Twenty kilometres inland from Taormina, a river runs through a canyon that lava made. The Alcantara Gorges — Gole dell’Alcantara in Italian — are what happens when a volcano erupts, lava flows...
Italy Travel Guide: Slow Travel, Ancient Cities & Hidden Islands
Few countries reward slow travel the way Italy does. My guides cover the Italy that reveals itself only when you stop rushing — the Roman Forum at dawn before the tour groups arrive, Venice in November fog, the painted fishermen’s houses of Burano, the extraordinary art of the Vatican Museums, and the volcanic landscapes of Sicily. Each post is built around personal first-hand experience, honest logistics, and photography taken on the ground. Whether you are planning a first visit to Rome or looking for something further off the standard itinerary, these guides give you the practical detail and the honest perspective you need.
Twenty kilometres inland from Taormina, a river runs through a canyon that lava made. The Alcantara Gorges — Gole dell’Alcantara in Italian — are what happens when a volcano erupts, lava flows...
I arrived in Sicily on a cheap flight from Malta. That is the honest version of how this trip started — not a carefully planned grand tour of southern Italy, but a budget airline alert and a two-day...
I am Muslim, from Bangladesh, and the Vatican is not my faith’s holy site. That is the honest starting point for this guide. I had no particular religious connection to the place. I was...
I had been looking at photographs of the Colosseum since I was a child. In school textbooks, on television, in the film Gladiator — that image of the great oval amphitheatre was so familiar it had...
Most people picture Venice in summer. Sunshine on the Grand Canal. Gondolas packed three deep. Gelato in every other hand. I visited in the second week of November. The fog had settled over the...
I had spent two days in Venice walking through fog, photographing Gothic palazzi emerging ghostlike from the mist, and getting genuinely lost in alleys that seemed to lead only to other alleys...