Travel Planning

This category has articles on planning your trip, including packing lists, transportation,  safety tips, travel etiquette, dining (restaurant reviews, dining guides), accommodations, and events & festivals.

Palazzo Ducale in Mantua/Mantova

Italy Adds Two More UNESCO Sites: Mantua and Sabbioneta and the Rhaetian Railway

Time to add two more Italian sites to the UNESCO World Heritage List. In July, UNESCO inscribed the Po Valley towns of Mantua and Sabbioneta and the Rhaetian Railway, which passes through the Swiss Alps into Tirano, Italy. Both new sites are located in the region of Lombardy. Mantua (Mantova) and Sabbioneta were selected for…

Authentic Accommodations in Abruzzi

Those who may have watched CBS Sunday Morning* yesterday probably caught the Allen Pizzey “Postcard: Abruzzi” piece, which profiled a castle in the village of Santo Stefano di Sessania, Abruzzo (or Abruzzi, if you will) that has been converted into “authentic” accommodations for those few tourists who wander off the beaten track to this area of…

From Mafia Villa to Agriturismo

This one comes from the U.K.’s Italy Magazine, which tells us that the Corleone villa of former Mafia boss Salvatore Riina has been turned into farmstay housing, a.k.a., an agriturismo. The Pio La Torre Cooperative, named for a martyred anti-Mafia activist, belonged to Riina before it was seized by the State after his 1993 capture….