Archive for 'Must See Attractions'

We have previously discussed various spots to shop if you have found a vacation rental in Milan. As the fashion capital of a nation famous for being chic, Milan obviously has no shortage of cool places to get a bit of a sartorial fix while exploring the city. From vintage boutiques, to trendy concept stores, to streets of high street favourites, to bustling local markets, to stunning flagship stores of some of the most beloved designer labels in the world, there are all sorts of incredible places to shop in Milan. However, if you love colour and have a particularly playful sense of style, then one perfectly curated little gem of a boutique that you should definitely make time to see while on vacation in Milan has to be Wait and See.

Wait and See is a clothing boutique that is located on a pretty little street right in the heart of the historic core of Milan, on Via Santa Marta. Housed in an 18th century building that was a convent in a former life, this vibrant and exciting store was opened back in 2010 by the discerning Uberta Zambeletti who curates a treasure trove of gorgeous objects from all over the world. From new to handmade to vintage pieces of clothing, accessories, jewellery, stationery, homewares, small gifts, and more, sourced from everywhere from the UK to California, Zambeletti’s store is bursting with colour and surprises and unexpected gems at every turn. The shop itself is also utterly full of colour and character and interesting decor and is a wonderful space in which to browse for something really special, making the whole experience of coming here memorable and enjoyable.

If you have been considering a villa in Piedmont or a vacation rental in Lombardy, it is not unlikely that you might decide to spend a day during your holiday in Italy exploring Lake Maggiore. This incredibly scenic part of the country and part of Italy’s famous and beloved lake district is bordered by impossibly picturesque little towns, circled by excellent hiking routes, full of little islands and islets with gorgeous historic villas, architectural gems, and gardens, and is a perfect place to come and either enjoy various outdoor pursuits or to simply relax and unwind. While there are plenty of things to see and do in the area, one of the most remarkably lovely and magical activities that we can recommend is a visit to the Giardino Botanico Alpinia.

The Giardino Botanico Alpinia is an extraordinary and unique botanic garden housing mostly Alpine plant species that is located at 800m altitude above the picturesque lakeside town of Stresa that is right on Lake Maggiore. Reached by the Lido di Carciano - Alpino - Mottarone cable car, this very special garden not only houses a fascinating collection in an especially scenic location but is also accessed in such a whimsical and charming way. Overall, a visit to this wonderful garden while on vacation at Lake Maggiore is a definite must and would also be certainly a wonderful addition to any day trip in the area if you have found a holiday rental in Piedmont and are spending time seeing what the area has to offer. 

Those who want to enjoy a slower pace of life, incredible weather, stunning surroundings, deliciously ripe food, flavourful wines, and picturesque scenes at every turn on their next vacation in Italy would be hard pressed to find a better option than a villa in Apulia. This southern region and heel of Italy’s, “boot,” often doesn’t get half the praise it deserves from international tourists but is, without a doubt, one of the most magnificent travel destinations in the entire country. There are endless reasons to visit and an infinite number of things to make you fall in love with the region but, to start you off, here are just ten excellent reasons to plan a vacation in Apulia today!

1. The Natural Beauty of the Region is Truly Extraordinary

Apulia’s landscape can be roughly divided into two areas: the lengthy coastline and the plains inland that make up over half of the region. Dotted by picture-perfect beaches, staggering and awe-inspiring rock formations, well-preserved and remarkable nature reserves, seas so blue that seem like they can’t possibly be real, and pretty and historic towns perched on remarkable rocky promontories, the 800km long coastline (the longest coastline of any mainland region in Italy) is immediately striking and appealing. However, while the good lucks of the coast are not to be missed and worth celebrating, the less well-known landscape of the plains of Apulia are also incredibly lovely. The flattest region of Italy, there is only a small mountainous area that is part of the Apennines and the rest of the landscape is largely made up of vast and lush hilly plains that are often blanketed in olive groves and vineyards. In fact, parts of Apulia can look quite like the more internationally renowned picturesque countryside of Tuscany but it is a bit more of a hidden gem and for those in the know. Certainly, no matter what part of the region you are wandering at any given time, a vacation rental in Apulia ensures that you’ll never be far from the next remarkable landscape to explore, enjoy, capture, and remember forever – the perfect surroundings for a holiday in Italy!

Italy is full of incredible museums but the majority of them are formal spaces in which the museum experience is very much the same: visitors keep their distance, they stay behind lines and ropes, and they never touch artworks. However, there is one museum where the exact opposite is true. In fact, in this museum, the whole point is to feel the works of art and to have a completely different experience with them and the visit to the museum, in general. A must for those interested in art and those intrigued by different museum experiences, and especially for those who might be visually impaired or completely blind, the Museo Tattile Statale Omero, or State Tactile Museum Omero, is an incredibly unique gem in Italy’s Le Marche region. Those who find a vacation rental in Le Marche should definitely make a point of planning a visit!

Located in the Mole Vanvitelliana, a historic building and former hospital for those with leprosy built on a small artificial island in the port of the city of Ancona, the Museo Omero is one of a very small number of places in the world where visitors are encouraged to engage with works of art with their sense of touch rather than their sense of sight. The roots of the museum date back to 1985, when Aldo Grassini and his wife Daniela Bottegoni, a pair of non-sighted travellers and adventurers, became exasperated with the constant refrain of, “Do not touch,” in other museums around the globe. They wanted, instead, to create a rather different kind of museum that would be the exact opposite of this and accessible to all. After establishing a foundation, fundraising, and filling out endless applications, they were able to finally make this dream of theirs a reality. 

Beautiful design and incredible works of art are a key part of Italy’s cultural heritage but while everyone knows this includes paintings, sculptures, buildings, objects, clothes, and more, some forget that garden design is a key element. Italy’s history of garden design is rich and fascinating and has left us with some truly extraordinary and magical gardens to visit all throughout the country. Varying from pretty and manicured palace gardens, to diverse and educational botanic gardens at universities, to gems specialising in one sort of bloom or tree or plant and presenting a gorgeous array, to flights of fancy featuring interesting planting interacting with wonderful sculptural works, to welcoming parks where generations can gather for fun and excitement; there are all sorts of wonderful gardens in Italy. One of the most unique of all, however, has to be the Labirinto Della Masone, an astonishing and magical garden that is a must-see for all those who find a villa in Emilia Romagna and are interested in such things!

Created by Franco Maria Ricci, an Italian graphic designer, editor, and designer, this extraordinary bamboo maze spreads out over an astounding seven hectares and follows a path that is 3km long in total. Ricci had been long fascinated by mazes and he first dreamed of building one all the way back in the eighties. Following a meeting and collaboration with Jorge Luis Borges, the famous Argentine writer who directed the series La Biblioteca di Babele for Ricci’s publishing house, the idea to make a labyrinth of his own came to Ricci.