|
Abruzzo -
Abruzzo, Italy boasts the largest area (30 percent of the Abruzzo region) of
protected land with its many wildlife sanctuaries and preserved parks such
as Parco Nationale d'Abruzzo which is perfect for hiking and horseback
riding. Also for the outdoor enthusiasts are the Appenine Mpuntain range,
the largest mountains in central Italy, where downhill and cross-country
skiing are possible. L'Aquila, the Abruzzo region capital 78 miles Northeast
of Rome, holds the Museo Nationale dell'Abruzzo, which is housed in a 16th
century fortress that looks out over the city and hosts traveling
exhibitions and permanent installations as well. The Abruzzo region is known
for its medieval villages, some much better preserved than others, scattered
throughout the mountains and valleys. The east section of Abruzzo borders on
the Adriatic Sea and seaside cities such as Pescara are popular destinations
for Italian vacationers in need of rest and relaxation.
Apulia -
Apulia (Puglia), is located on the Adriatic Sea, at the spur and heel of the
Italian boot. From the cliffs and beaches of the Gargano Peninsula, through
vine and olive covered plains growing some of Italy's most robust wines, and
the coast lined with many beaches to the southernmost tip of Italy's heel,
Puglia offers the most variety of the southern regions, equal in wealth and
artistic talent to the north. You can see Greek ruins at Taranto, Norman
Romanesque cathedrals and castles, and the Trulli, whitewashed houses with
conical stone roofs turning the plains into a fairy-tale landscape. Further
south on the Salentine Peninsula there is baroque Lecce, the south's most
beautiful city.
Travel to Basilicata - Basilicata is a tiny southern region, occupied for the most part by
mountains that in places reached by two seas: the Tyrrhenian sea for a short
section of coast line, and the Ionian sea. It is one of the poorest region
in Italy but it boast a piece of prehistory in the modern world: "The Sassi".
They are located at Matera, the second main
city of Basilicata
Calabria -
Calabria is one of the most beautiful parts of the country with perfect
weather year-round and a relaxed Italian way of life. Once part of the Greek
Empire, Calabria was colonized by the Romans, Byzantines, French and
Spanish, becoming part of the Italian Republic in 1861. Each invading
population brought its own influence to Calabrese culture and cuisine making
the region unique in Italy. The area is well known for it's flavorsome and
spicy food as well as seafood, lamb, capers, figs and olives all of which
influence local cooking. The Calabrese people are warm, open and welcoming,
traditionally hospitable and eager to share the beauty of the region they
live in.
Campania is
the most popular southern region for tourists, as it is home to the
breathtaking islands of Capri and Ischia, known for their breathtaking
cliffs and ocean views. Capri, boasting one of the Seven Wonders of the
World, the Blue Grotto, is a sight to see for anyone not afraid of venturing
through the cave in a tiny rowboat. The Campania region is full of history,
both mythological and factual. The Amalfi Coast, south of Naples, is the
vacation destination of many who are lucky enough to have discovered its
beauty. Campania is famous for foods such as pizza, buffalo mozzarella,
tomatoes and homemade pasta with pomodoro sauce. Lemons also grow
plentifully in the region, which result in the refreshing liqueur Limoncello
and the plentiful grapes are transformed into excellent wines.
Emilia Romagna
- Emilia-Romagna is the gastronomic heartland of Italy. It is in
this passionate countryside that homemade pasta, prosciutto and parmigiano
are produced without equal. And it is here where each and every town has its
own specialty as remarkable and unique as the next. Bordered by six other
regions, this extremely fertile land skirts both the Po River and the
Apennines. Most of the region's important towns lie on the Via Emilia, a
road built in Roman times that cuts a swath from Piancenza at the top of the
region to Rimini on the Adriatic. The area from Bologna to the north is
Emilia; from Bologna to the south is Romagna. The region's capital is
Bologna, which is located just about dead center and draws characteristics
from both Emilia and Romagna.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
- Friuli-Venezia Giulia is often skipped by tourists. It does not receive
half as many people as nearby Veneto. This means that Friuli offers you a
chance to discover a truly interesting region without too many other
tourists around. To get to know one of Italy's most versatile regions, a
"small digest of the universe" as the writer Ippolito Nievo defined
Slovenia. This varied region is characterized by different landscapes which
go from the smooth hills of Collio to the picturesque Trieste coastline,
from the middle-European architecture of Trieste to the graceful Venetian
architecture of Udine and by different cultures, heritage of various
invasions which marked history. This variety can be savoured also by its
rich cuisine together with its world known top white wines and its
outstanding red ones.
