Published on Friday, July 7, 2017 by Kathy McCabe The first part of the Vasari Corridor, which connects Palazzo Pitti, the Uffizi Gallery and Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, has reopened to the public after being closed since 1871. The first part of the corridor links Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi Gallery and travels above Via della Ninna. Previously, parts of the corridor were only open for guided tours, but now the p...

Published on Wednesday, June 21, 2017 by Kathy McCabe To discourage tourists from loitering, eating lunch and leaving trash on the steps of two of its most famous churches, Florence street cleaners will hose down the steps and prohibit people from entering the area. The Basilica di Santa Croce, where Michelangelo is buried, and the Chiesa di Santo Spirito – along with the streets of the city center, a UNESCO World Heri...

Published on Sunday, June 18, 2017 by Kathy McCabe Restoration teams have given new life to Rome’s largest catacombs using laser technology, and plan to reopen sections of them to the public later this year. The restored part of the Domitilla Catacombs contains 26,250 tombs across four stories and 7.4 miles; the catacombs in their entirety span 11 miles and contain 150,000 bodies, and date from the second to fifth c...

Published on Sunday, June 11, 2017 by Kathy McCabe Rome will no longer allow horse-drawn carriage rides on its cobblestone streets, the city announced last week. When the change goes into effect, carriages will only be permitted in parks and on the grounds of historic villas. Carriage rides are popular with tourists and take them through guided tours of popular monuments such as the Colosseum, the Vatican, the Trev...

Published on Monday, June 5, 2017 by Kathy McCabe In its latest effort to curtail the crush of tourists that descends upon Venice, the city is considering charging an entry fee to visit St. Mark’s Square. The city will begin by rolling out a system to count the number of visitors in the historic city center at a given point in time and display the numbers on social media in real time, hoping to deter guests from ad...

Published on Thursday, June 1, 2017 by Kathy McCabe A hotel on the banks of Lake Garda has been named the most environmentally friendly hotel in Europe – and with such stunning scenery, it’s no surprise that the hotel would strive to protect its natural surroundings. Travel website TripAdvisor recognized the Lefay Resort and Spa Lago di Garda in Gargnano for its bioarchitecture and commitment to eco-friendly energy...

Published on Sunday, May 21, 2017 by Kathy McCabe After hanging in churches on the island of Murano in Venice for centuries, two paintings by Venetian Renaissance master Paolo Veronese headed across the lagoon and are now on display at the Venice Biennale. The paintings, Saint Jerome in the Desert and Saint Agatha Visited in Prison by Saint Peter, are newly restored, correcting previous poor attempts at restoring t...

Published on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 by Kathy McCabe A waterfall garden in Rome that has been closed for 56 years reopened to the public earlier this month. Giardino delle Cascate (Garden of the Waterfalls) in EUR, a southwestern suburb of Rome, first opened in 1961. It was designed by architect Raffaele de Vico and closed shortly after it opened, and was only used occasionally as a film set. Situated on the EUR lake...

Published on Tuesday, May 9, 2017 by Kathy McCabe I’m Steve Perillo of Perillo Tours. I'm thrilled to host a video series called Steve's Travel Tips to share all the insider Italy travel tips I have learned over a lifetime of travel to Italy. This time about one of my favorite topics - taking your family to Italy. We've been a family-owned business for more than 70 years and we are all about spending quality tim...

Published on Friday, May 5, 2017 by Kathy McCabe Next year, Venice’s Royal Gardens will receive a makeover funded by the Italian Ministry of Culture and insurance company Generali, which will each take on half of the 5€ million project cost. Once a site of “ancient splendour and significance” – according to Adele Re Rebaudengo, president of the nonprofit Venice Gardens Foundation – the gardens are no...