5 best Italian walks

family walking in tuscany

Take a stroll (or a hike) through our five favourite spots for Italian walks… 1. Via Ferrata (SOSAT), Brenta Dolomites, Trentino Alto Adige. Italian walks don’t get much more stunning than this. The Dolomites are liberally scattered with vie ferrate, or ‘iron paths’ – high mountain routes with fixed climbing aids to help walkers negotiate […]

Wine, women & song

Mary Novakovich and friends enjoy a long-awaited reunion – and where better to do it than Tuscany? Better late than never. Covid had put the kibosh on so many celebrations during lockdown, but there was no way my friend Tracey wasn’t going to make a big splash for her 50th birthday – even if it […]

48 Hours in Ischia

Tom Alberto Bull travels to Ischia, a perfect little gem in the glittering Gulf of Naples Affectionately known as the Isola Verde, the ‘Green Island’, Ischia has so much to offer for a short getaway. The terrain is small enough to explore in just a few days and the rewards are plentiful: natural springs emanating […]

Bergamo travel guide: Places to visit, eat, and stay in Bergamo

Basilica si Santa Maria Bergamo travel guide

Discover the best things to do in Bergamo, and where to stay and eat while you’re there in our Bergamo travel guide… What to see and do in Bergamo Explore the Basilica Piazza Duomo Building of the Basilica began in 1137, after the people of Bergamo were spared from the plague. The stunning wooden marquetr […]

48 hours in Bergamo

bergamo citta alta and its towers at sunset

Rachael Martin visits Bergamo, one of Italy’s two Capitals of Culture for 2023, a gem of a city in the heart of Lombardy Even as you approach Bergamo and first see it from a distance, you can already sense that you’re in for something special. The name Bergamo – or Bèrghem as the locals call […]

Campobasso Travel Guide

People walking through the piazza in Campobasso

Val Nicastro shares the best places to eat, stay and explore in Campobasso… Where to Eat LA GROTTA DI ZI’ CONCETTA | Via Larino, 7  +39 0874 311378 The authentic cuisine of Molise shines in this cosy trattoria. An institution in Campobasso, it serves hearty local delicacies (try pizza e minestra and affunnatiello molisana) paired […]

Travels with my teen

Lorenza and her daughter sat on a wall lakeside in Menaggio

After two years of pandemic-imposed travel restrictions, Lorenza Bacino enjoys an extended trip to Lake Como, the Cinque Terre and Sardinia with her teenage daughter… It was with some trepidation that I embarked upon a month-long trip with my 16-year-old daughter as a post-exam treat. She’d been involved in the decision-making from the start, using […]

Discover Assisi

The birthplace of the Catholic friar St Francis remains a globally important site of Christian pilgrimage Assisi stands atop Mount Asio and is flanked by swathes of Umbria’s undulating green pasture and the forests of Monte Subasio. At times it seems perched heaven-like, on a carpet of clouds. It is Roman in origin, yet a […]

Discover Orto Botanico Padua

A glorious day of exploration among the flora of 3,500 species of plants awaits in this botanical oasis in Padua Established in 1545 as a medicinal plants teaching garden, and considered to be the origin of botanical gardens, the Orto Botanico Padua has evolved into a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a leading authority on […]