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Wouldn’t it be fine to explore the inside of Brunelleschi’s Dome, the one that caps the Duomo of Florence? It’s simple to do. Well, once past the entrance exercise of ascending the 463 narrow steps that is. Ok, so you’ve been warned. No fair knocking the stars off the review because the narrow stairs were a pain. The whoosh of electric elevators we...

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I was a professional dancer in New York for 10 years. Back in 2018, I decided to do a solo trip to Italy and visit Venice, Florence, and Rome. On my first day in Florence, I met my now-boyfriend. We did long distance for a year, and then he came to live with me in New York. In January 2021, we decided to move back to Italy together. I remember when...

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Located in the Maremma, slightly closer to Rome than to Florence, the little town of Capalbio is far from Tuscany’s big hitters, but it’s a pilgrimage spot for art lovers. That’s because a large estate just outside the center of town is home to the Giardino dei Tarocchi (the Tarot Garden), a sculpture garden full of larger-than-life figures represe...

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The steam and geysers rising from the valleys of Tuscany inspired Dante Alighieri’s vision of hell in The Divine Comedy. Centuries later, they’re providing Italy with an inexhaustible supply of renewable energy. Larderello is home to the world’s oldest geothermal power site, where Enel Green Power turns heat released by the Earth’s core into electr...

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As you twist and turn along the roads that head away from Rome, up and through the verdant hills that billow through Tuscany, castles begin to crown distant peaks like ornate figurines in a wedding cake shop. Even better, you can actually stay as a guest in some of those majestic Italian castles. Italy is not short on castles or villas or palaces o...

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The urban structure of Barga has remained more or less that of the time of the Commune (12th-14th cent.), with a tangled network of streets running between the irregular buildings. One enters the village through Porta Reale and Via del Pretorio, crossed by narrow lanes and cart-roads. Past the first square is the Conservatorio di Sant’Elisabetta, a...

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A top a beautiful Tuscan hill, overshadowed in fame by the world-renowned city of Florence, lies a hidden treasure that is often overlooked by the casual tourist: the enchanting town of Fiesole. Fiesole may not be as globally recognized as its illustrious neighbor, but it is a place of profound beauty, rich history, and cultural significance that o...

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If you’re visiting Tuscany you certainly won’t want to miss the important cities that are rich in history, where it seems that little has changed in the last 500 years and the Renaissance seems as alive today as it was then. Indeed, if you’re in Florence on June 24, you may feel like a time traveler as the city honors San Giovanni, the patron saint...

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Florence is often hailed as the birthplace of the Renaissance, and you might find yourself thinking that this style dominates the city’s buildings. However, if you take a moment to observe the structural and design elements, you’ll quickly notice a rich variety of architectural styles scattered throughout the city. In Florence, medieval architectur...

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The Romans are famous for their many amphitheaters. Some of them are well-preserved and continue to be used today while others are national icons (most famously the Colosseum of Rome). As Rome collapsed and with it so too is the security of the empire, some of them were re-purposed as fortified towns while others (such as the one in London) have la...

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