ITALY |
| Italian History Timeline - It's only been a united country since 1861. A lot has happened both before and after |
| Practical Information: | ||
| The Inns of Italy offers a good choice of small inns and hotel ranging from $ to $$$$ | ||
| Charming Hotels has a unique group of Hotels and Resorts | ||
| Italy Traveler Collection offers a good selection of boutique and upscale hotels | ||
| The Italian Collection for boutique hotel accommodations | ||
| Italia rail - for train fares and schedules in Italy | ||
| ROME | |
| Apartment rentals and Hotels: | |
| Friendly Rentals is based in Barcelona but they have agents and great apartments in Rome. Very Friendy people and easy rentals | |
| Leisure in Rome is an owner operated site managed by three young Romans. They also have a lot of good properties. | |
| Hotel Art $$$ - a new stylish Hotel by the Spanish Steps | |
| VRBO.com and HomeAway.com are always great for apartment searches | |
Hotel Lancelot near the colosseum is a small family owned hotel. Friends of ours love this place and would never stay anywhere else. |
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| Hotel Scalinata di Spagna $$ is at the top of the Spanish Steps. It's an old established hotel and close to the Alla Rampa Restaurant | |
| Hotel Raphael $$$ is close to Piazza Navona and the antique shops along Via Coronari | |
| Campo dei Fiori Penthouse $$ - Very comfortable in a great location | |
| Pantheon Apartment $$$ - this is one of the best apartments we've stayed at in Rome. Beautiful view, very quiet, great location | |
| Holiday Velvet is a good owner operated site managed by James Burrows, a really nice guy from the UK. | |
| Museums and Destinations: | Destination Guides: | |||
| Rome Guide | In Rome Now | |||
| Guided Tours: |
| Context Travel IS THE STANDARD FOR ALL GUIDED TOURS !! These guided tours by historians, archaeologists, theologians, art historians and scholars are some of best we've ever experienced. If you like their Rome tours, try them ofr other cities as well (see their website). |
| Professor Enrico Bruschini - This former art curator and successful author now gives tours of Rome although he is very difficult to book. |
| Happy Rent - OK the name is kind of goofy but they have classic cars and scotters for rent with audio guides. A step back in time |
| Recommended Day Trips: |
| Tivoli; Tarqunia, Orbetello, Viterbo |
| Restaurants and Food: |
| Roman classic dishes to try: cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper), spaghetti carbonara (egg, grated cheese and bacon), bucatini all’amatriciana (tomato sauce, bacon, crushed red pepper, grated cheese), saltimboca (veal, prociuto and sage), porchetta (deboned pig), stuffed zucchini flowers and fried artichokes. The restaurants are best for pizza. The street pizze are more like focaccia bread with toppings. However, pizza is usually only served at night in the restaurants. |
| ParlaFood is an amazing foodie blog by Katie Parla, a American living in Rome and writing about great places to eat. She has tunred us onto to many new and wonderful places. |
| Hosteria dell'Orso $$$-$$$$- This is Gaultiero Marchesi's restaurant in Rome. It’s expensive but well worth it. |
| Da Giggetto $$$ - In the heart of the jewish ghetto with a view of the Portico d'Ottavia |
| Osteria ar Galletto $$ Also known as Da Giovanni. Near the Campo dei Fiori. Get the roast chicken! |
| Ristorante Alla Rampa in the Piazza Mignanelli (just behind the American Express office near the Spanish Steps) might just have the best antipasto table in Rome. We've been coming back here for over 12 years. Sorry no website.. |
| Ditirambo - Piazza della Cancelleria (near Campo dei Fiori). Great Roman style cooking. Their other restaurant across the street is Grappolo D'Oro. Small place. Get there early or make a reservation |
