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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
Liz Harper gets the balance just right on a family holiday in Florence, as her young daughter Molly enjoys a uniquely educational treasure hunt? Taking a bite of the pizza she?d just created with the help of our hotel?s executive chef, my daughter Molly proclaimed it fantastico. No further words left her mouth until her […]
Hannah Bellis visits the home of Prosciutto di San Daniele for sensational alpine scenery, wonderful local bars and the melt in the mouth ham that Italians want to keep to themselves… What?s the best reason to visit a place? Every region of Italy has something to recommend itself. Visitors are drawn by the culture, the […]
Marina Spironetti goes in search of the perfect landscape view in the popular Tuscan city of Lucca… When I first went to Lucca I left with a feeling of pleasing quietness. The crowds that cram into nearby Pisa seemed to spare this gem of a city, apart from a small number of discreet visitors who […]
Marina Spironetti gets off the beaten track in Milan and uncovers a surprising side to the capital of fashion ? one with peaceful residences and Venetian-style canals… The name says it all: Milano, from the Latin Mediolanum, coming in turn from the Celtic Midland, ?land in the middle?. In the middle of what? Water. As […]
Buying on a budget in Italy? Read this advice on cheap houses in Italy Q. My partner and I would love to live the Italian dream, but buying a second property outright is just not a viable option for us. If we pool our resources, we have around ?150,000 as a budget ? are there […]
Sally FitzGerald takes in the sights and sounds of the Brescia province, from the majestic attractions of southern Lake Garda to the hidden gems of the provincial capital city… “We will go straight to the island. We must be faster than the storm.” If I?m being honest these aren?t the first words I am hoping […]
Laura Thayer invites us to a Christmas in Amalfi… The holidays are a magical time to be in Italy. The Christmas lights twinkling across piazzas and narrow streets, the colourful decorations, the scent of cinnamon and chocolate floating out of bakeries and the surprise of coming across a band making its way through the village […]