Italia! photos of the month: February 2019

Sit back and enjoy this gallery of glorious photos of Italy, all taken by Italia! readers – and read on to find out how to enter our monthly photo competition… This month’s winner:  “Val d’Orcia, Tuscany.” by Nick Board   More of our favourites this month… “This was taken in Sicily at the Valley of the […]

Past Italia: Marcus Aurelius on horseback

The Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius stands centre stage in Rome’s Piazza del Campidoglio… Photo by Getty Images One of the few stipulations that the Pope made when he commissioned Michelangelo to redesign the piazza on the Capitoline Hill was that the famous ancient statue of Marcus Aurelius should be its focal point. The statue […]

48 hours in the Po Delta

The mighty Po flows for 400 miles across Italy and in many ways defines the north of the country. Penny Wainwright visits the area where it meets the sea… Photos by Penny Wainwright The Renaissance city of Ferrara and the River Po Delta are a UNESCO World Heritage Centre, linking Ferrara, the Delta and its […]

A poet at the world’s edge

Ovid was born in Sulmona, in the province of L’Aquila, but was destined to die far from home. Joe Gartman tells his story… Photos by Patricia Gartman unless otherwise stated   In December of the year 8 AD, a Roman citizen named Publius Ovidius Naso left Rome on a long journey. After enduring ferocious storms […]

Drive Italia: The Vespa – Piaggio’s Wasp

Defining every retro Italian holiday snap in ultimate style – let us present the Vespa: trendy, practical and iconic… Photo by Amanda Robinson Before the FIAT 500 appeared on the scene, Italy got about almost exclusively by motor scooter. At one point there were more than 100 different motorbike manufacturers in Italy. After the birth […]

Head for the hills

Travelling far from the bustle of city life, Rachael Martin heads off the beaten track to find peace and quiet in Tuscany’s Casentino National Park Photos of Casentino by Rachael Martin unless otherwise stated   Once more, TripAdvisor figures confirm that Tuscany is at the forefront of Italian tourism and in particular Florence, which comes […]

Italia! photos of the month: December 2018

We’ve got a gorgeous crop for this month’s Reader Photo Competition – which one is your favourite? This month’s winner:  “Doing what Italians do best – talking! Maiori, Salerno.” by Brian Bennett, Burgess Hill More of our favourites this month… “In a walk in the Bardini Gardens in Florence, an open view between the trees […]

Luci d’Artista in Turin

Every winter the streets of Turin come alight with sophisticated electric installations by renowned artists – Joe Gartman investigates… Photos by Patricia Gartman Thomas Edison started it all, of course. Not content with inventing the light bulb, he strung dozens of coloured lamps around his laboratory for the 1880 holiday season. In 1882, his business partner, […]

Five reasons to visit Italy at Christmas

From festive markets to presepe, Italy is especially magical in December – here are a few good excuses to book that flight! Photos by iStock & Getty Images 1. Where better to be at Christmas than in a festive high-altitude town known for its fantastic traditional outdoor market and with the stunning Dolomites as a picturesque […]