Alberobello

Alberobello is a small town located in southern Italy, in the Puglia region, in the Itria Valley. It is located 426 meters above sea level, on two hills about 20 kilometers from the Adriatic Sea in Puglia, at the top of the "heel" of southern Italy. It is at the northern limit of the Salentine peninsula and north of Taranto.

You will see trullis all over the countryside in the region, but there are more in Alberobello than anywhere else (over 1000) and for this reason the town is now a UNESCO heritage site. The Castel del Monte, like the town of Alberobello, is also part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The parish church of Saint Anthony of Padua has its trulli-shaped roofs.

For folklore lovers, in Alberobello every year in July there is a festival linked to the history of the town which recalls the liberation of residents from feudal servitude in 1797.

Asinara is an Italian island off the northwestern tip of Sardinia closing the Gulf of Asinara with mountainous relief and an area of ​​51 km2, it is largely made up of a national park, the Asinara National Park, and is known to be home to a population of albino donkeys.

In 1885, the Depretis government established an agricultural penal colony and a lazaretto on the island for the quarantine of tuberculosis patients (the building is still there, but a bit decaying). The inhabitants of the island were driven out and many of them founded the village of Stintino.

With the First World War, prisoners of war, especially Austro-Hungarians, were deported to Asinara; the Austro-Hungarian chapel and the ossuary date from this period. From the 1960s until 1997, Asinara remained in total isolation thanks to the creation of the maximum security prison in which brigades and members of the mafia such as Raffaele Cutolo and Salvatore Riina were interned. Fortunately, since 1997, Asinara Island has become a national park and can be used by everyone.

The park hosts a flora of 678 species, including 29 specific to Sardinia and Corsica, and a fauna of around 80 wild species such as the mouflon, the wild boar, the horse, the albino donkey, but also rare birds such as the Corsican seagull, the peregrine falcon, the Sardinian partridge and the magpie, present in Sardinia exclusively at Asinara. Among the places of interest, do not miss Cala D'Oliva to the northeast, with its homonymous village, the only inhabited center of the island where the buildings of the old prison are located. Here you can visit the beach of Sa Murighessa, also called beach of the prisoners. From Cala Reale, another landing place for the boats, you will find the tourist routes called Sentiero della Memoria and Sentiero dell'Asinello Bianco.

Cala D'Arena and Cala Sant'Andrea are protected beaches under guardianship where swimming is prohibited, but it is possible to observe its incredibly transparent waters and its solitary and wild nature. The magnificent Cala Sabina and Cala Trabuccato, are ideal for diving and are beaches with regulated access.

Bellagio is a charming town with character located on the shores of Lake Como in Lombardy. It is also one of the most popular ferry stops on the lake so most visitors to Lake Como will find themselves there sooner or later!

The town is located close to the center of Lake Como, where the lake divides into two "branches" to the southeast and southwest and is often called the "pearl of the lake", partly at because of its beauty and partly because of this position between the two arms of the lake.

The main church in the town is the Basilica of San Giacomo, a 12th century church located in the main square in the center of the village, Piazza della Chiesa. The church is Roman in style, notable for the bell tower and apse and which contains several important medieval works of art and artefacts.

Over nearly five hundred meters, the shores of Lake Como have been landscaped with many benches, gardens, trees and a few sculptures that add character to a place that was already full of them. The view of the lake is stunning.

Today, Bellagio is a popular tourist resort. With its luxurious hotels and villas, it retains this bourgeois aspect in the middle of an idyllic setting. An extended stay is not for small budgets but to spend the day strolling there, the place is heavenly!

Bracciano is a municipality of the metropolitan city of Rome Capital in Lazio in Italy. The town is mentioned for the first time in 988 as a possession of the Prefetti di Vico (it) family. Most probably, it was then a small village huddled around a keep (along the route of a secondary branch of the Via Claudia) that the lords of the 10th century had built to defend themselves against Saracen invasions.

The Orsini-Odescalchi castle is one of the most remarkable examples of Italian Renaissance military architecture.

Perhaps the greatest pleasure of visiting Bracciano is getting lost in its maze of narrow streets, stairways and piazzas that tumble across the hillside above the lake. You’ll encounter incredibly picturesque little corners wherever you turn 

The picture-perfect borgo is a photographer’s dream and litterally is like stepping into another world.

Burano is an island in the northern lagoon of Venice, Italy. It is known for its lacework and its canals lined with brightly colored houses. Originally, fishermen painted their houses in different colors to find their bearings and recognize their house in the event of mist (in this region the fog is particularly dense, especially in winter). Even today, the inhabitants have the obligation to repaint their house once a year with this same color.

You can visit the Lace Museum which traces the history of this art, offers demonstrations, and presents beautiful pieces. Be careful though, the majority of cheap items sold in stores on the island are now made by our Asian friends.

Also not to be missed is the San Martino church, famous for its steeply leaning campanile but also for its beautiful works of art.

The main pleasure is to simply stroll along the shore admiring the quaint chalets and the bright colors in which they are painted. The city covers the entire island.

Mazzorbo is officially a separate island, but it is accessible by a footbridge from Burano and the Church of Santa Caterina is the main attraction.

The island of Torcello is also often visited from Burano. Another short boat trip from Burano will take you to the Havre of San Francesco del Deserto - the monastery on the island is run and owned by a few Franciscan monks.

Perfectly preserved ancient walls, inns built from stone and mysterious alleyways make Tenno one of Italy’s most beautiful villages. It is an ancient medieval village, nestling in the gentle Mediterranean hills of Garda Trentino, which remains almost completely intact to this very day.

The old stone houses, the vaults, the windows decorated with geraniums and the balconies overlooking the quiet lanes have all been attracting numbers of artists since the Second World War. The “House of the Artists”, named after the painter Giacomo Vittone, offers artists a place to stay and meet others from all over Europe.  

Canale di Tenno is an obligatory stop for those who desire to immerse themselves in the magic of a place of the past, where you breathe history, art and culture. The village, entrenched on a mountain slope halfway between Lake Garda and the Alps, has recently been included in the list of the most beautiful villages in Italy: note the narrow paved alleys, arcades, small internal squares, the houses set one against the other like in the ancient villages of the 13 century. The village was abandoned after the war, but lived again in the sixties thanks to a lively artistic and cultural scene. From the 428 metres of Canale you can admire the splendid Lake Garda, and the imposing mountains behind, or you can reach Lake Tenno, one of the cleanest stretch of water in Trentino, characterized by its intense turquoise colour and small islet.