Europe Up Close

Venice off the Beaten Path

Published/Revised October 29, 2018 By This post may contain promotional and affiliate links. EuropeUpClose may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Please read our disclosure for more info.

Venice off the Beaten Path - Hidden Gems, Authentic Restaurants, and Not-So Crowded Places in Venice, Italy CAMEOS AND CORAL, AN ENCHANTING FOREST, AND 3 GREAT EATERIESOn my third visit to Venice, I thoroughly enjoyed spending time at some lesser known sites and restaurants. Some were in the maze of canals, bridges, and streets that make up this magical city. In previous trips, I had enjoyed ... Read Full Article

Crete: Return to Knossos to Discover the Minoan Culture

Published/Revised September 25, 2018 By This post may contain promotional and affiliate links. EuropeUpClose may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Please read our disclosure for more info.

Knossos in Crete: Discovering the Minoan Culture “Let me tell you about the first time I visited Knossos,” my friend Jack says. We are sitting at a fish taverna by the famous Venetian Harbor of Iraklion, Crete. My friend, Dr. Jack Dempsey, is an expert on the Minoan culture and has written several books and academic papers on the subject. Jack, who for many years lectured at universities in ... Read Full Article

Dolomites in Italy – A Mountain Paradise

Published/Revised September 26, 2018 By This post may contain promotional and affiliate links. EuropeUpClose may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Please read our disclosure for more info.

The Dolomites in Italy: a Country's Mountain Paradise The Dolomites are an extremely scenic mountain range in northeastern Italy. They extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Valley to the eastern part of the Southern Limestone Alps. The Dolomites are nearly equally shared between the provinces of Trentino, Belluno, and South Tyrol. This sparsely populated area draws millions to ... Read Full Article

Hiking the Dolomites – 7 Day Hike

Published/Revised September 26, 2018 By This post may contain promotional and affiliate links. EuropeUpClose may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Please read our disclosure for more info.

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 hiking the Dolomites an adventure for hikers of every skill and ... Read Full Article

UNESCO Prehistoric Pile Dwellings in Trentino, Italy

Published/Revised June 29, 2018 By This post may contain promotional and affiliate links. EuropeUpClose may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Please read our disclosure for more info.

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 located in Switzerland, 19 in Italy, 18 in ... Read Full Article

Visit Trentino – Italy’s Most Diverse Region

Published/Revised September 26, 2018 By This post may contain promotional and affiliate links. EuropeUpClose may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Please read our disclosure for more info.

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 outdoor activities, history, spas and good food. What ... Read Full Article

5+ Traditional Sardinian Foods You Must Try

Published/Revised June 13, 2018 By This post may contain promotional and affiliate links. EuropeUpClose may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Please read our disclosure for more info.

5+ Authentic Sardinian Foods You Must Try  Start with peasant food born of necessity, add produce from volcanic soil, season with a crossroads of cultures, and enrich with island insularity: that describes Sardinian food.  Panadas On a recent trip to the South and Southwest of the island, we encountered panadas, a classic of Sardinian home cooking, in a variety of iterations.  We found that ... Read Full Article

South Sardinia – Cagliari and Beyond

Published/Revised May 15, 2018 By This post may contain promotional and affiliate links. EuropeUpClose may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Please read our disclosure for more info.

Celebrating South Sardinia - Cagliari and Beyond Beaches and boulders and blue-green waters are among the attractions in South Sardinia, but these features alone don’t explain why the southern part of the island is experiencing the fastest growth in tourism these days.  Sun worshippers and nature lovers thrill to these attributes, but there is more than superficial beauty to be found in ... Read Full Article

Sailboat Charter vs. Mediterranean Cruise: Which one is right for you?

Published/Revised April 22, 2018 By This post may contain promotional and affiliate links. EuropeUpClose may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Please read our disclosure for more info.

Sailboat Charter vs. Mediterranean Cruise: Which one is right for you?   Are you thinking about exploring Europe on a Mediterranean cruise? Cruising is a great way to get a taste of Europe, but if you want a more intimate trip, a Sailboat charter might be a better option for you. I recently went on a Sailboat charter trip from Sardinia to Corsica with Intersailclub and it was a wonderful ... Read Full Article

Museimpresa – Italy’s Industrial Museums from Ferrari to Campari and Beyond

Published/Revised March 1, 2018 By This post may contain promotional and affiliate links. EuropeUpClose may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Please read our disclosure for more info.

Museimpresa - Italian Industry Museums  Italian museums offer much more than portraits of beatific Madonnas and maleficent Medicis hung along dusty corridors with dim lighting.  Italy’s industrial history has created the backdrop for a special category of museum, the Museimpresa, that appeals to visitors interested in food, health, design, society, fashion, transportation, even children’s ... Read Full Article