iixii_ITALY_iixii

FLORENCE TUSCANY

A close second was Tuscany which of course includes Florence. Here, clients visited famous works of art with wonderful tour guides, cycled and hiked in the countryside, visited designer outlets and ceramics shops and antiques markets and out-of-the-way small towns, participated in olive and truffle festivals, went to local concerts, tasted wine at vineyards and lazed over long lunches, hit the beach, and hunted sunflowers and poppies in the Tuscan hills.

   The Lakes District
Here I included the lakes Como, Maggiore, and Garda. Several trips went to the Lakes this year, but number of hotel nights were low, usually just 2-3 nights per trip. Lakes Como and Maggiore are an easy transition for travelers flying into and out of Milan’s Malpensa airport, and Lake Garda is an easy stop on the way to Venice. Travelers to the Lakes went hiking, took cable cars up the mountain, traveled across the lakes by boat and hydrofoil, and sipped wine lakeside while watching the sunset.

  The Colosseum

The Roman Forum and the Colosseum are probably the most famous and most frequented tourist sights in Italy and with millions of visitors every year the ancient heart of the Roman world is a must-see for any tourist. While the Forum itself is far from its glorious best and requires a little imagination, the Colosseum remains as a magnificent ancient stadium which can still be explored top to bottom. Despite their popularity however, the truth is that the throngs of tourists and cheap-looking ‘legionaries’ take something away from the majesty of these ancient buildings – but then perhaps that adequately reflects what they would have actually been like in their prime - noisy, bustling and anarchic - the ironic beating heart of an Empire whose mission was to bring order from chaos.

     

Manarola (Cinque Terre) 

Mestled in the Italian Riviera, Manarola is one of the oldest towns in Cinque Terre. The “Five Lands” comprises of five villages noted for their beauty. Part of Cinque Terre charm is the lack of visible modern development. Paths, trains and boats connect the villages, and cars cannot reach it from the outside. The towns sprout out of the mountainside to provide a breathtaking view of the Mediterranean sea.



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"ALL JOURNEYS HAVE SECRET DESTINATIONS OF WHICH THE TRAVELLER IS UNAWARE"