Valle d’Aosta is now part of Italy, but it hasn’t always been. Chris Allsop travels to Italy’s smallest region and discovers a valley beloved of kings, popes, and – of course – skiers… There’s something of the hidden kingdom about the Valle D’Aosta, like an Italian Bhutan (but with a lot more ski lifts). Entering […]
There isn’t much of Italy you could describe as ‘undiscovered’, but Rebecca Ford finds something close – and just an hour from Rome. The Sabine Hills… We had been walking for a couple of hours when we came to the little meadow. It was early summer and the poppies were in bloom. Some farmers were […]
Marina Spironetti visits Bologna to see the first museum dedicated to artisan Italian gelato, and a school where aspiring entrepreneurs are taught all the sweet secrets of gelato-making… Are you a gelato addict? Have you always wanted to know all tricks of the trade? If so, the gourmet city of Bologna is the place to […]
Follow Marina Spironetti as she unveils the treasures of the cobbled city of Mantua, one of the most atmospheric places to visit in northern Italy… A year ago yet another earthquake shook most of northern Italy, causing considerable damage. When I went back to Mantua a couple of months ago, I did not know what to […]
This lesser-know region in idyllic central Puglia is fast becoming a foodie paradise, as Rachel Beckwith discovers as she visits the producers… Just a light lunch, they said. The heaving table in front of me suggests otherwise – it gives an audible creak every time our hostess balances yet another plate of food at the […]
Question: what do you do if you wish to take a holiday during which you will be spoilt rotten by a series of delicious meals, but from which you nevertheless wish to return home leaner, stronger, healthier and happier than before? Answer: you go a gastronomic hiking in Tuscany. It was to cater for just such demands […]
Any visit to Naples is enhanced by a trip to the islands. Robin Crews finds that it’s easy to hop over the water to Ischia… We all know that passion runs through the veins of Italians right throughout the peninsula, but in the Mezzogiorno there is something else coursing through the locals’ bodies. As you […]
Each region of Italy is unique, but there is none quite so different to the rest of the country as Sicily. James Miller finds he can’t keep away from its capital city… They say that Italy is a diverse cultural tapestry. Each region can be considered a country in its own right. There is one […]
Did Heather Crombie’s 48 Hours in Bologna inspire you to book your next trip? Here’s our top tips on where to stay, where to eat and what to see and do. WHAT TO SEE AND DO ➤ The Two Towers For fantastic views of the city, climb to the top of the Asinelli and see how many […]
With the help of trusted local residents, Sebastian Cresswell-Turner discovers that there’s more to Sardinia than the North Sardinia coast… Whether it is laziness, the passing of the years, or perhaps the late onset of common sense, I don’t know, but whenever I go somewhere new, I like, nowadays, to place myself firmly in the […]