Italy: The Wonders of Tuscany

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

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Tuscany is the most popular place for visitors to see when taking a tour of Italy. It has two distinct and diverse faces; rich art cultural cities such as Florence, Pisa, and Sienna and beautiful landscaped country sides made of small villages, villas, and vineyards. Tourists come for the Renaissance art located in Florence, enjoying the beach in Viareggio, and eating Tuscan foods and tasting magnificent wines from the local wineries.

Museums and Monuments

Tuscany is the birthplace to the Italian Renaissance and home to some of the most prominent individuals in the history of arts and science. It has an immeasurable cultural and artistic heritage which is expressed through the region’s vast amount of churches, museums, galleries, palaces, and piazzas.

  • Leaning Tower located in Pisa
  • Michelangelo’s masterpiece David located in Florence’s Galleria dell’Accademia delle Bella Arti
  • Uffizi Gallery located in Florence
  • Institute and Museum of History of Science located in Florence

Parks

Tuscany’s parks are naturally beautiful and many are the subject to fascinating archeological, artistic, and cultural discoveries.

  • The Livorno Hills Park (aka The Lost Island)
  • The National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago
  • The Zoological Park of European Fauna in Poppi
  • The Parks of the Val di Cornia

Vineyards

Located along the axis formed by Florence and Siena, Tuscany is the most famous and influential wine producing region in Italy.

  • Chianti
  • Montalcino
  • Mentepulciano

Cuisine

Each region has its own culinary specialties and versions of common Italian cuisine based largely on the olive groves and wild herbs found throughout Tuscany.

Tourists can now also experience the foods of the region by taking an afternoon lesson or a week-long course. Villa Dianella in Vinci organizes groups in the villa’s kitchen to prepare Tuscan dishes later enjoyed with the farm’s select Chianti wines.

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Italy: Touring Lombardy

Lombardy is the most populous and richest region in the country due to the population numbers and level of gross domestic products produced in the region. While often identified as an industrial and economic powerhouse, Lombardy has many cultural and artistic places of interests.

It has over 330 museums of different types: ethnographic, technical-scientific, historical, naturalistic, and artistic. The most famous include:

  • Museum of Santa Giulia
  • Volta Temple
  • Stradivari Museum
  • Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci
  • National Museum of Science and Technology
  • Sacred Art of the Nativity Museum
  • Palazzi Te

Lombardy is characterized by high-quality nature offerings including mountains, lakes, and rivers for both sport and leisure aficionados. Water enthusiasts enjoy lake destinations including Garda, Como, Maggiore, and Iseo. For the hiker, Lombardy has a sequence of lands, places, and paths which are each differentiated by unique natural and cultural elements both renowned and undiscovered.

Tourists also enjoy taking day trips viewing places of interests:

· Cathedral of Milan

· Teatro alla Scala

· Villa Reale in Monza

· Certosa di Pavia

· Basilica of San Lorenzo

The wine of the region is Lombardia and is known particularly for its sparkling wine selections made in the areas of Franciacorta and Oltrepò Pavese. It also makes still rosé, red, and white wines prepared from a variety of local and international grapes.

The cuisine of Lombardy is rice found in popular dishes including soups and risottos. Regional cheeses include gorgonzola, grana padono, robiolo, crescenza, and taleggio. Most dishes are single pot for easy preparation. Due to intensive cattle raising butter and cream are a main kitchen staple and cooking ingredient. The typical food offerings include polenta, pizzoccheri, cassoeula, osso buco, cotoletta, and panettone.

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Italy: Visiting Florence

Snow-capped view of Florence (Santa Maria del ...

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Florence lies on the River Arno and is known for its rich history and importance in both the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a major impact on architecture, education, fashion, cuisine, philosophy, and religion.

The climate is Mediterranean which is characterized by hot and humid summers from June to August with little rainfall. The winter is cool and wet with some snow in regions.

Florence was the birthplace and chosen home of many notable historians including Dante, da Vinci, Boccaccio, Pucci, Gucci, de’ Medici, Machiavelli, and Michelangelo. In proportion to its size, Florence has the largest concentration of art in the world.

Tourism has become the most significant industry and often times tourists outnumber the local population from April to October.  Florence has more than 35,000 hotel beds and 23,000 other facility accommodations allowing for the potential of 10 million visitors each year.

