- Italy
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Just an excellent holiday home and staff. Great location and proximity to rail station. Lots of restaurants close by. Very clean. 2 mins walk to Metro. Its location near to the termini proved to be very handy as we got a train from the airport. Would definitely recommend and would not hesitate to return. Good value and highly recommended. I suggest everyone who is planning a trip to rome to rent this apartment.
The scenery is breathtaking! The gorgeous beaches, crystal blue water, charming villages, landscapes, castles, tradition. Everything! If you are looking to vacation with a significant other, I definitely suggestion the Maremma!
This summer while I was in Florence I decided I wanted to rent a Vespa! It was sooo cool! The company picked me up at my house, I got to choose my very own itinerary, tour around Tuscany all day, and even got a delicious Tuscan meal! If you are in the region, I totally suggest you do this! Once in a life time!
Each week the price on a selected Belvilla villa plummets with the price you end up paying becoming cheaper by the second.
This week you can snap up the gorgeous Quiete di Montalbano near Arezzo in Umbria.
Belvilla's 'price plummet' takes place daily, every week on Friday from 11am to 10.59am the following Friday and if you are the lucky one, you can end up renting a villa for as little as £1! But don't wait too long, we only have one villa on offer per week and the first to bid gets it.
On my six week stay in Italy, I headed out to Siena and went to the Terme, thermal bath. I got a massage, and participated in mud and water therapy. It was the most relaxing thing I have done in a while, since I've been so stressed with school! If you are on vacation and are too stressed out you don't know what to do, definitely check out the Terme!
During my stay in Italy I went horseback riding through the Tuscan trails, through the hills of Siena. I've been horseback riding before in the States, but the view and the experience was just unforgettable. If you are ever in the Tuscan area, I strongly recommend this activity!
You don't need a car to get deep into the Alps during summer. Getting to Aosta from any of the airports in Northern Italy is a doddle on the train, and there's a great bus service that will take you up to Cogne. From there, walk or get the local bus to Valnontey for a great base for spectacular single or multi-day walks. Stay at La Barme for hearty, traditional evening meals.
www.trenitalia.com for train times to Aosta.
www.savda.it/orari_tariffe.htm for buses from Aosta to Cogne
www.hotellabarme.com - Hotel La Barme
Cicerone guide Walking in Italy's Gran Paradiso by Gillian Price has loads of great walks in.
It's a spectacular hostel in a monumental building just in front of the beach. The city centre is at 30 minutes with public transport. Very close to Fiumicino airport. Clean and quiet.
There is a new website specifically about Rome travel and found it very good.
You’ll find plenty to do in the city of Bologna itself, but you can take a day trip if you hire a car to Mirabilandia, which is about an hours drive from Bologna.
Mirabilandia is a theme park with its own beach area and beautiful gardens but most people visit Mirabilandia for the fantastic thrill rides.
A lovely village just below Florence, very charming, delicatessan and places to eat out. I stayed at a small villa nearby with pool, made many days out from there to the surrounding areas.
This hostel has a great location - Pisa is pretty small but at this new hostel you are only 10 minutes from the tower, and in a studenty area - so it's easy to find cool places to go out.
You're right on a main shopping street and above an amazing gelataria - nothing better than late night ice cream! There's also a bar next door if you don't have such a sweet tooth.
One of the best hostels I stayed in in Italy - the staff are super friendly and there's loads going on - a cheap bar, free pizza parties and a great breakfast!
Housed in an apartment building close to Termini station, the rooms are huge and the hostel has discount deals with restaurants and the laundrette nearby!
Only 20 minutes away from the Duomo, this hostel is by Idroscalo, with its swimming beach and lake.
It's a really social hostel with a cool Italian bar and is opposite the 'rolling stone' nightclub if you want to go out.
Lots of good freebies - breakfast, linen, wi-fi and a city map.
A B&B with three tastefully decorated rooms in a good location for visiting the sites. It is spotlessly clean and Vanessa and Fillipo are delightful and very helpful hosts.
