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If you thought Italy’s allure lay largely in the opportunity to wile away the hours eating and drinking endlessly in pastel-hued piazzas—well, you’d be right. But that’s just part of its perennial magic. For those whose version of la dolce vita includes extraordinary natural beauty, the Dolomites are a true Valhalla. Rising over 10,000 feet in the...

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The vineyards of northern Italy have been burning bright this week as winemakers light thousands of torches across the slopes. But why? It's an enterprising solution to a perennial problem: the weather. As frost and snow returned unseasonably late to swathes of the north, winemakers sought to protect their vines from subzero temperatures, which can...

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“Here on the Renon it’s divinely beautiful,” wrote Sigmund Freud as he vacationed on the Renon mountain plateau above Bolzano in the summer of 1911. Il Renon, as it’s known in Italian, hovers above the regional capital of Alto Adige/South Tyrol at an altitude varying between 900 and 1300 meters, between the valleys of the Talvera and Isarco rivers,...

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As have many peoples and cultures around the world, Italy and Italians have exhibited an infinite passion for music for centuries. Italian music in particular boasts a reputation that is tightly bound to the names of important individuals, from singers to orchestra conductors and composers. In reality, the renown of music from the Bel Paese could n...

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What's Italian for Champagne? The answer, in part, lies in the Trentino region of Italy, which is in the Italian Alps. Trentodoc, the name for the style of Italian sparkling wine from the Trentino region, is made by metodo classico, which is to say, in the French style of making Champagne (in which bubbles form during a secondary fermentation in th...

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Italy’s northernmost province of Alto Adige is a relatively recent addition to the country—the area belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire until just 100 years ago, when it was ceded to Italy after World War I. The Austrian roots of this magnificent, intriguing region, also known as Südtirol (South Tyrol), are still evident in many aspects of its...

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Exploring small towns and villages is one of the pleasures of a trip to Italy. Our Trentino-Alto Adige expert and avid hiker Silvia selects some of her favorite in the top region for mountain lovers. Vigo di Fassa You could say that Vigo di Fassa offers some of the best sunsets in Italy: around here you can admire the ‘enrosadira,’ that phenomenon...

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Bolzano is the best place to live in Italy followed by another northern city, Trento, according to a new study prepared by Catholic daily Avvenire. The Ben Vivere (good living) study ranks cities on the basis of factors such as the opportunities they offer for new economic initiatives, their level of environmental protection, prosperity and life-sa...

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A paradise for skiers, the Italian Alps of South Tyrol offer a more placid pastime that’s surging anew. A host of spas are sprouting up in isolated tracts among the highlands, and though there’s hiking, biking and access to some of the Alps’ easier ski slopes, sports are a mere afterthought here. The spas draw skiers and nonskiers alike to spend da...

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Frances Mayes has spent years traveling through Italy and writing about it in her best-selling books like Under the Tuscan Sun. Her latest book, See You in the Piazza: New Places to Discover is a travelogue about all the undiscovered and overlooked gems in Italy, which she reveals to us here. Writing See You in the Piazza: New Places to Discover in...

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