Tours of Italy

Buona Primavera = Happy Spring! The Romans considered April the Sacred Month of Venus, Goddess of Love, Beauty, Fertility, and Sex… Her presence is eternal…you see her all over Italy, in sculptures, paintings. You feel her spirit beckoning you to lighten up, enjoy all the flavors and pleasures…Here in the Uffizi in Florence is the Botticelli painting of her being born from the sea… The Romans believed they were the chosen descendants of this beauty. As Virgil wrote in the Aeneid, it was Venus who seduced a Greek mortal and thus became the grandmother of Romulus and Remus, those twins suckled by a she-wolf on Rome’s Palatine Hill, whoRead More →

I’m often asked: “I have 10 days in Italy, can you please help me with my travel itinerary?” Oh how I’d LOVE to! Except when that question is followed by that very looonng, heavy bucket list of ALL the traveler expects to  pack in to 10 days. While I love enthusiasm for Bell’Italia, and totally understand  “not wanting to miss anything”, the Truth is This:  When you cram too much in to an Italian vacation, you miss out on the most essential Italian experience: La Dolce Vita=The Sweet Life. A trip to Italy is a chance to open yourself up to the old world wayRead More →

It wasn’t my idea to design and host For Women Only Tours to Italy. Yes, I loved traveling there for decades, writing about Italy, going to Italy with family and girlfriends, arranging everything so we’d certainly have the most marvelous time. And I always loved meeting female travelers along the way, who, like me, were swept up in that fabulous magic Italy gives us women.All those women travelers and my own experiences inspired my first book, 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go. Then came The Surprise. During my book tour, after my presentations,  hands would fly up, and woman would ask: “Can weRead More →

Buona Primavera = Happy Spring! The Romans considered April the Sacred Month of Venus, Goddess of Love, Beauty, Fertility, and Sex… Her presence is eternal…you see her all over Italy, in sculptures, paintings. You feel her spirit beckoning you to lighten up, enjoy all the flavors and pleasures…Here in the Uffizi in Florence is the Botticelli painting of her being born from the sea… The Romans believed they were the chosen descendants of this beauty. As Virgil wrote in the Aeneid, it was Venus who seduced a Greek mortal and thus became the grandmother of Romulus and Remus, those twins suckled by a she-wolf onRead More →

On a hilltop in the southeast corner of Basilicata, sits the medieval village of Bernalda… I became intrigued by this spot in 2012. That’s when Francis Ford Coppola opened his newly-renovated 5-star Palazzo Margherita here. Coppola’s grandfather Agostino was born in Bernalda, and left in 1904, never to return. I’m grateful to have a friend who visited– Kathy McCabe, Editor of Dream of Italy newsletter, and Producer/Host of the fabulous PBS Dream of Italy TV series. She’s here to share her experience of this extraordinary place… “The town itself is like being in Italy in the 1950s,” she says. Coppola calls it “the real Italy.” The unassuming Palazzo Margherita entranceRead More →

Ciao Amici! I’m so grateful that 2016 included the release of the Third Edition of “100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go.” Wonderful surprises have come into my life since this book first hit the stands in 2009. It’s been thrilling to hear from travelers who enjoyed discovering new places and experiences through its pages, and that the book added so much fun to their Italian travels. Here’s a Sneak Preview/Excerpt… It’s the Perfect Gift for the Italophile in your life… AVAILABLE at your Local Bookstore, AMAZON, and BARNES & NOBLE PREFACE I fell in love with Italy at a dining room table in Newark,Read More →

A few year’s back, I had the pleasure of meeting Pietro Navarra in Los Angeles. He’d been in a bookstore, found 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go, and liked it so much (I love that Men enjoy it too!), that he wrote to me and said we should meet so I could sign his copy. A delicious dinner at Terroni followed, where I found out about Pietro’s Italy — his wonderful Italian travel company that combines his passions for Italy and the USA. Having grown up in Bologna and traveled in Italy extensively, Pietro creates customized itineraries for travelers, bringing to each one his uniqueRead More →

Susan Van Allen, Auto Europe

View from our window in San Quirico d’Orcia… OUR meaning me and my two sisters. We’d not traveled together since our days as Jersey Girls when Daddy would be at the wheel of the Country Squire Station Wagon and we’d go from West Long Branch, New Jersey to the beach at Cape May where the sand was LIKE AN ASHTRAY! MANY years later, we rendezvoused at the Rome airport and picked up the keys to a gem-of-a- White Volkswagen from Auto Europe. What I love about this company is that they are partnered with the best car rental places all over Italy, so you get aRead More →

Many years ago, when I was writing the Active Adventures chapter in 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go, I had the great fortune to meet the fabulous, fun-loving Barbara Kossy, a California based Italofile who designs and organizes kayaking tours in Elba, Sicily and Sardinia. She describes them as “Soft adventures. We sleep in a hotel every night and can wash the salt out of our hair before dinner. ” They give travelers a great social experience, meeting kayakers from all over the world, and combine explorations by kayak around the destinations with hiking and great food. Barbara is also inspired by Italian style, and has recently startedRead More →

We’re grateful to have Alexandra Redmond join us to give her expert advice about Ogliastra in eastern Sardinia.  Alexandra is a lover of nature, a vegan, and a yoga  teacher, who moved to the paradise of Sardinia from Brighton, UK. In 2009 she blended her love for the island with her longtime practice of yoga and meditation, and created Yoga in Sardinia, a non-profit organization that offers travelers Yoga and Mediation classes and retreats in Sardinia and an online Stress Management Course for those that can’t attend in person. We’re grateful she’s joining in with us to share her advice for a Golden Day in Ogliastra: Here are a fewRead More →