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
A small village in the hills of northern Sicily, Scillato is the kind of place travellers pass through without noticing. That is a mistake. From this quiet base the Madonie Mountains rise to the south, their slopes covered in oak and chestnut forests. The coastal resorts of Cefalù and Campofelice lie a short drive north. […]
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
Four hundred kilometres of interconnected slopes stretch across the border between Italy and France, forming one of the largest ski areas in the world. The Via Lattea, or Milky Way, links seven resorts including Sestriere, Sauze dOulx, and Montgenèvre, offering runs for every ability level. Wide, gentle boulevards suit beginners, while steep couloirs test even […]
Categories: Italy, Wellness, Relax & Sports, Wellness, Relax & Sports
Venice rises from the lagoon like a mirage, a city built on wood pilings driven into mud a thousand years ago. There are no cars here. The streets are canals. The buses are boats. Gondolas glide under low bridges while water taxis skip across the Giudecca Canal. St. Mark’s Square floods at high tide, reflecting […]
Categories: Cities, Italy, Nature, Sea Sites, Sights, Sights
Monte Bondone rises above the city of Trento, a mountain that offers skiing with a view of the valley below. It is one of Italy most accessible ski resorts, just a thirty-minute drive from the town centre. The slopes are well suited to intermediate skiers and families. There are gentle runs for beginners and more […]
Categories: Italy, Nature, Wellness, Relax & Sports, Wellness, Relax & Sports
The Bay of Naples stretches in a blue arc from the Sorrentine Peninsula to Cape Miseno, framed by the smoking cone of Mount Vesuvius. This Italian coastline offers a compendium of family-friendly attractions packed into a compact area. Pompeii and Herculaneum, the Roman cities buried by Vesuvius in AD 79, provide a history lesson that […]
Categories: Cities, Italy, Nature, Sea Sites, Sights, Sights
The ferry arrives at a harbor painted in pastel yellows and soft terracottas. Giglio is small enough that you can feel the scale of the surrounding sea pressing in from every side. Steep vineyards climb the hillsides above the port, and wild rosemary grows along the stone walls that divide the terraces. There are no […]
Rome does not merely tolerate children; it welcomes them with a warmth that surprises many parents. The city becomes an open-air classroom where history lives in three dimensions: gladiators in the Colosseum, chariot races in the Circus Maximus, and catapults at the Museo della Civiltà Romana. Children run freely through the Borghese Gardens and press […]
Latvians often say that Cesis is the most beautiful town in their country. A walk through its cobbled streets makes it easy to agree. The medieval castle ruins dominate the hilltop, a red-brick fortress that withstood sieges for centuries. The newer manor house beside it now holds a museum of local history. Saint John’s Church […]
