Top Tips For Sorrento

Planning a trip to Sorrento? Here’s all the top tips from where to dine, where to stay and the cost of swimming! Things you’ll find it hard to do in Sorrento ➤ Swim The sea is all around you, and looks fabulous sparkling in the sun. But it’s not easy to get to the water […]

48 Hours in Conversano

Off the beaten track, and yet still within striking distance of Bari airport, Conversano’s relaxed atmosphere offers a peaceful and easy break. Jane Gifford flies down to Puglia… It’s early evening in the centro storico, the historical centre of the ancient little walled town of Conversano in the Bari district of Puglia. The town is […]

Top Tips For Conversano

Following an amazing 48 Hours in Conversano, Jane Gifford has put together the best things to see and do, where to stay and where to eat, to make your stay perfect! GETTING THERE ➤ BY PLANE Bari airport is only about 40km from Conversano. ➤ BY TRAIN From the airport, take the shuttle train to […]

48 Hours In Milan

Marina Spironetti has made her home in Italy’s second city and reveals her insider secrets to help you make the most of a weekend visit When I made the well-thought out decision of moving back to Milan after 12 years living between London and Paris, a dear friend gave me a guidebook as a present. […]

Palazzo Medici-Riccardi

In 1659, the Medici family, now well and truly the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, sold their 1400s Renaissance home in Florence, where they had lived when they were bankers and the unofficial rulers of the Florentine Republic, to the Riccardi family. Understandably, the new owners immediately renovated. Possibly their most spectacular addition to the palazzo […]

Sacca di Scardovari

Some 20km around and up to 2km deep in places, the Sacca di Scardovari is one of the wildest areas in the Po Delta and is home to the rare spring snowflake (Leucojum Vernum) flower. You will also see herons, and long-legged buzzards in the cooler months. The Sacca di Scardovari is also well known […]

The Olive Harvest of Tuscany

As she heads to Tuscany to learn about the traditional olive harvest, Rachel Beckwith uncovers the simple pleasures of rural Italian life and, once she gets a taste for it, is fully converted… I arrived at La Vialla in October, the Tuscan sun a little shy behind the clouds, ready and willing to help with […]

Tales from Italy: Exploring the Italian Countryside

Stuart Haines has long had a passion for exploring the Italian countryside on foot, and has written the Cicerone guidebook Walking in Abruzzo to share his experiences…  What was your first experience of Italy? It was as a geology student, searching the Alps above Domodossola for the elusive and beautiful mineral, kyanite. It was September […]

From Here to There: Autumn in Amalfi

The Amalfi coast is an array of colour as the first sign of autumn reaches Italy… The first signs of autumn arrive quietly on the Amalfi Coast. I try to hold onto the last warmth of the summer days, which seemed as if they would never come to an end. Yet, the evenings are already […]

Italy’s Tourism Industry

Italy?s economy relies on a successful tourism industry, but here Mario Matassa looks at what visitors find most infuriating? such as unreliable transport, busy streets and high hotel prices… Il turista felice Nonostante i tempi duri, quasi 31 milioni di turisti internazionali hanno visitato l?Italia nel 2011, con un incremento del 16,6% rispetto al 2010. […]