Explore Cilento Coast
Campania’s Cilento coast has long attracted Italian holidays, but overseas visitors tend to head further north to the better known Amalfi coast. It’s starting to change – Natural Adventure Company reports that Google in the UK is searching for Cilento Coast. It has increased by 110% over the past 12 months. The company has been running a self-directed walking holiday since 2022 (starting with £915 for an eight-night B&B and three dinners).
Foot Holidays launched a self-guided walking route from the coast to the mountains last year (from £1,180 for a 7 night B&B and three dinners).
And Saddle Skedaddle has a new guided coast-to-coast cycling holiday from the Adriatic to the Tyrrhenian Sea. This includes the final stretch along the Cellento Coast from Palinuro to Pestam (£1,995 and 3 lunches for a 7-night B&B).
Villa with views of Florence
Can’t you decide between the countryside and the city? The recently renovated 15th century Villa Fiacshera is located on a peaceful hillside in the olive plants overlooking Florence. In addition to six bedrooms, including one in the turret, there is a modern kitchen, a large dining room and a living room with a fireplace. The garden stretches out to three sides of the house with an arched patio for eating outdoors.
The swimming pool is shared with the neighboring Villa Fontalalta, but a private pool is planned. There is a family-run farm-to-table restaurant in a greenhouse under the hill, and a short walk from the bus stop for a 30-minute ride to Florence.
I’m 12 years old at SawdaysCo.uk, starting from 840 euros per night.
Celebrating literature at Trieste
The Lets Literary Museum opened in Trieste in northeastern Italy last September, celebrating the city’s literary heritage. It focuses on James Joyce, who lived and wrote from 1904 to 1920. Trieste-born novelist and playwright Italo Svebo. Local poet Humberto Saba.
The museum also devised many literary walks through Trieste, including one that focused on cafes and bars that were frequented by intellectuals and artists.
The town of Golozia (40-minute drive) is the joint capital of European culture, crossing the Slovenian border and with its neighbouring Novagorika. Programs for events in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia include concerts by Alanis Morissette and Robbie Williams and exhibitions by Steve McCurry and Andy Warhol.
Museum free, lets.tries.it
Sicily’s cultural capital
Agrigento in southern Sicily is the Italian capital culture in 2025. The city’s most famous sight is the valley of temples, with some of the most preserved classical places in the country. This is a performance that includes Greek and Latin tragedy, outdoor film screenings, and firework displays, along with the epic setting of the concert by Italian opera pop trio IL Volo. Hundreds of other events take place throughout the year, including the Luigi Pirandello Theatre, the Cathedral of San Gerlando, and the churches and museums in the Old Town.
The Almond Blossom Festival in March, Classical Music Week in June, and the Ocean Celebration in August will be nearby in San Leone.
Food is the highlight of any trip to Sicily, and the island has also been named as the gastronomic region of Europe this year.
More information about LavalledeItempli.it
Family Adventures in Basilicata
Ke Adventures is a new family-friendly trip to Basilicata in Southern Italy. Guided activities include Matera cooking classes. Looking for wolves, wild boars and deer tracks in Polino National Park. Canyon walking and white water rafting. Malatea gelato workshop. You also have free time to explore the caves of Matera, spend the day on the beaches of Malatea, and do activities like zip-downing and kayaking.
The family will be staying at the cave hotel for two nights and five nights at the family-run B&B and guesthouse. Holidays are suitable for children over the age of 7.
Adults starting at £1,795/7 nights with breakfast and two lunches, keadventure.com
Check out Tracy Emin in Florence
This spring, Tracy Emin will be holding his first solo exhibition in Italy at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence. This includes photographs in which historical and recent drawings, paintings, sculptures, videos, installations and photographs convey Emin’s “controversial aesthetic.”
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Florence’s cultural hub, Palazzo is built around the Renaissance courtyard, which hosts concerts, performances and installations. The exhibition ranges from researching old masters to contemporary artists such as Ai Weiwei and Marina Abramović. After the Emin Show, the gallery marked the Max Mala Art Award for Women for 20 Years (August 17-31), followed by a retrospective exhibition of Fra Angelico (September 26, 2026). Masu. I’ll be staying at Ruby Bea (double from 80 euros), an arts-filled hotel that opened last summer.
Gallery entry for adults starting from 15 euros, 6 euros children, March 16th to 20th July, palazzostrozzi.org
Trekking across Elba
A much better adventure will feature a new four-day guided trekking on Elba, Italy’s third largest island. The Great Elban Traverse is an east-to-west trail along coastal cliffs and rocky ridges, including the rise of Montecapanne at Elba’s highest peak (1,019m) for panoramic views of Montecristo, Pianosa and Corsica Continued in.
3 star hotel accommodation and transfers are included from Pisa. This trip is suitable for intermediate to advanced hikers, capable of handling 6-8 hours of hiking per day. For less experienced pedestrians, the company has two new “medium” trekking along the dolomite along the western Italian Riviera.
Starting at £1,186 for 5 nights including breakfast, four lunches and two dinners, huchbetteradventures.com
Dolomite’s new hideaway
Casa Cook, a boutique hotel brand originally launched by package holiday giant Thomasque nine years ago, is launching its first real estate and first non-beach destination in Italy. Opening in June, Casa Cook Madonna (double from the 200 euro B&B) is a 50-room mountain retreat in Madonna Di Camplio, a dolomite village. Activities include hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, lake swimming, skiing (ski lifts are 3 minutes’ walk), and wine tasting.
The hotel has a gym, spa and sauna and operates yoga classes. This menu is curated by Jacob Jan Boerma, star chef at 3 Maicherin. Guests in the end of summer/early autumn can participate in the sound of the Dolomite Music Festival, celebrating their 30th anniversary (August 27th to October 4th, Isuonidelledolomiti.it).
Returning to life in the countryside Sardinia
Luciebia, an abandoned agricultural village in the Sursis region of southern Sardinia, is gradually reviving. The new owner, who lives in one of the house, uses original stones and techniques to reconstruct other crumbling properties and rents them with the help of local artisans. La Residenza, a one-bedroom apartment, was closed in 2023 and the two-bedroom home, Casacorte, has just opened. The second apartment, Casa Cubo, will be appearing in a few months.
The owner stated: “The area is lovely and wild, with extraordinary rich scenery, from deep Mediterranean forests to endless vineyards, rocky cliff sides and sandy beaches.”
Casa Corte starts at 250 euros per night, sleeps four people, pretziada.com
Edvald Munch of Rome
Rome’s Bonaparte Palace holds a major exhibition to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the death of Edvald Munch. Munch: The inner scream consists of 100 paintings, drawings and prints. Each room emphasizes contrasting colours and lighting effects, dedicated to important themes in Munch’s work, such as “Illness and Death”, “Suffering Love”, and “Psychological Introduction.” Masu.
If you need to cheer later, head to the new Art Square of Rome Sallustio (opens March 6th). Although rooms at this 5-star hotel are not cheap, the restaurant’s terrace will be open to the public from April and is a sunny location for aperitivo, DJs and live music.
Munch Exhibition €19.50, tickets from February 11th to June 2nd