| La Taverna Degli Amici - in Piazza Margana between the jewish ghetto and Piazza Venezia. Our favorite place.... |
| Le Tavernelles in the Monti. Celebrity photos on the wall, great service and excellent food. |
| Cuoco e Camicia is a contemporary "nuova cucina" Italian restaurant in the Monti. One of the best meals we've had in Rome. |
| Pierluigi - close to the via Giulia on Piazza dei Ricci. lots of outdoor tables; great Roman food,especially fish. Very good wine list |
| Roscioli near Campo dei Fiori is an amazing salumeria/restaurant/wine shop. They also have an excellent bakery around the corner |
| Ristorante L'Angoletto - Piazza Rondanini 51 (near the Pantheon) , Roma, tel: 06 6868019 |
| Gusto - restaurant, pizza, bar near the Ara Pacis memorial on Piazza Augusto Imperatore |
| Enoteca Antica - Via della Croce (near the Spanish Steps) trattoria, wine bar and restaurant in the heart of the shopping district |
| Pizza Montecarlo - Vicolo Savelli, just off the Corso Vittorio Emmanuele II. This is the BEST pizza in Rome. Get there early. There is always a line |
| Pizza Re - there are a few in the city. We like the one on Via della Ripetta (near Piazza del Popolo). Pizza is the best inexpensive food in Rome |
| Caffe Tazza d'Oro - near the Pantheon. Excellent coffee granita and cafe freddo as well as a wide assortment of different world brews |
Cafè Sant’EustachioThis could be the best coffee in the world |
| Ciuri Ciuri- Via Leonina 18 in the Monti district but there are a few other locations. Best Sicilian style gelato, granita and pastries. Incredible |
| Gelato Fiocco di Neve - Via del Pantheon near the Pantheon |
| La Cremeria Monteforte - at the Pantheon; home made gelato and delicious granita |
| Gelateria del Teatro - Piazza S. Simeone 22a; a small alley off Via dei Coronari neat Piazza Navona. This is our personal favorite. Bravo Stefano! |
| San Crispino Gelateria - all natural; no cones, just cups: Via della Panetteria2 (near Trevi Fountain and Largo Giussepe Toniolo (near the Pantheon |
| Gelateria Corona - Largo Argentina (Largo Arenula 27 - excellent Gelato and Granita |
| FLOR - similar to Grom. These two are battling for the new style of artisan gelaterie. The first opened near the Colossium but they are spreading |
| Grom Gelateria - creamy good |
| TUSCANY | ||
| Apartment rentals and Hotels: | ||
| Villa Calcinaia is our home in Tuscany. It's 12km west of Florence. Just tell Paola Cinelli we sent you. | ||
| Pitcher & Flaccomio is a real estate agency (rent or own) run by our friend susie Pitcher, a transplanted Australian since 1964 | ||
| Lungarno Hotels $$$ is group of hotels is owned by the Ferragamo family. They are all close to the Arno river in Florence and all equally beautiful and well appointed. | ||
| Museums and Destinations: | ||
| Schools and Guided Tours: | ||
| Galilei Institure - language and history courses and guided tours with art and architecture historians | ||
| Art and History of Florence - good historical site | ||
| Apicius cooking school - In Florence. | ||
| Badia a Coltibuono - started by Lorenza di Medici. womderful winery, olive oil, hotel and cooking school in Chianti | ||
| Context Travel - The same group of historical scholars in Rome now offers guided tours of Florence |
| Restaurants and Food: |
| Tuscan classic dishes to try: bean and bread soups like ribollita and pappa al pomodoro, bruschette, pappardelle with porcini mushrooms, cinghiale (wild boar), coniglio (rabbit), fried vegetables (fritto misto) and florentine beef. Also try the cantucci (almond cookies) especially when dipped in vin santo (a local sweet wine). |
| Da Delfina $$ | a visit to Artimino is well worth the view and the cooking of this restaurant |
