Ten reasons to love Lake Como

mount grona

Ros Ormiston reveals ten of the best reasons to visit captivating Lake Como in Lombardy – there’s something to appeal to absolutely everyone… Lake Como photos by Provincia di Como Servizio Turismo unless otherwise stated   1 The Villa Melzi botanical gardens at Bellagio Bellagio is picture perfect with vibrant cafés and restaurants and busy shops, […]

Ten top Italian beaches

marina di alberese, Italian beaches, Tuscany

Join us for a trip around some of the best Italian beaches, from the impossibly iconic to some that are right off the beaten track. Which is your favourite? Photos by Getty Images Though Italy attracts visitors throughout the year, many of us also like to spend summer holidays there, enjoying the country’s coastline and […]

Pavia & Oltrepò Pavese travel guide

pavia cathedral

Valentina Nicastro shares some of the best attractions and sights around Pavia and its surrounding countryside – plus top spots to eat and stay. Photos by Valentina Nicastro What to see & do Certosa di Pavia This beautiful monastery complex (left) is a masterpiece of the Lombard Renaissance. It’s about 10 km from the city […]

48 hours in Pavia & Oltrepò Pavese

pavia, italy

Explore Pavia and Oltrepò Pavese – one of Italy’s best-kept secrets and not far from Milan. Words and photos by Valentina Nicastro   There’s a stretch of land just 40 kilometres south of Milan that is still fairly unknown to tourists and offers the unique opportunity to live a truly authentic Italian experience. This is Oltrepò […]

Apulia: back to the land

Masseria Naturalis Resort

Adrian Mourby takes a tour of Apulia – Puglia – to explore its culinary traditions and the land that produces its varied, and often vegetarian, foods… Photos by Kate Tadman-Mourby unless otherwise stated   When I wake up, the view outside our room is fields of lavender, then a meadow peppered with bright crimson poppies and, […]

Verona travel guide

Romantic graffiti

Sara Scarpa shares some of the best places to eat and stay in Verona – plus a few of her top things to see and do in the city Photos by Iain Reid What to see & do The Arena The arena (left) with its gigantic dimensions dominates Piazza Bra. It is the most famous […]

48 hours in Verona

Verona view

Our Venice correspondent Sara Scarpa travels west to spend a weekend in Verona, the city of love and opera set in the land of wines   Photos by Iain Reid   When you visit Verona, you will soon understand why this city is the perfect setting for the world’s greatest love story. Beautiful piazzas, winding […]

Una piccola sosta: Hotel Heureka, Venice

Lobby of Hotel Heureka, Venice

Step through the doors of this restored palazzo in Cannaregio – where modern design meets the architecture of the past… Words by Amanda Robinson, photos by Hotel Heureka    On a quiet backwater in Cannaregio, you could easily walk past the unprepossessing entrance to Hotel Heureka, a 16th-century palazzo revived and reopened in 2017. Just […]

Five reasons to visit Padua

Padua Prehistoric baths

Lorenza Bacino goes beyond the city’s obvious attractions to discover five things to see and do in Padua that will make any visit extra-special… Photos by Lorenza Bacino unless otherwise stated Padua is often overlooked by travellers in favour of the more famous Veneto cities of Venice and Verona, yet this pretty city between Venice […]