Top Picks for January 2017

From how to own your slice of Italy, Sicilian chocolate bars and an Italian cookery holiday and more inspiration in this new year round-up… On your bike Price £17.99 from Not on the High Street  / Wink Design  This print celebrating the iconic Piaggio Vespa in all its retro glory would make a great birthday present. Available framed […]

Hidden Rome – Part 2

The second part in the series, click here for part 1 of Hidden Rome Previously, we visited one of the earliest surviving Christian ruins in Rome and Nero’s summer residence, Domus Aurea. This week we relax in the open spaces at the Diocletian baths and investigate the the mysterious and tragic stories behind the tombstones at Campo Cestio, the […]

Hidden Rome – Part 1

Don’t let traffic fumes and tourists get you down in Rome… there’s so much to enjoy in Italy’s vibrant, bustling capital, without bypassing its history and beauty. If you’ve been elbowed out of the way once too often at the main attractions, Lorenza Bacino has some ideas of where to go and what to do […]

A tale of three cities, we visit Syracuse

Dive in to Sicily’s historic and picturesque Ionian Coast, today we visit Syracuse, an area featuring some fantastic ruins and beautiful lanes My final stop involved travelling south once again, to Sicily’s third city, Syracuse. Founded on the island of Ortigia in 734 BC by the Greeks, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is a shining Baroque […]

A tale of three cities: Catania

To begin with Chris Allsop took us on a journey through Taormina, today we look at more of the picturesque Ionian Coast On this island of five million people, Catania houses about 300,000 and is referred to as the ‘Milan’ of Sicily; a nod to its economic importance (second only to the capital, Palermo). About half an […]

48 Hours in Ponza

48 Hours in Ponza - Italy Travel and Life

Just 25 miles off the coast of Lazio, Ponza is a favourite holiday haunt of the Romans. Mario Matassa embarks on a voyage of discovery to Italy’s undiscovered island. There’s something about island holidays that brings out the boy adventurer in me. From the moment I see the ferry navigating its way into port I […]

7 Things to Do in Lake Garda

Italy’s largest lake is famed for its scenery and its gardens. Lorenza Bacino visits some of her favourite horticultural spaces, and finds a cookery course and a wedding venue… Stay in the Grand Hotel Gardone If an air of relaxed fin-de-siècle elegance is what you’re seeking, then this beautiful 19th-century villa and hotel in Gardone Riviera […]

48 Hours in Aosta

Sarah Lane travels to Italy’s northwestern corner to Aosta and discovers beautiful scenery and some surprising saints in an area of castles and culture much loved by popes and kings With spectacular alpine skylines, a chain of medieval castles and colourful ancient customs, the Valle d’Aosta region – Italy’s smallest – has a lot to […]