World-renowned museum the Uffizi sells over 1.6 million tickets a year and is regularly sold out. Due to the amount of visiting tourists, Florence’s convention centre facilities were restructured to host exhibitions, concerts, events, conferences, and meetings all year round.

The historical center contains elegant piazzas, palaces, churches, gardens, academies, and museums.

  • Religious architecture
    • Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral
    • San Giovanni Baptistery
    • Basilica of San Croce
    • San Miniato al Monte
  • Museums
    • Uffizi
    • Vasari Corridor
    • Bargello
  • Palaces
    • Pitti Palace
    • Palazzo Vecchio
    • Palazzo Medici Riccardi
  • Parks and Gardens
    • Boboli Gardens
    • Giardino Bardini
  • Villas
    • Villa Le Balze
    • Villa Medici at Carreggi
    • Villa La Petraia
    • Torre del Gallo
  • Piazzas
    • Piazza del Duomo
    • Piazza San Lorenzo
    • Piazza Santa Croce
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Italy: Travel to Basilicata

The only region in Italy that proudly boasts two names; Basilicata and Lucania. It is the most mountainous region in the south of Italy rich in human and natural history.

Basilicata offers the excitement of natural landscaped beauty, which brings the curious and experienced hiker in with its mountain tops and hill sides filled with breathtaking panoramas. Travelers desire visiting untouched seaside towns with fine golden sanded beaches and cities filled with rich history.

For the nature lover, taking a tour of the National Park of Pollino, the Gallipoli Cognato Forest, the Rock Churches of Matera, or the Lucanian Dolomites will delight all of the senses. Health seeking travelers can experience the natural spas of Terme la Calda, Terme di Ala, Latronico, and Rapolla. Seaside travelers will find the beauty in the clear waters of Metaponto, Pisticci, Policoro, and Nova Siri.

Travelers who find enjoyment in Basilicata’s history will find the museums of Potenza, Melfi, Venosa, Policoro, and Irsina of most interest. There is plentiful culture and traditions to be found at local folk festivals and exhibitions in Maratea and Matera.

Tourists are fascinated by the stunning architecture and the regions historical art observed through small churches and medieval castles. The people of Basilicata are its own greatest resources due to their friendly nature and passion to help the weary traveler.

The featured cuisine of the region is simple and has genuine characteristics of the Mediterranean diet. Offered by a multitude of small family owned restaurants, the food is some of the finest in southern Italian cuisine and the jewel of Lucanian hospitality.

Basilicata is the perfect place to travel and immerse oneself in the Italian experience without falling into all the trappings of the more popular tourist attractions in Italy.

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Italy: Traditional Carnivals

Italy is a host to many carnivals each year, which are long standing century run traditions, offered to towns folk and delighted tourists. Carnival is a huge winter festival celebrated around Italy with parades, masquerade balls, music, and entertainment which marks the beginning of Lent.

Putignano Carnival

The carnival in Putignano is one of the oldest and longest running carnivals in the world. It is famous for its procession of papier-mâché floats and involves the relocation of St. Stefan Protmartyre’s Holy Relics from the city of Monopoli to Putignano.

The motif of the Putignano carnival is the mask of Farinella which closely resembles a court jester with multicoloured costume and decorations of bells.

Carnival of Venezia

The carnival in Venezia is an annual festival that runs from two weeks before Ash Wednesday through Shrove Tuesday in the city of Venice.  The event started as a time for celebration and self expression throughout the social classes through the wearing of masks. These masks allowed the wearer the freedom to interact with other members of society outside everyday contact and the confines of identity.

Highlights include gondola and boat parades along the Grand Canal, mask parades in St. Mark’s Square, and fireworks at the grand finale of the event.

Viareggio Carnival

A long established European tradition, the carnival in Viareggio is the best known events in Italy. The parade consists of peculiar giant symbolic papier-mâché floats depicting satirical and irreverent features of popular people including politicians, celebrities, and sportsmen. It takes place in a ring-like circuit along the seaside avenues of Viareggio allowing spectators no barriers to the show.

Carnival of Ivrea

The carnival of Ivrea mingles legend and rich history to create a spectacular event crossing the centuries. It brings tradition, history, excitement, spectacle, and ideals to the streets of Ivrea.

Highlights include a colorful parade, orange-throwing battles at town center, and the burning of the scarli at the end of the event.

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