Staycation

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Berlusconi: Whipped into shape

Most people in high profile, high pressure jobs like to let their hair down a little come holiday season.

But after all the partying with young starlets and call girls, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, inset, probably feels he has done all that. This year, to the relief of his frazzled PR people, he has opted for a more ascetic summer break.

Of course, with 18 properties, staying at home isn't quite so boring for Mr Berlusconi as it is for the rest of us. The libidinous media mogul is retreating to his villa in Arcore, right, outside Milan, and is relying on a disciplinarian Austrian lady to whip him into shape. During their 10-day stay in Arcore, Frau Gertraud Mitterrutzner von Guggenberg and her team, from a private clinic in the mountains of South Tyrol, will subject the 72-year-old Mr Berlusconi to a strict daily routine of muesli and sit-ups. The official line: the stay will "allow him to slim down and reactivate his metabolism".

The notoriously vain Prime Minister is concerned about the extra pounds he's put on as a result of steroid injections needed for his neck pain. "I'm doing 10 days of sporting therapy, because with the cortisone that I've taken I need to burn off a bit of weight," he told reporters. The Von Guggenberg clinic, which espouses a strict diet and hydrotherapy, has proved a favourite of Italian celebrities past and present, from fashion designer Ottavio Missoni to actor and "Dolce Vita" star, Marcello Mastroianni. After the lurid headlines of recent months, Mr Berlsuconi will hope the treatments reinvigorate him for the fray.

But there will be extra pressure on Frau Mitterrutzner von Guggenberg to work miracles in the purification department now the Prime Minister has decided to shelve his pilgrimage to the shrine of Padre Pio. The trip was cancelled when it became obvious such a PR stunt was more likely to incite Catholic anger than appease it.

For the rest of August, the resilient, but politically wounded, Prime Minister will spend time with his grandchildren in Arcore, no doubt praying the ladies in his life don't produce more nasty surprises.

Michael Day

Nicolas Sarkozy: Ready to relax

If Nicolas Sarkozy ever needed a little rest and relaxation, now is surely the time. The French President, a renowned workaholic who keeps a punishing schedule, finally felt it catch up with him last week when he collapsed during an early morning jog.

Despite his protestations that at 54 years old he is still as fit as a fiddle, he has cancelled trips to Australia and Canada. And now he has started a holiday that would make most middle-aged men's hearts a little lighter: three weeks in Saint-Tropez with Carla Bruni.

Unusually in France for someone of his stature, Sarkozy has never owned a second home, preferring hotels and private yachts. But his wife has persuaded him to spurn overseas breaks and join her at Château Faraghi, the singer's secluded family property at Cap Nègre, along with an assortment of their children. While Mr Sarkozy will keep in touch with Paris, early photos of the two swimming in the Mediterranean suggest that he intends to take it easy.

He will hope that the break doesn't suffer from the interruptions that plagued his break in Le Lavandou last year, when he was forced to go to Moscow to broker talks between Russia and Georgia over the South Ossetia war, and got drawn into a local battle over sewage in the seawater. This time, it seems likely that politics – whether local or international – will take a back seat.

Archie Bland

Vladimir Putin: Submarines and satellites

It wouldn't be summer without the world's most testosterone-fuelled politician making a macho gesture, and, sure enough, with August upon us, the Russian Prime Minister is at it again. This time, to follow on from such previous greatest hits as topless fishing, fighter-jet flying and tiger-shooting, 56-year-old Vladimir Putin has celebrated the start of his holiday by taking a submarine to the bottom of the deepest lake on the planet.

It seemed like a logical next step for Mr Putin, who had spent the previous day attaching a satellite transmitter to a Beluga whale. But the 1,400 metre, four-and-a-half-hour descent into Lake Baikal, in deepest Siberia, had a purer motive than mere posturing, the Prime Minister insisted. The idea was to inspect the natural gas crystals, as yet untouched, that lie under the water. The sight was "very clean and beautiful", he said.

With his heroic duties out of the way, Mr Putin can now relax – a bit – in the traditional seat of Russian power in August, Sochi. The Black Sea resort has been a popular retreat for Moscow's elite for years, which means the usual designation of "holiday home" doesn't quite fit: Mr Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev may be away from the Kremlin, but their duties will not let up.

Even if Mr Medvedev manages to clear his in-box, he will still have to work hard to keep his predecessor from stealing his thunder: while Mr Putin has ceded the long-standing presidential destination of Bocharov Stream, his presence in town – and potential for shirt-removal – is bound to keep the media interested. Not, he claims, that he has any more heroic holiday feats in mind. What next, he was asked – a trip to space? Mr Putin gravely declined. "There's enough work on Earth," he said.

Archie Bland