Lonely Planet Italy (Travel Guide)

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It might also have an article (lo or la) attached to the end, depending on the grammatical gender of the thing being presented.

On the surface, Italy looks like a movie scene coming to life, starting from its shape as a boot in the middle of the Mediterranean. For more than two weeks, the Umbrian town stages art exhibitions, opera, ballet and classical music. At the same time, Alberobello, another of Puglia's Unesco World Heritage Sites, will leave you speechless with its trulli, traditional stone houses with cone-shaped roofs. Soar to the sound of music in Verona’s Roman Arena 3, the magnificent setting for the city’s annual opera festival.Bask in soul-stirring Amalfi views from Ravello 1, which has seduced everyone from Wagner to Gore Vidal. I love the colours – Modena’s rusty oranges and fiery reds moodily tilt according to the sunlight’s will. Check out Lonely Planet Discover Italy, a photo-rich guide to the country's most popular attractions. Allow between nine and 12 hours to complete the 22-mile (35km) route, which runs from Porto Venere to Levanto, forming an arc high above the Cinque Terre villages.

Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travellers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves. We’re joined by the deep bonds that tie our families together – sometimes a blessing of community and love and sometimes a burden of obligations and expectations. A botanical garden and bird watching center sits on a rocky promontory up the hill from the pebbly Fossola Beach. To follow in their footsteps, spring and autumn are the best seasons for sightseeing, touring and enjoying seasonal food.

So whether you’re after an idyllic cove framed by plunging cliffs or a sandy strip lapped by azure waters, you’ll find somewhere to suit your style.

In Emilia-Romagna they love their egg pastas like tagliatelle (ribbon pasta) and tortellini (pockets of meat-stuffed pasta), while Umbrians have their strangozzi (a kind of rectangular spaghetti) and Puglians can’t get enough of their orecchiette (‘little ears’ pasta). Gaze heavenwards at Michelangelo’s celebrated frescoes in the Sistine Chapel 1, the papal church and the grand finale in the Vatican Museums. Hiking here is done in the constant company of the sea, but it also offers wonderful glimpses of unique terraced farms and coastal forests. Relive the past at Pompeii, take a world-class Tuscan wine tour and explore the unspoilt wilderness of Sardinia; all with your trusted travel companion.

In the past decade, some areas have made headlines for hosting flashy weddings and being celebrities' summer escapes. If you need to find the when, how and where of any destination in Italy based upon your particular timeline, interest, budget and livelihood . The word ‘palace’ derives from Palatium, the Latin name for Rome’s Palatine Hill (pictured) where Roman emperors lived in the main imperial palace. For centuries, walking trails were the only way to travel between the villages of the Cinque Terre and often provided the only link to the outside world. Something in it is both forbidding and inviting, beckoning you with one breath as it warns you off with another.