MORE PLACES IN ITALY
Amalfi is the cool kid on the block—universally known, the subject of wild rumors, the one everyone else wants to be. Not surprising, as it’s the perfect marriage of waterfront and commercial centro...
It’s easy to see how Assisi could have inspired St. Francis’s rejection of worldly goods for a life of poverty and prayer—this hillside town glows with a simple, profound, and moving beauty. As the...
Bologna la grassa, la dotta, la rossa. The fat, the learned, and the red—the city sounds like an obese Commie professor. This proud local refrain, however, summarizes what makes Bologna a great place...
There’s no beach in Corniglia, and to a significant extent, that—and
the nearly 400 steps up from train to town—keeps the tourists away. As a result, this
village at the center of the Cinque Terre...
It is hard to imagine that this tiny, impossibly hilly town once
rivaled mighty Firenze for Tuscan dominance. But in the summer, Cortona sure rivals it for
tourists per square inch. Nearly empty in...
The Medici. Botticelli. Dante. What do these names, familiar to anyone who has studied history, art, or literature (or a combination of all three), have in common? All of them were natives of...
Once you’ve gotten over Herculaneum’s mouthful of a name, there’s very little to begrudge this delightful ancient Roman town. A smaller archaeological site than the more famous Pompeii, Herculaneum...
Capri is a rare place whose real-life beauty outweighs even the most carefully planned photographs and tourist-office-issued descriptions. Approaching the island, visitors are struck by impossibly...
Ask a native of Lucca to compare Florence to his beloved hometown, and he is likely to mutter dismissively about canine excrement. The fiercely proud Lucchesi have every reason to be protective of...
One of the smallest of the five towns, Manarola concentrates the Cinque Terre’s back-in-time Italian feel within just a few short blocks. With a rocky cove as the centerpiece for both local fishermen...
An intersection of fashion and finance, Milan is a city whose residents are ready to proclaim their pride in the sophisticated metropolis they call home. Italy’s moral capital is the antithesis of...
The biggest and most bustling of the towns on Cinque Terre’s verdant stretch of coast, Monterosso feels the least like Italy and the most like the Bahamas, or Delaware, or, well...any other coastal...
Naples is a hectic city where everyone seems to be doing something and nothing all at once. Drivers zip through narrow streets at breakneck speeds only to stop suddenly to chat with neighbors or grab...
Compared to the long lines at the Vatican and the Colosseum, the 45min. trip to Ostia is downright quick. The trip also allows you to fulfill your vacation checklist: history, sightseeing, partying,...
Padua, one of the oldest cities in northern Italy, usually serves as a quick day trip from Venice for most travelers. However, a visit of at least two days is necessary if you hope to scratch the...
In Perugia, there’s plenty to do but not a whole lot to see. The city has an excellent art gallery and lovely Duomo, plus the usual round of incredible panoramic views from ancient city walls, but...
This is what Pisa has to offer: one tower, leaning; one budget airline hub, useful; and three universities, sweet. If Florentine nightlife left you doubting the Tuscan party scene, come to Pisa,...
If Rome isn’t Roman enough for you, take a daytrip to Pompeii, the city frozen—or rather, buried—in time. Sailing around the Bay of Naples, you’ll see Mt. Vesuvius lurking formidably over nearly all...
Like the two-piece bathing suit that originated here (a.k.a. the bikini), Positano is a city in two parts. In one, you have the hot, crowded coast and, in the other, the cool cliffs which cushion it...
If the Amalfi Coast is a house, Ravello is the attic a lot of visitors don’t see but actually stores much of the coolest stuff. This tiny town sits quite literally above all of Amalfi’s coastal...
Riomaggiore, the touristy town at the other end of the Cinque Terre from Monterosso, lacks a beach but is intimately connected with the sea. The water’s not even visible from the village’s main drag—...
Rome: the epitome of Italy, and its biggest enigma. It condenses every stereotype that plagues the country into one sprawling metropolis... and then rambles on another few kilometers and centuries to...
Both picturesque and formidable, the 14 towers of San Gimignano loom over the city’s small piazze and meandering walls. The towers date back to a period when prosperous families used the town square...
Thanks to the semiannual Palio, Siena shares a reputation with Spain’s Pamplona for being crazy two days of the year and asleep the other 363. That’s really not a fair rep, though, because the...
Sorrento is the practical traveler’s paradise. Located on a train, bus, and ferry route that connects it with the Amalfi Coast’s other cities, Sorrento makes dazzling, high-cliffed Bay of Naples...
The O2006 Winter Olympics
put “Torino” on the map—literally. The confusion over which name to use, the hard English
“Turin” or the smooth, rhythmic Italian has heightened since the city insisted on...
On any given day, tourists—20 million annually—outnumber Venice’s local population of 60,000. This has given Venice a rather unfair reputation as a tourist hub whose undeniable beauty and charm have...
Judging by a quick walk down its primary street, Vernazza is a small
haven for seafood restauranteurs, colorful umbrellas, and tourists who like to be in bed
by 10pm. Revolving around the central...
Best known to English-speakers as the setting for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, fair Verona has come a long way since the days of the Montague-Capulet feud. (OK, maybe the Bard embellished the...