Italy Beyond the Obvious

Short Trips from Milan

When I worked in Milan I took advantage of weekends to travel. Below I've made a list of my favorite places to visit from Milan in 1, 2, 3 or 4 days. I've put cities in a list based on the minimum amount of time I recommend spending there. Unless otherwise specified, all travel times are by train.

 

If you have just 1 day...

• Visit the Carthusian Monastery of Pavia, only 20 minutes away.
• The town and beautiful park of Monza are just 10 minutes away.
• The ancient town of Bergamo is under an hour away.
• The Roman town of Como, on the lake with the same name, is just an hour away.
• The Lake Maggiore is also one hour away. Take the train to the beautiful town of Stresa and go from there.
• Go to Switzerland! In 1 hour you are in the pretty lakeside town of Lugano.
• Gawk at the the picturesque alpine scenery of the Aosta Valley.
• In just over an hour, you're in the atmospheric university city of Bologna.
• Visit the gastronomically and architecturally significant Parma, less than 90 minutes away. Arrive hungry.
• At 90 minutes away, Turin is somewhat of a long day trip but one of my favorite people lives there so I've done it many times.
• The port city of Genoa is also about 90 minutes away. It's a long day trip but if that's all you have, then go, and at the end of the day you'll be promising to return as soon as you can.

 

If you have 2 days, consider any of the above, and in addition....

• The spa town of Sirmione, on Lake Garda is a couple hours away. 
• Visit the town or see an outdoor opera in the small city of Verona, under 2 hours away.
• Get a little off the beaten track in the town of Vicenza about 2 hours away - and don't miss Palladio's Villa Rotonda.
• Go to Florence, just under 2 hours away.
• Enjoy art, architecture and food in the gorgeous city of Padua, just over 2 hours away.
• Spend time in Venice, about 2.5 hours away. Two days in Venice is a little rushed but if that's all you have, then go.
• Hike the Cinque Terre, which is about 3 hours away by train.
• Sure why not - go to Pisa and climb the leaning tower.

 

If you have 3 days, consider any of the above, and in addition...

• From Florence, visit the towns of Lucca, Siena, San Gimignano - or if you have a car, Monteriggioni or Volterra.
• Spend a couple days on the island of Elba. Allow about 4 hours for the train plus 1 hour for the ferry. (Though this trip is easier by car when starting from Milan.)
• See the spectacular Byzantine mosaics in the city of Ravenna, and while you're in the area, stop in and visit the town of Brisighella. 
• In 4 hours you're in the gorgeous Umbrian city of Perugia. From there visit Assisi as well.

 

If you have 4 days, consider any of the above, and in addition...

• Venture further into Tuscany, visiting the towns of Pienza and Montepulciano.
• Go to Rome.
• Explore more of Umbria from your base in Perugia. Visit the towns of Gubbio, Spoleto, Todi, and Orvieto.
• Explore more of the Veneto, going up to Bassano del Grappa, Asolo, and the countryside - red and Prosecco wineries! - north of Verona.
• Go skiing at Cortina D'Ampezzo in the Dolomites. Or if it's summertime, go hiking near Ortisei in the Val Gardena.

I don't recommend going south of Rome if you have only 4 days total, nor do I recommend trying to go to Sardinia or Sicily. You just need more time that that (even though, I know, Italy does look misleadingly small on the map!)

Photos from top to bottom: Parma, Sirmione, Lucca, the Dolomites near Ortisei. All photos by Sanjay

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The Best Hotels in Italy

Travel & Leisure Magazine recently published a list of Best Hotels in the World, based on a reader survey. I pulled the Italy ones from the bunch because it's an interesting list, and because the T&L website doesn't allow you to. Lists of Best Hotels in Italy abound if you do a Google search, but I do like this one (even if it doesn't include my favorite hotel in Italy - probably just as well). 

  

Best Hotels

1) Grand Hotel Baglioni, Bologna

2) Il San Pietro, Positano

3) Westin Palace, Milan

Best Resorts

1) Il San Pietro, Positano

2) Hotel Villa Sant'Andrea, Taormina

3) Grand Hotel Timeo, Taormina

4) Hotel Excelsior, Venice

5) Hotel Caruso Belvedere, Ravello

Best Small Hotels in a City

1) Grand Hotel Villa Cora, Florence

2) Hotel D'Inghilterra, Rome

3) J.K. Place, Florence

4) Boscolo Hotel Palace, Rome

Best Inns & Small Country Hotels

1) La Rosa dei Venti, Positano

2) La Posta Vecchia, Ladispoli (near Rome)

3) Villa Pisani, Vescovana (between Verona and Venice)

4) La Scalinatella, Capri

5) Grand Hotel A Villa Feltrinelli, Gargnano (on Lake Garda)

Top photo of La Posta Vecchia in Ladispoli; Second photo of Villa Sant'Andrea in Taormina; last photo of Villa Feltrinelli in Gargnano

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Unfinished Churches in Italy: Lessons in Project Management

Imagine leading a project involving hundreds of workers, no email, lots of big egos, and with a timeline of several hundred years. And yet many such art & architecture projects have been very (!) successfully completed in Italy over the last several thousand years (hence: appreciative tourists). But it does make sense that some projects wouldn't be as well executed as others: political errors, funding challenges, or a change in management could cause a building to remain half-finished. All of which means: you can't necessarily judge a church by its façade. The churches below are very impressive on the inside but with façades that took the hit from project management errors.

