Travel Italy: Vacation Packages, Tips, Tours of Italy

On June 2, Festa della Repubblica, will be Public Holiday in Italy and for the occasion all of the State owned museums can be visited free of charge.

In the day Italian Republic will celebrate its 60-year anniversary, Arts and Culture Ministry intends to promote the art and culture by offering free entrance to museums.

On Friday, June 2, will also start long week-end and as predictions say more than 2 million Italians will choose the train to get to the holidays’ destinations, Trenitalia will expand its offer by adding 8.000 seats.
As Summer is starting, from museums apart, the places more crowded are likely going to be the beaches.

The food specialties from Italy, as well as the wines, are unique products because are strongly linked with the history and culture of their production areas.
Most of food and wine festivals and exhibits across the country offer the possibility to discover more about cultural differences and similarities and the preparation of the food specialties of the Italian regions.

“Tipico Dop Art“, taking place in Todi, Umbria, from June 1 to 4, is one of such events.
DOP olive oil, DOC and DOCG wines, legumes, cheese, pasta and many other specialties from Umbria, Marche, Tuscany, Calabria, Sicily, and Sardinia will be showcased at Tipico Dop Art.

Todi, prominent historic city, awarded a few years ago by a study analyzing a variety of quality of life issues, as the ideal place where to live, is the perfect setting for this event.

In the same days, 40 km north of Todi, another historic center of Umbria, Corciano, will host “Pane in Piazza“, event celebrating the Italian bread. Bread from all the Italian regions will be showcased in all its shapes and tastes.
- Where to stay in Umbria
Browse a large selection of accommodation in Umbria.

Good news for those who travel from Italy to the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia, Elba, Corsica, and Malta.
Starting from May 25, Moby, shipping company connecting Sardinia, Corsica and Elba has reopened all the lines. Moby operates five daily connections on the Livorno - Olbia route.

- Malta
The Mediterranean islands of Malta is now closer to Italy, thanks to the “fast sea highway” Civitavecchia-Catania-Malta.
Grimaldi Louis Dreyfus Lines will operaste this connection 2 times a week: Tuesday and Saturday.

I am a bit surprised by the results of a survey on travel and tourism in Europe published on International Herald Tribune.
According to the study conducted by the European Tour Operators Association, Croatia is the most popular destination for European leisure travelers, gaining the most mentions for “most exciting country” and “best value for money“.

Italy is “best for art” (94 percent of preferences), second ranked for sightseeing behind London, with Milan third ranked for shopping behind London and Paris respectively.
I believed Italy could get a better ranking.

The complete results of this survey, by clicking here

The landscape of Tuscany is familiar to travelers.
The hill towns, the typical countryside covered by vines and olive groves, the art cities and the renaissance and medieval sites. But how many of you know the underground Tuscany?

Maybe just a few of you know this region can also offer so many attractions under the earth’s surface such as necropolises, aqueducts, caves, mines, underground passages and cellars dug into the tuff.

From May 22 to 28, with the event “First Underground Tuscany Week“, the Tuscany region intends to make known its underground treasuries.
It will be possible to visit 21 sites, among them: the mining park of Elba island, the archaeological park of Populonia (ancient Etruscan town on the sea), the archaeological park of “Città del Tufo” and many other among 1,500 caves, more than 270 kilometers of tunnels and a large number of mines.
8See details about the areas you can visit.)