Archive for 'Tourist Attractions'

Chiostro del Bramante, as the name may suggest, is an architectural gem by the Renaissance master, Donato Bramante. The main architect employed by Pope Julius II, and the only one to rival Michelangelo, he was an extremely talented architect. The Chiostro is the cloister of what was originally a monastery complex commissioned by Cardinal Oliviero Carafa around 1500.

Today, the building has a different use, as a cultural centre used for various purposes, but this remarkable central structure remains unchanged despite this. It is still a harmonious space made up of elegant geometric lines and perfect proportions, according to Renaissance ideals, which revived classical Greek and Roman aesthetics. Light, bright, airy, and an oasis of calm, it is free to visit and just steps away from the famous Piazza Navona. If you were considering spending time in the city, be sure to browse our luxury villas in Rome, and then carve out some space in your schedule for a trip to this extraordinary space.

Roca, also known as Rocavecchia or Roca Vecchia, is an archaeological site and area along the Adriatic Sea in Salento, between San Foca and Torre dell’Orso, that is known as one of the most beautiful stretches of coast in Italy. It is made up of a rocky coastline marked by a series of coves and little beaches, underwater canals, swimming holes, and more, with some of the most picturesque and unique geological features and stunning spots you'll want to hang out at all day, as well as plenty of fascinating leftovers of human activities from throughout the centuries. If you have found a vacation rental in Apulia and are looking for places to swim, explore, and have fun and impossibly beautiful settings, you'll find plenty of options here.

Being able to boast a Blue Flag and a 5 Sails, which is flag awarded to the most beautiful beaches by the Italian environment protection agency of Legambiente, means you have some pretty excellent beaches but these aren't just your cookie-cutter pleasant and clean strands. These magical inlets are special and unlike anything you have seen before.

The landscape of Sicily is not soft and pretty but rather striking and beautiful. It is a fascinating thing; rugged, wild, untamed, formed by volcanic processes, dotted by intriguing towns with a multitude of cultural influences marking their architectural characters, hugged by a stunning coast that boasts some of the best beaches in the world. Those seeking a sense of adventure and something new and interesting at every turn will find themselves very much at home in this part of Italy. If you want a great place to trek, hike, cycle, swim, play, and explore, a vacation rental in Sicily is just the ticket.

In particular, we would recommend setting aside some time and heading to the island of Vulcano, 25 km north of Sicily, at the southernmost tip of the eight Aeolian Islands. As the name immediately suggests, this wonderful little island in the Tyrrhenian Sea is a veritable hotspot of volcanic action with several volcanic caldera and one of the four active volcanoes in Italy that are not submarine. However, it is not it that is named after volcanoes but, rather, the other way around, the word for “volcano” coming from the name of the island, which was derived from Vulcan, who was the Roman god of fire. In fact, in both Greek and Roman mythology, the island was a forge for gods, being the labelled as the private foundry of the Olympian god Hephaestus, the patron of blacksmiths, and the chimney of Vulcan's workshop, with earthquakes and explosions of ash thought to have been evidence of the god being busy making weapons for the war god Mars and his armies.

There are lots of lots of beautiful and famous parks and gardens dotted all over Italy from the gardens attached to palaces like the Boboli Gardens and the gardens at Villa Toepliz in Varese, to great botanic gardens like the Hanbury Botanic Gardens attached to Genoa's University, to magical gems like the Giardino di Ninfa, a once abandoned gem in a Medieval ghost town. Amongst amongst these incredible beauties, however, there is one public park and garden that cannot go unmentioned: Rome's lovely Rose Garden. If you love blooms, beautiful settings, and gardening and you have found a luxury villa in Rome, then it truly is a must-see.

Located on the eastern side of the Aventine hill, the gardens date back to 1931 when an American countess named Mary Gayley Senni managed to secure a site near the Colosseum from the city authorities for a municipal rose garden and planted it with around 300 flowers. This original iteration was, sadly, destroyed during WWII but was reborn and given a new home in its current location, the former site of a Jewish graveyard that had been transferred to the cemetery at Campo Verano in 1934.

Last April, as the famously beautiful gardens of Florence – amongst them the Boboli Gardens, Iris Garden, Rose Garden and more – came into bloom, a new kid appeared on the block in the form of the temporary Tulip Garden.

Located in the grounds of the Castello dell'Acciaiolo park, the sprawling garden was planted with around 200,000 tulips of 70 different varieties and opened to the public from the beginning of April to the 22nd. Entry cost 3 euro a person and allowed visitors to wander and pick and bring home two tulips, with additional tulips picked counted at the end and charged at a euro a piece and all of the fees going towards the maintenance of the park. Such was the success of last year's edition, that the planting of another garden of tulips of the same scale and kind was announced and begun last Autumn to be opened once more in Spring 2019.