If you are planning a trip to Italy, it makes sense to get familiar with the various regions of Italy first and then make an itinerary that takes you to your favorite spots. Here is a list of the most popular regions of Italy, their main cities and what to see and do in each […]
Sacile: In the Heart of Italy’s Friuli Venezia Giulia
Sacile, found in the heart of Friuli Venezia Giulia province, is a small town known as the “Garden of the Serenissima” because of its similarities to Venice. It is a vibrant town on the Livenza River. Locals, or visiting tourists, can board the train in Sacile and be in Venice in an hour, or drive north […]
Hiking the Dolomites – 7 Day Hike
Hiking the Dolomites – A 7-Day Hike in Italy’s Dolomite Mountains If hiking is your thing and you love Italian food, there’s nowhere better to combine your two interests than the Dolomite Mountains in northern Italy. Whether you’re a middling hiker or a pro, the network of trails there offer something for everyone and makes […]
UNESCO Prehistoric Pile Dwellings in Trentino, Italy
UNESCO Prehistoric Pile Dwellings Around the Alps: Trentino, Italy Prehistoric Pile Dwellings Around the Alps UNESCO Site UNESCO initiated the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings in 2011 as a serial site consisting of 111 individual sites of prehistoric Pile Dwellings in 6 countries in the alpine regions of Central Europe. More than half (56) of the sites are […]
Visit Trentino – Italy’s Most Diverse Region
Visit Trentino – Northern Italy’s Most Diverse Region Trentino is probably one of Italy’s most diverse regions. About halfway between Milan and Venice, Trentino reaches from the northern tip of Lake Garda into the Dolomite mountain range. If you are planning a trip to Italy, I highly recommend you to visit Trentino, especially if you like […]
Tuscany Foods: Where “Cooked Water” is a Culinary Wonder
Where “cooked water” is a culinary wonder – Tuscany Foods The Maremma, Italy’s version of the Wild West, includes southern Tuscany and part of Lazio. Its famed cowboys, the butteri, herd cattle here, and the land not used for stock animals is dedicated to farmlands and vineyards. Farmers and cowboys alike have big appetites and […]
Enchantments in the “Etruscan triangle” of Southern Tuscany
Southern Tuscany – Enchantments in the “Etruscan Triangle” A triangle of villages in southern Tuscany contain treasures undiscovered by American travelers. Sorano, Sovana, and Pitigliano nestle 50 miles southeast of Grosseto, close to the border with Lazio, and offer much to visitors above and beyond what you expect in southern Tuscany, i.e., good food, great […]
Tuscany Regions: Exploring Etruscany
Tuscany Regions: Exploring Etruscany For most foreigners, a tour of Tuscany means Florence, Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano, and maybe Lucca. While these well-known cities and towns exemplify the Tuscany region’s medieval treasures, its history encompasses far more than the Medici, Michelangelo, and all that. The enigmatic Etruscans were a major civilization of ancient Italy, and […]
On the James Joyce Trail in Trieste
The city of Trieste is in border country. Follow the coast all the way around, as James Joyce did in the early years of the twentieth century, and pretty soon you’ll be in Slovenia, with Croatia just a few miles further south. You are as likely to hear people say ‘dober dan’ as ‘buongiorno’, and […]
Villas and Gardens of Italy’s Borromean Islands
The amazing sculptures and gardens on Isola Bella and Isola Madre, in Northern Italy’s Lake Maggiore, show what aristocratic taste and plenty of money could do in the 17th century. The islands are two of the three main Borromeans set in the largest of the Italian lakes. The Borromeo family still owns some of […]