1. "What Was the Plan Again?" San Lorenzo in Florence

Begun in 1419, this church is attributed to the famous architect Brunelleschi, but due to a change in management and a lack of funds, the only part of his design that was actually implemented is the transept. Then, 100 years into the project, Michelangelo was commissioned by the Pope to design a façade out of white marble, which he did, but (as you can see) was never added. Michelangelo did however build an internal façade, and funds are currently being raised to complete the external façade according to his specification.

2. "Can't Come to Work, I've Got the Plague": San Fortunato in Todi, Umbria

Construction of this church started in 1292 but was stopped when the plague hit in 1348. The lower part of the façade was finished 100 years later. The art and wooden choir inside are worth a visit. Okay I guess when your whole team and your whole backup team are sick with the plague, it's more unlucky than bad planning. But they still didn't manage to finish the façade after everyone got healthy. 

3. "It Was Nobody's Fault" 

Neither English nor Italian Google could help me find out why the façades of these significant churches were never finished (if you know please share!):

• The church of Sant'Anastasia (photo) is Verona's largest church and is considered the city's best example of Gothic architecuture.

• The church of San Marcuola in Venice (photo above) has two incredible Tintoretto frescoes as well as sculpture worth seeing on the altar.

• Santa Maria delle Carceri in Prato (photo), Tuscany was built in the late 15th century after a painting of the Virgin Mary on one of the walls of the local prison became animated. The inside has stained glass by Ghirlandaio and glazed ceramics by Andrea della Robbia.

• The Basilica di San Clemente in Santa Maria dei Servi (photo), Siena was begun in the 13th century and altered in the 15th and 16th centuries. Inside it has frescoes, a 13th century holy water stoup, and a 14th century crucifix.

4. "Oops I Ticked Off the Pope": Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna

 

Construction of this Basilica began in the 14th century and lasted several hundred years. Then 120 years into the project, the city of Bologna decided the Basilica could rival St. Peter's in Rome, in size, footprint, and ornamentation. The building project immediately lost the support of the Pope, and the proposed Latin cross design was never finished, so the church is in the shape of a T. And none of the many proposals for finishing the façade were accepted. 

However the church has still had a long and important history. And when you visit the inside, you'll see that it had a big (just not big enough) budget: there are incredible stained glass windows, marble walls and ornamentation, two organs, frescoes, an amazing altar, the longest sundial in the world. All this, and a capacity of 28,000 people.

Photo of San Petronio by Il Cama; Photo of San Lorenzo by Rogilde; Photo of San Fortunato by Gaspa; Photo of San Marcuola by Steve Knight

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Attention to Detail

Sure, we all have checklists when we go to Italy. There are things we definitely want to see. But I suggest adding "time to amble" to any Italian checklist.

Walk slowly and notice the rooftops, walls of buildings, the pattern of the cobblestones or the line of the steps, the doors, door knockers, knobs and ironwork, the detail at the base of the fountain, and everything that is probably not on any Top 10 checklist in a guidebook. 

This is also great when traveling with kids, because it easily becomes a game, and can be built into a story by asking questions.

For example: why would there be an iron ring attached to a stone wall along the road? Well, it was used to tie horses up many years ago. Why are there rows of them? Maybe it was a market "parking lot". 

When you're visiting a country with such a vast, long, and rich history, sometimes it helps to just bite off a small piece and chew slowly. Take some time to admire the details that most tourists just whizz by en route to the next major attraction, and you'll have a significantly more Beyond the Obvious trip, I promise!

Door ornament and iron ring photos taken in Siena. Steps taken in Bologna.

All photos by Sanjay

Bologna

Walk. Eat. Walk. Eat. Walk. Eat. That pretty much sums up what I like to do in Bologna.

The Walking Part: Bologna is a mid-sized city, so it's easy to get around on foot, and there are literally miles and miles of covered arcades, so it doesn't matter if the weather is bad. Being a university town, it has a great, energetic vibe.

The city has a (surprise) long and rich history that is visible practically everywhere in its extremely well-preserved historic center: take in the art and architecture on its streets, look up to admire its towers, spend time in its outdoor squares, or duck into some of its many churches for a sample of Medieval, Baroque and Renaissance art.

The Eating Part: Don't leave without tasting the famous Bolognese pasta sauce, or ragù. Try any of the cured pork meats like prosciutto or mortadella, and sample wine from nearby vineyards.  Bologna is the perfect place to find some freshly-baked bread, some local sliced meats, some local cheeses (this is also parmigiano reggiano territory) and some fresh fruit, and sit in a piazza to people-watch and picnic.

Other things to do:

• visit the well-known University of Bologna, the oldest in Europe, founded in the 11th century;
• take in a basketball game to see one or both of Bologna's basketball teams play;
• go see some live music - a UNESCO city of music, Bologna offers everything from classical to jazz to folk to opera.

In Bologna (and - as an aside - in Venice too) my favorite thing to do is follow the smallest streets I can see (not the completely deserted ones though!) and get good and lost. Then I pull out my map, and slowly find my way back, making neat local discoveries along the way.

  

Worthwhile daytrips from Bologna:

• I'll probably do a separate post on the city of Parma, home of parmesan cheese, but it's close enough to nip over and back in a day.
• Halfway between Bologna and Parma is the city of Modena, famous for its production of balsamic vinegar, but again a very pretty city in its own right and worth a visit.
• Travel southeast (about 30 minutes by train) to the city of Faenza, and visit the famous ceramics museum.
• From Faenza, take the 10-minute train ride to the small and off-the-beaten-track medieval town of Brisighella. It's got beautiful scenery, medieval architecture, good food, and in the summer, a medieval festival. I lived in Brigishella for 3 months one summer, so I may be somewhat biased, but I do think it warrants a visit.

 

 

Photos by Sanjay

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