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At age 9, Silvio Falato, now a retired professor of classics from Guardia Sanframondi, wrote an essay on his village that sounds like a love letter. The intro says: “There, it clings to the ruins of an ancient castle almost as a look-out on the great valley. It is like an eagle that dominates the whole plain below.” No doubt, Guardia Sanframondi is...

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Tuscany is the home of many beautiful gardens, from historic villa gardens and Florence’s famous Boboli Garden to whimsical private gardens. These are my picks for top gardens to see in Tuscany. Villa Garzoni Garden, in Collodi between Lucca and Montecatini Terme, is an 18th century garden that’s a mixture of Renaissance and Baroque. Garden pathway...

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One may not be able to live in the past but by going back to where your ancestors came from you can evoke it in ways that will stay with you forever. In the case of my family, both sides had emigrated from small Italian hill towns in the late 19th century—my father’s side from Abruzzo, my mother’s from Campania—at a time when leaving Italy was an o...

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After spending a few days in Rome, visiting the most famous and marvelous museums in the world, you might want to discover new places that only locals know. Restaurants, museums, parks, shops or “quartiere” as called in Italy, follow this little guide on 10 hidden gems in Rome, Italy you don’t want to miss before going back home. 10 Hidden Gems in...

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One of Venice's most iconic landmarks is opening its doors for the first time in 500 years after a restoration project by a British architect, revealing its Renaisaance-era architecture and stunning gilt ceilings. The Procuratie Vecchie in St Mark's Square is one of the Italian city's most recognised facades, forming the colonnaded perimeter of the...

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Travelling to a new destination is not just about discovering unknown places: our presence influences the environment around us, and our journey will impact the places we visit even if we may not realise it at first. Every choice we make, where we sleep, how we move around, where we eat, all contribute to changing the landscape, for better or worse...

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Among the many marvels of Villa Borghese in Rome is a water clock few may be aware of.  To admire it in all its beauty and engineering prowess, you have to look for it, surrounded as it is by thick vegetation. Placed in a small turret on an islet within one of the many ponds that dot Rome’s most famous park, the clock is located along the aptly-nam...

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The Pile Dwellings around the Alps represent the remains of prehistoric human settlements in the Alpine and subalpine regions. It is a trans-European site covering an extensive area of six countries. These extraordinary ancient remains are located in Italy, Austria, France, Germany, Slovenia and Switzerland. A total of 111 sites attest to settlemen...

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You can search the entire Mediterranean coastline for the best rustic village, surrounded by vineyards and steeped in tradition, and not find a more rewarding escape than tiny Vernazza, my favorite of the five villages that make up Italy’s Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre is a stretch of Italy’s Riviera tucked into the mountainous shoreline between G...

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The launch of the new Orient Express La Dolce Vita might still be a while off, but it seems as though the highly anticipated service will definitely be worth the wait. Renderings of the 11-carriage train, which pays homage to the "La Dolce Vita" period of the 1960s, have been unveiled, revealing a plush interior that looks more like a boutique hote...

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