Italy is an enduring popular vacation destination. But if you’re looking for a luxurious getaway, it can also be pricey, according to Andrea Grisdale, the owner of IC Bellagio, a Lake Como-based travel company that sells trips to Italy. “Five-star hotels aren’t cheap,” Ms. Grisdale said. “And meals can also cost a lot.” But wallet watchers dreaming...

  Tucked inside a 17,000 square-foot building, with vaults protected by a high security system of checkpoints and keypads, lie the treasures of a corporation that has changed the very world in which we live. The collection includes four million photo negatives, 100,000 rolls of motion picture film, scores of model airplanes, crates of flight memora...

We made a brief stop at Grassano, one of the two small southern villages where Mussolini exiled Carlo Levi to silence him during the fascist’s ruinous reign.  But the real story of both Scotellaro and Levi is found in Matera. In Christ Stopped in Eboli Levi, a doctor and painter as well, also wrote briefly about the horrible conditions of Matera’s...

My first trip out of North America was to Italy. I was in college and my (overly kind) mother booked us a 10-day trip through Venice, Florence and Rome. Sure, I had seen plenty of movies, but I still didn’t know what to expect when I arrived in Italy for the first time. In fact, it is probably those very movies that color so many expectations for f...

If one picture is worth a thousand words, what are pictures and words worth? It’s through the power of movies, after all, that many of us have experienced the frozen tundra of the arctic; the thick jungle of the equator; or the dessert storms of the Sahara. But more than just seeing a place, movies can also evoke local attitudes and culture. Popula...

Before visiting Turin’s wonderful Royal Gardens, read author Giuseppe Culicchia’s short description: “The Royal Gardens are right in the city center, behind Piazza Castello. Surrounded by 17th-century bastions, they were redesigned by André le Nôtre, a superstar of garden architects in the 1600s, for Vittorio Amedeo II.” “In recent years, the Royal...

   The pristine medieval village Civita di Bagnoregio has paradoxically found a boom in tourism due to its slow, steady collapse down a jagged cliff of volcanic rock. Its nickname is Il Paese che Muore because it has actually been collapsing for centuries down wooded hills and canyons.Though seriously threatened by erosion, Civita has been revived...

When you think of Italy, famous cities like Rome, Venice and Florence definitely come to mind. And while these are home to wonderful landmarks such as the Trevi Fountain, St. Mark’s Basilica and the Statue of David, they are also some of the biggest tourist traps in the country. Of course visiting them should be on your travel bucket list, but if y...

What remains of the once vast landscaped palace is small. It once stood in the middle of the ancient city, its walls decorated with gold-leaf, ivory and gemstones, among gardens boasting vineyards, pastures, woods and an artificial lake. Treasures looted in Eastern cities were displayed in the complex of porticoes and rooms built by Nero after the...

Did you know that Italy is home to the world's longest Tibetan bridge, or the reason why Ponte Vecchio survived the Second World War? Whether you prefer to visit places with a curious history or simply somewhere pretty to Instagram, there's something for you on our list of the 16 Italian bridges you should try to cross at least once in your life. P...