easy hikes and city walks in Italy
In Tuscany, landscape and urbanity are so closely interwoven that they create one large tapestry of culture which is governed by consistent aesthetic, economic and historical principles. While the Renaissance town palazzi reflect the pride and the wealth of the landowning families (it is said that Florentine rulers never ate or served anything in their…
One of the best, perhaps the single best feature of the Cinque Terre’s signature trail – the Blue Path – is its variety of views: you see the villages from different angles, sometimes in isolation and sometimes several at a time, sometimes from the front and sometimes from behind, sometimes from far away and sometimes…
Italy’s Cinque Terre National Park is home to the Mediterranean’s most famous network of hiking paths. So famous in fact that nearly all our acquaintances have, over the years, reacted with stunned disbelief when we told them that we – despite living so close to the Cinque Terre’s home region of Liguria – had never…
The Beodo palm grove is one of the most stunning sights in the whole of Northern Italy. If you have ever taken the bus from Ventimiglia in the direction of Sanremo and Genoa, you will probably have seen it and may have wondered what transported this piece of tropical landscape to the northern Italian coast….
One of the most reliably surprising experiences of any trip to the Riviera usually happens right at the start, even before you have fully arrived. When you come by plane from northern Europe, you will be flying over the snow-capped peaks of the High Alps one moment, then you blink, and the next time you…
As far as most tourists are concerned, the Riviera mainly consists of mountains and beaches. But that does not mean that mountains and beaches are all there is. In many places, admittedly, the transition from one to the other is rather sudden and immediate. On the French side of the Riviera (in particular), the mountains…
More Riviera gardens to discover! Last week, we surveyed the area east of Monaco and strolled deep into Italy, concentrating on the coast’s “classic” garden country for Riviera gardens to discover But the less climatically blessed western part of the Riviera – where the mountains are often further away from the coast and give the…
The Riviera is famous for … well, many things in fact – speed boats, card sharps, minor royals – so it never ceases to surprise me how many of the visitors we meet have explicitly come to see one of the gardens of the Riviera. I am – to be honest – not a natural…
Finally, to wrap up our short winter holiday to Campania, a few words about Naples. Naples, after all, is not only the regional capital, but also, with its international airport, the “Gateway to the South” and the obligatory first destination for many international visitors of Italy’s mezzogiorno. But even for those who travel around by…
… and even squeeze a walk into your schedule The Amalfi Coast is one of Europe’s most scenic and famous. It is certainly more dramatic than the Riviera, perhaps its only serious rival in the Champions League of European coastlines, but suffers in comparison by its relative lack of “grand names” and famous resorts. This…