| Il Cibrèo $$-$$$ | $$$for the restaurant; $$ for the tratoria around the corner. The restaurant is very famous but you can get the same meal for much less at the trattoria around the corner |
| Beccofino $$ | nuovo italiano; new and trendy |
| Buca Lapi $$ | Classic Florentine restaurant just off the Via Tornabuoni. Always a good meal. |
| La Chiusa $$ | great tuscan "homestyle" restaurant near Monelpuciano, also have a small beautiful hotel |
| Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco $ | one of our favorites |
| Il Pozzo $$ | country restaurant inside the walled Medievel city of Monteriggioni |
| Edy Piu $-$$ | it’s right across the street from Villa Calcinaia (see above) |
| Il Gelato Vivoli $ | OK, there are lots of great gelateri in Florence, but this one is worth going out of your way to find. |
| 13 gobbi $ | the 13 hunchbacks is good down-home Florentine cooking. Located on via del Porcellana #9/r in Florence, just behind the Excelsior Hotel. |
| Trattoria Sostanza $ | Via Porcellana 25, close to 13 Gobbi. The roast chicken in butter broth and the arthichoke omelete are amazing |
| Gelateria della Passera | Via Toscanella, 15r; near the Ponte Vecchio; everything made fresh every day |
| LOMBARDY - THE LAKE REGION | ||
| Apartment rentals and Hotels: | ||
| L’Alberetta | This is our favorite hotel in Italy, possibly in all of Europe | $$$ |
| Museums and Destinations: | ||
This is the home of poet, pilot, international bon vivant Gabriele d’Annunzio. The villa in Gardone on Largo di Garda is a monument to his most bizarre life. |
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| The sites and museums of Milan | Milan is a very modern city but there are lots of things from the Renaissance (Da Vinci’s Last Supper, Castello Sforzesco, Casa Boromeo) as well as the Baroque and modern. |
| Guided Tours: | ||
| Restaurants and Food: |
| Lombardy dishes to try: bresaola, agnoli (stuffed pasta), ossobuco, and the cuccina milanese, cotoletta alla milanese (veal fried in egg, bread crumbs and cheese), risotto alla milanese (with saffron) and minestrone alla milanese. If you’re there in the Autumn, you might be lucky enough to have some ovoli mushrooms (red cap porcini) and in the Spring white truffle season begins. For dessert try the Amaretti almond cookies. |
| Ristorante Gaultiero Marchesi | This is Marchesi’s flagship restaurant in the L’Alberetta Hotel. What a treat to have this amazing meal (we highly recommend the tasting menu) and then walk back to your room. | $$$$ |
| Peck | One of the best food shops in Milan, definitely in all of Italy, possibly all the world. They also have a cafeteria so you can eat in or take away. | $-$$ |
| Ai Santi | Our friend Nicola Zanini's restaurant in lower Bergamo on Via Borgo Santa Caterina,. Daniela, his wife, does the cooking, but Nicola also has a small wine shop. He is one of the highest rated sommaliers in all of Italy and sells bottle ranging from €8 to over €100 | $-$$ |
| SICILY | ||
| The Best of Sicily | a really good internet magazine of Sicily | |
| Apartment rentals and Hotels: | ||
| Villa Due Angeli | Phil and Carmello have built a paradise here; only 20 minutes from Toarmina | |
| Hotel Ucciardhome | beautiful hotel near Palermo’s fashionable Via Liberta. It’s across the street from a very notorious prison. | $$ |
| Resort Baglio Oneto | near Marsala. This is a resort style hotel close to Ericè, Trapani, Selinunte and Segesta. It’s a good location for a couple of days | $$ |
| iCastelli.net | Historical and Luxury hotel group. Great places all over Italy, especially if you like staying in castles | $$$ |
| Hotel Cavalieri | Luxury 4Star 3 blocks from the Ortygia. Wonderful design, very quiet. The owners go out of their way to make you feel comfortable. It's an amazing find. | $$ |
