Rome rewards the prepared traveller. The Eternal City draws millions of visitors each year, and like any great global capital, it demands a measure of awareness. Pickpockets work the crowded metro and the queues outside the Colosseum. Selfie sticks and backpacks can become weapons in packed piazzas where space is at a premium. The sun […]
Categories: Cities, Italy, Rome, Sights, Travelling Tips
Venice during Carnival is a city wearing a mask both literally and metaphorically. The narrow alleys fill with people in velvet cloaks and feathered headdresses, their faces hidden behind elaborate porcelain masks that turn every encounter into a mystery. The air carries the smell of fried dough and espresso mixed with the brackish scent of […]
The Ponte Vecchio is the only Florentine bridge to survive the Second World War intact. On August 4, 1944, as the German army retreated across the Arno, they dynamited every bridge in the city. Ponte Vecchio was spared. Instead, the mines blew up the buildings at both ends, blocking access, but the bridge itself stood. […]
The Colosseum is 1,935 years old and it is still the largest amphitheatre ever built. The outer wall originally rose 48 metres, the height of a modern 16-storey building, and the arena floor covered 3,357 square metres. It held 50,000 spectators who entered through 80 numbered arches. The building was completed in 80 AD under […]
Categories: Cities, Italy, Rome, Sights, Sights, Virtual Travel
Positano cascades down a steep cliffside like a waterfall of pastel houses. Lemon trees burst from terraced gardens above the sea. The narrow steps that serve as streets demand a certain surrender from every visitor. You cannot rush here. The town refuses to be hurried. Every descent toward the sparkling Tyrrhenian water offers another postcard […]
Categories: Cities, Italy, Nature, Nature, Sea Sites, Sights, Sights
Tivoli has served as a playground for the powerful since ancient Roman times, and its legacy of pleasure still captivates visitors today. Perched on a hillside east of Rome, this historic town contains two UNESCO World heritage sites. Hadrian’s Villa spreads across an enormous estate of pools, libraries, temples, and palaces built by Emperor Hadrian […]
Jasmine-scented air drifts through the narrow streets of Gioiosa Marea, a Sicilian town perched on a promontory overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. White houses cascade down the hillside toward a coastline of hidden coves and dark volcanic sand. The historic centre centres on Piazza Municipio, where locals gather in the evening for a passeggiata beneath the […]
Categories: Cities, Islands, Italy, Nature, Nature, Sicily, Sights, Sights
Five centuries of construction produced one of the most extraordinary buildings on earth. Milan’s Duomo is a mountain of white marble covered in 135 spires and more than 3,400 statues. From the rooftop terraces you can walk among the pinnacles, coming face to face with saints and gargoyles carved in exquisite detail. The interior is […]
Categories: Cities, Italy, Religious Monuments, Sights, Sights
Naples is a city that does not pause. It pulses with energy from dawn until late into the night, sprawled beneath the threatening shadow of Mount Vesuvius. The historic centre is a UNESCO World heritage site, a dense grid of narrow streets filled with churches, palaces, and street food stalls. Pizza was born here, and […]
Categories: Cities, Italy, Nature, Sights, Sights, Volcanoes
Pope Pius II dreamed of a perfect city, and on this sunbaked Tuscan hilltop, he built it. The trapezoidal Piazza Pio II unfolds like a stage set, framed by the cathedral, the papal palace, and the town hall in flawless Renaissance proportion. Beyond the belvedere, the Val d Orcia rolls away in waves of wheat […]