Archive for 'Must See Attractions'

If you have found a vacation rental in Apulia and you are looking for things to see and do in the area, a quick internet search will immediately list the fantastic Castellana Caves (Grotte di Castellana) are one of the most important attractions in all of Apulia. This system of caves is one of the largest in Italy and stretches underground up to 60m deep for over 3km. The karst rock formations are complex, varied, and dazzling and so otherworldly-looking that you would be forgiven for mistaking it for a place on another planet entirely. Offering a unique and rather extraordinary experience, the caves should be seen with one’s own eyes and are a must for those spending time in the region of Apulia.

The cave system was discovered in 1938 by the speleologist Franco Anelli, a kilometre south of the town of Castellana – now usually referred to as Castellana Grotte, referencing the presence of the caves – after the Provincial Tourist Board of Bari asked the Italian Institute of Speleology of Postojna for a speleologist to inspect some caves in the area. They hoped that some of the local caves could be made into a tourist attraction but all of them had been already explored and were thought to be unsuitable due to their limited extension.

Many people, decades on, remain fascinated by the Kennedys and the style icon that was Jackie Kennedy, in particular. As a result, places that they visited, in both official and unofficial capacities, are tourist attractions in their own right today. If you have found a vacation rental in Ravello and you have an interest in the Kennedys, it may sweeten the whole thing for you to know that the First Lady once came for a long stay in this beautiful seaside city in Italy.

In honour of this famous visit, the city is putting on a documentary exhibition that recalls this moment in history. "Welcome Jackie" is the name of the documentary exhibition curated by architect Francesco Fortunato and it recalls the story of Jackie Kennedy's long stay in Ravello in the summer of 1962, upon the advice of the famous American writer Gore Vidal who was a distant relative of the First Lady and a frequent visitor to Italy who was particularly impressed by the beauty of Ravello.

Milan is one of the most impressive fashion capitals in Italy and in the world with a long and lauded sartorial history, plenty of incredible boutiques, headquarters and flagship stores of many of the world’s most famous designer labels, designer cafés, restaurants, and bars, fashion museums, ample opportunity for stylish people-watching, and so much more besides. However, as more and more of the clothing market turns to vintage and resale in a bid to make the industry much more sustainable, savvy and stylish travellers who have found a vacation rental in Milan might be looking for some of the best places to shop for clothes in search of a new home. As such, we have compiled a list of just five of the must-see vintage stores in Milan in order to kick off your trip to this fashion fanatics’ dream holiday destination. Read on, get shopping, and go green.

The Venice Biennale is an annual event that takes place in the city of Venice in Italy and is, on alternate years, an art exhibition and then an architectural exhibition, with art being on odd years and architecture on even years. It is an international showcase of the best and brightest design talents from all around the world and attracts around 300,000 tourists from all over the globe to Italy. If you have always wanted to visit the city, now is a great time to book a Venice vacation rental and to head to the city to experience the 58th edition of the Biennale International Art Exhibition. Entitled, “May You Live In Interesting Times,” it will be open to the public until the 24th of November 2019 and was inaugurated on the 11th of May. Venice and the wider Veneto region always have abundant charms to offer but with the Biennale taking place, it is all just that much more colourful, exciting and fascinating.

The Tuscan Coast is dotted by lots of incredible surprises and little gems, among them being the vibrant seaside city of Viareggio in the Province of Livorno and its epic Carnival celebrations and the famous Elba Island, to which Napoleon was notoriously exiled. Not far from Elba is another, lesser-known delight, the island of Pianosa. One of the smallest islands in the Tuscan Archipelago, it is an almost entirely uninhabited beauty located in the glimmering Tyrrhenian Sea and is a must-see for those who have found a vacation rental on the Tuscan Coast and are interested in exploring the most interesting and lovely hidden corners of the area.

So incredibly flat that it is barely visible, and often described merely as looking like a darker blue line in the sea, Pianosa was first inhabited in the late Stone Age and then was a Roman settlement before Pisa and Genoa began to fight over the land in the 12th and 13th centuries. Variously inhabited by pirates, fishing colonies, and military officers, the island became a maximum security prison in 1868 and remained home to prisoners, with many particularly dangerous Mafia criminals among them, until 1998. Upon the closure of the prison, almost everyone left with just a few people remaining on the island today.