| Poggio Del Sole | Between Ragusa and Marina di Ragusa. Convention Hotel but nice rooms and nice pool | $$ |
| Museums and Destinations: | ||
| Guided Tours: | ||
| Restaurants and Food: | ||
| Sicilian dishes to try some caponata (eggplant and olive salad), involtini di pesce spada (swordfish rolls) , Tonno (tuna) and gamberi (shrimp) and gamberone (large prawns). Polpetti or meatballs were supposedly first created in Sicily. Try the pasta con le sarde (pasta with sardines and wild fennel) or authentic veal marsala from Marsala. A local favorite is “Arancini” fried rice balls stuffed with meat or cheese. Another local favorite is a thick bread style pizza called sfincione. You can always find it at the bakeries. Try the peperonata (grilled peppers). Try the blood orange juice. For desserts there are canoli, frutta di martorana (marzipan) and an array of fabulous cream filled delights. And don’t forget to eats lots of granita. You might think you’ve tasted it before, but never like it’s made in Sicily. I’m getting really hungry.... |
| Al Mazari | In the Ortygia in Siracusa. Trapani style cooking. Very reasonbly priced. Excellent food, excellent service. | $$ |
| Ristornate Don Camillo | In the Ortygia of Siracusa. Fresh fish is the specialy. Very inventive | $$$ |
| VENICE AND THE VENETO | ||
| Apartment rentals and Hotels: | ||
| DD724 | Venice; Dorsaduro district near the Galleria dell’Accademia and the Peggy Guggenheim museum. | $$$ |
| Ca Pisani Hotel | Venice; in the Dorsoduro, close to the Accademia Bridge | $$$ |
| Palace Bonvecchiati Hotel | Venice, near Piazza San Marco | $$$ |
| Ca’Nigra Lagoon Resort | Venice; Grand Canal | $$$$ |
| Hotel Gabbia d’Oro | Verona; historic hotel in the old quarter | $$ |
| Hotel Methis | Padua; modern and trendy in this beautiful city | |
| Museums and Destinations: | ||
| Guided Tours: | ||
| Context Travel | The same group of scholars in Rome also offers guided historical tours through Venice |
| Restaurants and Food: |
| Veneto dishes to try: risotto nero (with octopus ink), scampi (prawns) and lots of shell fish. Afterall, Venice is on the sea..There is also a local favorite called risi e bisi (rice and peas). Carpaccio (raw sliced beef) comes from this region. In Verona there is a lot of cavallo eating (horse meat). If you want to try some, go for the pastissada (meat stew). There is minestra di pasta e fagioli (bean and pasta soup) polenta of all kinds and the Venitians love baccala (dried salted codfish). Prized white asperagus comes from the area near Bassano del Grappa. For dessert, tiramisu was first created in the Veneto. |
| L’Osteria di Santa Marina | in Campo Santa Marina, Castello district, Venice, +39 041 528 5239; near the Fenice Theatre. Amazing sea food and lots more. Tues-Saturday for lunch and dinner. It's hard to find but well worth the adventure | $$ |
| Da Fiore | Michelen star restaurant on Calle del Scaleter 2202 near Campo San Polo. It's worth the effort to find it | $$$ |
| NAPLES, POMPEII, HERCULANEUM (ERCOLANO), CAPRI, ISCHIA, AMALFI COAST | ||
| Apartment rentals and Hotels: | ||
| Palazzo Decumani | in the old historic part of the city. Beautiful rooms, great service | $$ |
| Micalo Napoli | small hotel very close to the trendy shopping and the Castel Uova | $$ |
| Museums and Destinations: | ||
| Arethusa | A museum site that allows you to book private visits to the archeological parks like Pompeii and Ercolano. The site is in Italian | |
| Herculaneum (Ercolano) | the closest site to the Vesuvius eruption | |
| Pompeii | ||
| Archeological Museum of Naples | ||
| Guided Tours: | ||
| Context Travel | ||
| Trains: | ||
| Circumvesuviana | Trains from Naples to Sorrento. The train from Naples to Pompeii is about 40 minutes; 20 minutes to Ercolano | |
| Restaurants and Food: | ||
| I Decumani | the best pizza in Naples | $ |