — if your budget stretches into the millions.

CNBC has picked a selection of some of the grandest French and Italian castles and palaces you can find.

Want a piece of movie history? The 22-bedroom neo-Gothic Piazza Agostino Pennisi, which was featured in “The Godfather Part III,” is for sale. The castle — on the Italian island of Sicily — has an asking price of $6.8 million and has 12 reception halls, a private park, grotto and separate caretaker’s home. Coming in at around 43,000 square feet, it also has a chapel decorated with frescoes by 19^th-century artist Giuseppe Sciuti. Sotheby’s International Realty, which is marketing the property, describes it as a “single family home.”

If you fancy cultivating a winemaking hobby, consider this grand Italian castle in Tuscany’s Chianti region. It could be yours for 20 million euros ($22.3 million), and is listed by Christie’s International Real Estate. Dating back more than 1,000 years, it was restored in the 1980s by its current owner. The castle is surrounded by around 30 acres of vineyards — which can produce up to 150,000 bottles of wine a year — as well as olive groves and countryside. It has plenty of room for guests, with 25 bedrooms and 33 bathrooms, and there is plenty of sightseeing to do nearby, as it’s located between Florence and Siena.

Cannes, the playground of the rich and famous in the south of France, is home to Le Palais Venitien, which is on sale for a staggering $136.9 million. The 32,300 square foot home was built in 1990 and has nine “residential suites,” along with a cinema, nightclub, hammam and wine cellar. Also listed by Sotheby’s, it is set in six acres of land, including a woodland, tennis court and lake, all overlooking the Mediterranean.

If buying a palace feels a little out of reach, why not rent a castle? Chateau Des Joyaux in France’s Loire Valley looks straight out of a Disney movie with its spires, lake and 22 bedrooms. It comes in at around 33,000 euros for a two-night midweek stay — for the whole place. Built in 1854, it’s sometimes referred to as “Petit Chambord” for its resemblance to the 16^th-century Chateau de Chambord in the same area, and has a neighboring 600-person capacity Catholic church for those holding weddings at the venue. The…