Archive for 'Northwest Italy'

Spring is a beautiful time of year, when the earth defrosts after the long winter, flowers burst free from their slumber deep below the ground, baby animals find their footing on lush green pastures, the sun begins to show up on a more regular basis, tourist crowds awaken but remain smaller, and everything comes roaring back to life. It is a perfect time for a vacation, before demands and costs run high and the sun starts beating down, and Italy, in particular, is especially lovely at this time of year. However, there are some specific destinations in Italy that are at their best in Spring and we have been listing the best of the best among them in the last couple of posts. In this final entry in this series, we will discuss our last picks so you can get choosing among them and planning your Spring getaway in Italy...

5. Levanto, Liguria

The Ligurian Coast is swamped come Summer, particularly along the famous Cinque Terre. However, this lesser-known town is actually also an incredibly popular destination as one of the best surf destinations in Italy, which are in short supply.

Last March, I flew to South Korea for a trip, which takes about 24 hours from Ireland, all in. My game plan was to line up a range of recent Oscar-winners and watch all the movies that everyone was buzzing about in one go. Upon finding my seat, I met my two seat-mates, a very sweet elderly Korean couple who took a liking to me as I was raised Catholic and they were returning from a month long pilgrimage around religious sites in Europe. The lady asked me to help her with her screen and I spent a while trying to find something for her to watch in Korean or with subtitles. Surprisingly, there was very little for her to choose from so we eventually gave up. This, however, meant that she turned to look at the screen I had turned on and began watching it with me. I was very painfully aware that a religious granny was observing me watch, “Call Me By Your Name.” I had heard enough about the movie to guess when scenes she might not approve of were coming and, as I feared their approach, I paused the film, leaving it on a still of the idyllic town in which it is set. I began fumbling around with my things as I had become aware that she was slowly falling asleep, and I waited it out for it to happen. As her eyes got heavy, she looked away from the screen and to me and smiled, “What a beautiful place,” she said in Korean, moments before she fell asleep.

The elegant city of Turin is home to some stunning cultural institutions and museums that showcase extraordinary works of art in permanent collections and temporary exhibitions. The Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, or Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, also known as GAM, is one such institution and is currently home to an especially interesting exhibition. “I Macchiaioli. Italian art towards moderness [sic]” showcases the experimental works of the so-called
Macchiaioli artists that were completed from the middle of the nineteenth century right up to the sixties. If you have found a vacation rental in Piedmont and are looking to take in a bit of local culture, history and art, it is an ideal choice.

Italy is one of the world's favourite skiing destinations and combines all of the best things in life; fun in the snow, rich Italian culture, delicious hearty cuisines, tasty tipples by the fire, wonderful scenery and views, and the prettiest mountain villages. If you have been thinking about planning a winter getaway and you want to spend all or some of it partaking in some snow sports, then consider finding a vacation rental in Italy and enjoying all that it has to offer in the colder months! Just grab yourself a Bombardino, curl up somewhere cosy and get planning your trip with our guide to some of the best ski regions, towns and resorts in Italy!

Anyone who has ever see a picture of the Cinque Terre will recognise the colorful buildings clustered around pretty, boat-filled harbours, steep cliffs, impossibly blue waters, and lush countryside and Vernazza fits this image to a tee. In fact, it's likely the exact village featured in those images that you are calling to mind. Perhaps the most beautiful and characteristic of villages of the Cinque Terre, it is a small fishing town that was founded around 1000AD and is a must-see for anyone who has found a vacation rental in the Cinque Terre.