San Francesco
Via Merlo, 30
90133 Palermo
0039 091 8888391
www.sanfrancescopalermo.it
info@sanfrancescopalermo.it
This hostel isn't in the center of Florence - it's on the outskirts, but there's a free bus shuttle service into the center, and during the hot summer months, the pool and quieter location is a welcome respite from the summer crowds.
The location means you get cheaper room rates and heaps of extras - we loved the swimming pool, restaurant, bar and pretty surrounding olive groves.
We hired bikes and explored other parts of Tuscany - and the hostel organize tours to Pisa, Lucca and San Gimingnano.
Beautiful location, views of Tuscany countryside, great free breakfast, totally relaxing, and it was easy to pop into Florence, despite being in another town!
It's not easy to find budget accommodation in Venice, as we found on a recent tour of Italy. If you do manage to find somewhere cheap, there's usually a lock out or curfew so we were happy to find the more chilled out 'Venice Fish' by the canal.
This beautiful old 16th century palace is on one of the main streets in Venice, but inside the hostel is fun, modern and laid back, with big and homely rooms, and friendly, helpful staff.
It might not be as fancy as some hostels but breakfast and dinner are included, and the staff will take you out in search of local nightlife.
You're only a few minutes from the Casino, Rialto Bridge, and the train station.
The Tuscan region is absolutely remarkable in the summertime. Being here for six weeks, I thought I would get bored, but there is so much to do! The art exhibits, vespa tours, wine tours, concerts, festivals... I could go on!
I used a really good site I found that helped me figure out what to do, where to go, and how to get there - check it out!
Halfway through our trip round the lower Cilento region, two hours south of Naples, we were invited to lunch at the Nido della Luna guesthouse and working farm, home of farmer Rafaello, at the foot of towering, rugged Mount Bulgheria and over-looked by the ghostly medieval hill village of San Severino.
We pulled up in the driveway of a large farmhouse complete with vegetable patch, stables, and billy goats bleating in a field. In the open porch under a brilliant sun, a smiling old lady in apron and slippers stood, in front of an open brassier with a cooking pot hanging over a roaring wood fire. This was Rafaello's mother, and as a means of sharing some traditional recipes of the region with us she'd lit the fire in the outdoor kitchen and laid a large oak table with traditional cooking utensils for us to play with. This is how I'd really like to cook everyday!
On a large wooden platter were heaps of sliced local aubergines and a pot filled with stuffing mix. We were to make Melanzane M'buttanate, a simple peasant dish packed with the rich flavours of creamy home made ricotta cheese, fresh eggs and fresh parsley.
She guided us through the cooking process, all the while bringing bits and bobs to the table for us to sample as we fried the aubergines: local bitter strawberries jam, honey from their backyard, still warm mozzarellas from the neighbour and a basket of mushrooms and wild greens picked in the surrounding hills with which to make a soup.
We ate with the family, two silent, but softly smiling old goat farmer in flat caps and checked shirts - Grandpa and Great Uncle, Rafaello and his wife, and the parents, who refilled my wine glass with their own-grown thick, nectary red so often I barely remember arriving at pudding! Had we stayed longer, we would have been taught to make ricotta, helped with fruit picking and no doubt cooked up some more delicious Cilento peasant dishes.
In payment for this feast, we were asked only to recommend their beautiful farmhouse b&b to others, so here's the mention. I can't recommend their hospitality and the delightful setting in Italy's most prized secret region enough!
Il Nido della Luna
Via Stazione, 24
San Severino
Centola
84051
Cilento - Salerno (CA)
Tel: (+ 39) 0974/934093-(+39) 347/6540872
You can get a train to Centola from Salerno, or Naples. Driving, take the A3 motorway Salerno - Reggio Calabria, taking the Battipaglia exit, SS. 18 in the direction "Costiera CIlentana".
THe nearest beach is the exquisite Palinuro.
A beautiful place to stay about 20 minutes away from Florence. The rooms are brightly coloured grungy chic, and the views over Tuscan countryside are truly lovely.
The owners were unobtrusively helpful, and laid on scrumptious breakfasts. Full board was beyond our budget, but on the couple of nights we had dinner there it was stunning - and veggie-friendly. We went away laden with soap made locally from produce grown in the gardens, and a decent bottle of the house wine.
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