Latium -
a region of fascinating nature and environment, with an extraordinary
variety of landscape: wide beaches, great pinewoods, mountains like
Terminillo (an excellent ski resort), gentle hills and expansive plains, a
region rich in artistic monuments that bring to mind the long and
extraordinary history of this region in the most immediate fashion. At
Tarquinia, Cerveteri and Tuscania, necropolises and museums bear evidence of
ancient and mysterious Etruscan people (seventh to sixth centuries B.C.) who
ruled central Italy before the rise of Rome. There are countless testimonies
of the Roman and later historical eras outside Rome, in the other provinces
of Latium and in the local centers: Rieti, Viterbo, Latina and Frosinone. It
is enough to think of the splendid and grandiose Villa Adriana in Tivoli
(where the renaissance Villa d'Este can also be found), the
seventeenth-century Palazzo Barberini in Palestrina, and the Cathedral in
Anagni. The same grandiose style of the Roman religion seems to be projected
and duplicated outside Rome: in the abbeys of Montecassino, Casamari, and
Fossanova and in the monasteries of Subiaco, places dear to Saint Benedict
of Norcia. Latium, therefore, is not just Rome. And Rome is also Latium.
Travel to Liguria
- Liguria, facing the Tyrrhenian Sea, forms an imposing arc, with the Gulf
of Genoa in its center. It is a mountainous and hilly region, which includes
part of the Maritime Alps and the Ligurian Apennines, whose the spurs plunge
almost everywhere into the sea, leaving scant space to the plains, which
form a narrow coastline. Here landscapes of great beauty can be admired. The
region is divided in two sections: the Riviera di Ponente (to the west),
from Ventimiglia to
Genova,
and the Riviera di Levante (to the east), from Genoa to La Spezia. The
terminal strip of the Riviera di Levante is known as “Le Cinque Terre” (the
Five Lands) and still today represents a beautiful example of intact
landscape.
Lombardy
- Unlike the other regions in Italy, Lombardy is best known for its
economical supremacy but its tourist attractions are no less important. As
well as the vast and industrious Po Valley, Lombardy can boast charming
hilly areas, large lakes in the foothills of the Alps and a great variety of
mountain scenery - from the wooded valleys of the Pre Alps to the Bernina,
Ortles-Cevedale and Adamello glaciers. In addition to these it conserves a
remarkable historical and artistic heritage: from the spectacular
prehistoric rock carvings of Valcamonica to the the great works of art such
as the famous Duomo in Milan. In such a limited space it is impossible to
list all the monuments, churches and abbeys, the castles, palaces and villas
in the cities of Lombardy and scattered all over the region. The beauty of
their scenery and a mild climate have for centuries made Lakes Como, Iseo,
Garde and Maggiore the most popular of holiday choices.
The
Marches - Travellers who want
the best of central Italy are now heading for Le Marche, the third region,
alongside Tuscany and Umbria, that makes up the area. It is pronounced "lay
markay", is plural (Le Marche) and is sometimes translated into English as
"The Marches". The region lies on the eastern side of central Italy, between
the Adriatic Sea and the high Apennine mountains and much of it remains
unspoilt by the ravages of mass tourism. True, the Adriatic coast has been a
mecca for "sun n' sand" holiday makers for decades; but few venture far from
the beaches. Inland, perhaps more so than anywhere else in central Italy,
you will find places where time really has stood still. Compared to its
central Italian sisters, here culture comes in more easily digestible
proportions but quality, as at Urbino, is often of the very best.
