Lucca, the Summer Music Festival and Tuscany 5 bedroom Villa Ripiano – Your summer holiday starts here! You never need an excuse to visit Tuscany. With its stunning and deeply varied countryside, landscapes brimming with Renaissance masterpieces, whilst possessing a style and affluence typical of Italy, Tuscany blends tradition and history with modern European culture,
With the advent of the warmer weather and lighter nights, all of a sudden the summer months do not feel as far away, and knowing how quickly time flies, July and August will some be upon us. It is therefore important that you start to plan your summer break. If you love jazz music and
In the eighteenth century, the French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher, Voltaire, wrote that the Renaissance in Italy marked one of mankind’s greatest cultural achievements. The city of Florence is home to the largest collection of Renaissance architecture and art in the world and boasts some of the greatest masterpieces from this age of artistic
Renaissance architecture, beguiling old towns, unspoilt by mass tourism and sensational cuisine – No wonder Gary Rhodes is heading to Le Marche! “Le Marche: It’s prettier than Umbria, with tastier cuisine than Tuscany,” were the words of a travel writer in The Sunday Times, and is quite a statement when you consider the immense beauty
Style, elegance and fashion are in Italian blood, and since the 11th century Italy has been one of the most important nations in the world of fashion and design. The region of Tuscany is at the heart of Italian fashion, with boutiques and fashion outlets lining the streets of the cosmopolitan cities such as Florence
Florence’s Firenze Tango Festival 2011 promises to be one of the most authentic Tango festivals Europe has to offer. Tango, like its history, is full of unexpected moves and twists. Unlike any other genres of dance it combines the rhythms of Spanish, African and Cuban music. Since it was developed in the slums of Buenos
‘Painting the skies’ on the shores of Lake Trasimeno In April and May the sky surrounding the mighty Lake Trasimeno, is infused with colour and vibrancy, due to the many balloons and kites seen gently bobbing up and down in crystal-clear Italian air. Each year thousands of balloons, kites and hot-air balloons literally paint the
Looking for somewhere different for New Years Eve? Italy’s iL Capodanno (beginning of the new year) will hit the spot! The Italians rarely need an excuse to party, so when New Year’s Eve ascends on the world, Italy explodes into a land of excitement, revelry and light-hearted debauchery….Excellent! Food, naturally, plays a leading role in Italian New
The last three weekends in November, in the particularly pictorial Tuscan town on San Miniato, are dedicated to the celebration of truffles, when ‘La Sagra del Tartufo Bianco’ takes place offering visitors the most divinely exquisite of white truffles and other truffle-derived products. The countryside surrounding San Miniato in the Pisa province of Tuscany is
Lying to the east of central Italy in between the Adriatic Sea and the tall Apennine mountains is the area of Le Marche, translated into English as “The Marches”. Unlike many coastal resorts in mainland Italy, La Marche is rarely overcrowded and has managed to retain a tradition, culture and heritage that has stood halted
