You are walking in Alberobello, Puglia. You round the corner into Rione Monti and stop walking. Hundreds of whitewashed cone-roofed houses tumble down the hillside before you, gray stone domes clustered together like a forest of mushrooms. It looks like something from a storybook, a village where hobbits might live or where witches might brew … Read more
Civita di Bagnoregio is not like any other Italian hill town. It is called “Il paese che muore,” the dying town, because the fragile tufa rock it sits upon has been eroding for millennia. Earthquakes, landslides, and the relentless forces of nature have slowly eaten away at its foundation. The mountain is still sinking, inch … Read more
Matera is not like anywhere else in Italy. It is not even like anywhere else in the world. While Rome is three thousand years old and feels ancient, Matera has been continuously inhabited for nearly nine thousand years, making it one of the oldest cities on earth. The Sassi, the cave dwellings carved into the … Read more
Naples, or Napoli as Italians call it. It’s loud, chaotic, gloriously messy, and absolutely unforgettable. For years, travelers treated it as nothing more than a pit stop on the way to the Amalfi Coast or Capri, a place to catch a train and move on. But something has shifted. Naples is having a moment, and … Read more
Puglia stretches between the Adriatic Sea to the east and the Ionian Sea to the west. It offers over 500 miles of coastline that rivals any in the Mediterranean for sheer beauty. But its allure goes far beyond its beaches. Here, whitewashed hilltop towns gleam under the southern sun, ancient olive groves stretch to the … Read more
Italy’s cities—Rome, Florence, Venice—are justly famous. They’re the heavyweights, the places you feel you must see at least once. But here’s a secret I’ve learned from years of exploring this magnificent country: the soul of Italy doesn’t reside in its bustling piazzas. It lives in the borghi, the small villages that cling to hillsides, nestle in valleys, and … Read more
Let me start with a confession. Ranking the most beautiful places in Italy is a fool’s errand. I’ve been traveling to this magnificent country for many years, and every time I think I’ve seen the best it has to offer, a new corner reveals itself and leaves me speechless. Italy is a country that doesn’t … Read more
Italy’s blockbuster trio—Rome, Florence, Venice—deserve every bit of their fame. But if you’ve walked the same crowded bridges and waited in the same long lines, you know that Italy’s soul isn’t only in its marquee names. It’s also in the quieter piazzas where old men play cards, in the steam rising from a pot of … Read more
Most travelers rush through Verona on a day trip between Venice and Milan. That’s a mistake. I’ve made that mistake myself, and when I finally slowed down here with my wife, we realized Verona isn’t just a stopover. It’s a city that rewards the patient traveler. Yes, Verona has the balcony from Romeo and Juliet. … Read more
Every traveler faces the same wonderful dilemma when planning a trip to Tuscany: where to sleep. The region is packed with world-famous art cities, postcard-perfect hill towns, and sprawling wine valleys, but they are not all close to one another. Choosing the wrong base can mean spending hours on the road instead of enjoying a … Read more