Molise
- Molise Italy is a small and undiscovered region where tradition, intricate
craftsmanship, and hospitality are still points of pride for its
inhabitants. A relatively new region, only having split from the Abruzzo
region to its north in 1965, its underdevelopment has preserved the
inspiring mountainous landscape. Campobasso is the regional capital and a
central point from which travel throughout the region is easiest. Molise
Italy is a region where remains of antiquity are prevalent due to the lack
of development of the mountainous countryside. Isernia, a town set amidst
the ridge of a mountain, holds the Museo Nationale, which features regional
archeological finds dating back to the Roman era and remains of animals such
as elephant and rhinoceros species from 700,000 years ago. The town of
Pietrabbondante features a massive Hellenistic theater complex 3,000 feet up
in the mountains.
Piedmont
- Lying at the foot of the mountains in northern Italy, Piedmont (or
Piemonte to give it its Italian name) is an intriguing mixture of high
finance and big business (Turin); super scenery with snow-capped mountains
and great skiing; and a fascinating cultural mix, with a strong French and
German influence as well as the Italian. It also arguably boasts some of the
finest food and wine in Italy, although the residents of near neighbours
Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna might argue with that.
Sardinia
- Small enough to be classified as an island but big enough to be a universe
unto itself, Sardinia lies about 120 miles west of the Italian peninsula.
Its coastline is probably Europe's most spectacular. Its waters teem with
fish and shellfish. Its broad valleys turn into golden oceans of wheat in
summer. Its rugged mountains, pocked with caves, are home to large flocks of
sheep that feed on pungent wild herbs and produce a cheese your palate will
never forget.
Travel Sicily - Sicily is a
mountainous arid island — an extension of the Apennine Mountains separated
from the mainland by the Straits of Messina. Many powers have occupied this
strategically important area: Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Phoenicians and of
course the Mafia. Historical sites related to those powers are part of the
island’s attraction. (A Mafia tour visits sites of various Family activities
and the graves of infamous godfathers and victims.) But there are many other
reasons to visit Sicily: water sports, beaches of rock and sand (including
black sand), natural beauty, good food and friendly people.
Trentino Alto Adige -
Although this popular travel destination has a dominant German influence,
Trentino-Alto Adige offers the same warm hospitality and charm of the warmer
regions of the country. Residents of Trentino, the main city in the southern
part of the region, mainly speak Italian, while the natives of Adige (sometimes
called South Tirol) in the north predominantly speak German. Yet as different as
the two areas may be culturally, they share an impressive, beautiful landscape,
with the spectacular white-rock Dolomite Mountains in the east offer terrific
skiing and hiking.
Travel Tuscany - Located on the eastern shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea,
Tuscany is synonymous with amazing food, great wine and lush rolling
landscapes—a combination that proves intoxicating for all who visit. Surely
an extension of its environment, Tuscany gave birth to the Renaissance and
many of those whose work inspired it. Florence, Pisa, Prato and Siena are
among the region's largest cities, and collectively house some of its most
prized art and historic relics.
Umbria
- Umbria, one of the smallest regions in Italy, is entirely
landlocked and often referred to as being the 'green heart of Italy'. Umbria
still loudly echoes the Middle Ages, and boasts (albeit quietly) a landscape
of mediaeval hilltop villages, castles and monasteries. This is a region
that, despite being on the doorstep of Tuscany and en route to Rome, is
largely untouched by large-scale tourism; there are many bargains to be had,
and the countryside and towns will offer up many a sight to match those of
neighbouring Tuscany.
Val
d'Aosta - Sheltered by the towering
peaks of Europe's highest peak, Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa,
the reaches of the Val d'Aosta remain entirely mountainous. In the valley
itself exists a unique culture, complete with battling cows, (an old Aosta
tradition), Roman ruins and a hundred different castles. Glaciers, Gothic
sculptures, Baroque village churches, numerous fortresses, spectacular views
and glamorous ski resorts like Courmayeur also add to the mix. The food is
hearty and the local inhabitants speak French, Italian and a bit of Patois,
a dialect whose origins lie in Provence.
Veneto - The
Veneto has an extraordinary range of scenery. In addition to its famous
cities of great artistic and cultural interest (Venice, Verona, Vicenza and
Padua), it has the natural beauty to be found in the Dolomites, on the
shores of Lake Garda, in the landscape of the Euganei hills and in the
modern seaside resorts. There are also cultural and traditional events and
international level health centres. |
