1

Mostly for weather considerations:

Crete, Greece. Southern Italy, Turkey.

Which village you may choose in those location depends on how small you want it to be. Are you talking a village of 200 or a small town of 20,000?

2

For warm weather stay south, as suggested. For something exotic and slightly adventurous try Albania; you could combine Berat inland (quaint Ottoman town) and Himara (workaday fishing town amidst Cape Peninsula landscapes). Easy to reach via Italy.

3

Thank you.

I am not concerned about weather, the colder, the better!

4

I am going to recommend Cappadocia in central Turkey to you.As a South African you can enter and stay in the country for 30 days visa free which is a nice start :)
Cappadocia is large region in central Anatolia famed for it's 'fairy chimnies',cave hotels,beautiful valleys and many quaint villages,nature,culture and history all rolled into one area.
In the height of summer it is very busy but as it covers 800 sq.miles it never feels it.In winter it will be much quieter so even more peaceful. There is a very high possibility there will be snow on the ground by that time and this just makes it all look even more spectacular and walking/hiking are still possible.
From Istanbul airport you can connect to both Nevşehir and Kayseri airports which serve the region.
Places you could stay for a quiet rest include the very Turkish Avanos with it's famous,distinctive hand made pottery.Urgup more low key than the well known Göreme.Mustafapaşa village very quiet and sleepy.Or even Güzelyurt a bit further out and close to the glorious Ilhara valley.All of these are connected via a cheap, efficient local bus service.
If you use the search facility you can find lot's of info on here about Cappadocia.Also take a look at the excellent Cappadocia photographs posted by forum member Hennopsrover(a countryman of yours),post number 84 or 85 in the Turkey trip review sticky at the top of the page.

5

Sarikanarya , thank you for a most excellent reply.

6

I am going to suggest Provence (unless you are coming in June-August). Art and peace are definitely there. There are so many picturesque, tranquil villages- check out Bonnieux and Goult, for example. I was there in May and even Lourmarin and Roussillon had very, very few tourists. The nature in that area is beautiful. The only downside is that a lot of houses in these villages are summer houses, so there will be less locals than you'd maybe expect.

Another suggestion is Istria, Croatia. Towns like Višnjan, Grožnjan, Motovun, Buje Buzet... Again, there are some tourists in peak season.

7

I always recommend Luhačovice in the Czech Republic for something like this. It is a spa town, so there will be some tourists, but it's not a particularly well known one. It's in a pretty location, and has many facilities for relaxing. I imagine it will get fairly cold in the winter too. The food is not the best (it is the Czech Republic after all), but the compensation is that the beer is very good...