Notes on chocolate: Baci, sweet as a kiss in Parma
The Guardian | Italy holidays
by Annalisa Barbieri
2d ago
A trip to Italy means delicious home comforts I am in Italy. Parma, where my dad was from and now resides permanently. I hadn’t realised how much I needed to be looked after by (slightly) older Italian female relatives and be fed homemade pasta. It’s been a few years. Early morning in the countryside brings fog over the hills and a surreal air to everything. As the sun climbs, I go for a walk with my cousin. As we trek uphill, and I try to hide how out of breath I am, I see strange tracks in the dried mud (we need rain here). I query them. Wolves, very probably, my cousin says. There are many ..read more
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A street food tour of Genoa
The Guardian | Italy holidays
by Laura Coffey
1w ago
From fluffy focaccia to creamy pànera, local Michelin-starred chef Ivano Ricchebono introduces our writer to a taste of the Italian port city Genoa-born chef Ivano Ricchebono looks like a Hollywood actor playing a chef in a movie. His restaurant The Cook is in a 14th-century palazzo in the old town, and as I step into the dining room I stop and stare – the entire place is covered with frescoes. It’s wildly romantic. “People get engaged here all the time,” Ivano says with a smile. Awarded his first Michelin star in 2010, he has cooked for Stanley Tucci, and has an international reputation for e ..read more
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Relaxed old-school glamour: springtime in Cefalù, Sicily
The Guardian | Italy holidays
by Laura Coffey
2w ago
With its extraordinary architecture, maze-like streets and ever-present sunshine, it’s no accident that so many film-makers have used the town as a location I was eating homemade crostata (jam tart) on a roof terrace in the Sicilian town of Cefalù and reading about Helius, the ancient Greek god of the sun. Sicily is supposedly the inspiration for the deity’s island in The Odyssey and this makes perfect sense – with more than 300 days of sunshine a year, Helius would like it here. The island is especially lovely in spring, when it’s quieter, cooler and more peaceful than in the s ..read more
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Right to Rome: why spring is the best time to visit the Italian capital
The Guardian | Italy holidays
by Sarah Turner
1M ago
It’s warm enough to sit outside cafes and bars, and visiting before the crowds arrive in summer means that the queues are short Forget Paris in spring: Rome is both warmer and cooler in the first few months of the year. The locals are in their winter black rollneck jumpers, accessorised with equally noir-ish sunglasses. With an average of 17C by March, it’s warm enough to sit outside cafés and bars, but not hot enough to fall foul of the “no shorts” rule enforced in Rome’s oldest churches. Inside Villa Farnesina (€12; villafarnesina.it), there is just a handful of people admiring the murals by ..read more
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Rome isn’t all ruins – check out its breathtaking contemporary art and design, too
The Guardian | Italy holidays
by Colin O'Brien
1M ago
The Forum and Colosseum have to be seen once, but after that the Eternal City has a never-ending wealth of modern art worth exploring It’s a controversial opinion, but Rome’s major sites are overrated. Crowded, costly and utterly devoid of charm, the city’s most visited landmarks have been cheapened in the age of mass tourism into little more than a box-ticking – or selfie-taking – exercise. Which isn’t to say you shouldn’t go. Everyone should be accosted by a middle-aged Italian man in a plastic centurion’s costume or shouted at by a Vatican security guard at least once in their life. But the ..read more
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Rail route of the month: a dramatic ‘back door’ into Switzerland through the Italian Alps
The Guardian | Italy holidays
by Nicky Gardner
2M ago
Our slow travel expert alights from the express train in Domodossola to discover a rural route through the hills into Switzerland Frequent Eurocity trains dash north from Milan via the Simplon Tunnel to Switzerland. On the way to the tunnel, those express trains speed by Lake Maggiore, affording fine views of the Borromean Islands. For Switzerland-bound trains, the last station stop in Italy is at the small Piedmont town of Domodossola. The station here is remarkably grand, as befits what was once an important gateway into Italy, with all the paraphernalia of customs and immigration. From Domo ..read more
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From Arctic art to the Disgusting Food Museum: Europe’s top 10 culture destinations for 2024
The Guardian | Italy holidays
by Rachel Dixon
3M ago
Malta’s first art biennale, Copenhagen’s repurposed Carlsberg district, the first Arctic Circle capital of culture … this year promises a feast of cultural activity Germany is celebrating the 250th birthday of one of its best-loved painters, the Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840). His work features mountains, ruins and stormy seas, often with human figures, such as Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog. There are exhibitions in Hamburg (until 1 April), Berlin (19 April to 4 August) and Dresden (24 August to 5 January 2025), where Friedrich lived for 40 years; he is buried in the city’s ..read more
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From skiing to spas: 10 of the best Alpine activity holidays
The Guardian | Italy holidays
by Annabelle Thorpe
3M ago
Holidays for skiers, hikers, skaters – and those who’d rather just relax in a luxury spa ​One of the most picturesque villages in the Tirol, Alpbach is not the place for a rip-roaring après ski scene, but its clutch of classic wooden chalet hotels, traditional stube restaurants and quiet bars make it a great choice for a restorative mountain break. Alongside the perfectly groomed pistes accessed by the Wiedersbergerhorn gondola, are easy snow-shoeing trails, a 7km toboggan run and torchlit hikes. Mountain huts dot the Alpbachtal-Wildschönau valley, serving käsespätzle (Tirolean macaroni cheese ..read more
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‘So good I went five times’: travel writers’ favourite discoveries of 2023
The Guardian | Italy holidays
by Guardian Staff
3M ago
We asked 23 Guardian travel writers to share their best experiences of 2023, from elegant spas and an art deco cinema to a new ‘megalith’ and a futuristic hotel There are many places where you expect to see jaw-dropping architecture, but the quiet Brittany countryside isn’t one of them. As we walked toward Hotel l’Essenciel (not a typo, ciel means sky) with its 36 rooms, or “nests” suspended around its central structure, with the flying-saucer shaped restaurant La Table des Pères at its foot, I had to wonder if I’d stepped into a parallel universe or on to another planet ..read more
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Amazing Adriatic: the top five places to visit
The Guardian | Italy holidays
by Seán Williams
5M ago
History, culture and great cuisine are waiting to be discovered from the Istrian peninsula to the Venetian Lagoon The uppermost tip of the Adriatic is a curious mix of cultures, cuisines and architectural styles. Pack lightly and tour the Istrian peninsula, before hopping over to the Venetian lagoon opposite. On a clear day, you can see from one side of the sea to the other. Forgo car hire, it’s more serene to travel by ferry, train and bus – and the occasional taxi out of season ..read more
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