Travel Italy: Vacation Packages, Tips, Tours of Italy

Traveling to Lake Garda from North Europe is pretty cheap, as the lake surrounding area is being served by low cost carriers flying to Brescia, Bergamo and Verona airports.

However take care of the airport transfer. Arranging transfers from Brescia, Bergamo and Verona airports to the main resorts of Lake Garda could cost you much more than how you would pay for the flight.

- Free transfers -
A lot of hotels offer free transfers arranged by the tourist board. When you book your accommodation ask if they offer the transfer service as they will book it for you..

- Private transfers -
A private transfer is quite expensive; you would have to email the hotels direct about a transfer.

- Transfer by public transport -
- Train and bus
Trains (from Bergamo or Brescia to Peschiera del Garda or Desenzano) and then (more…)

The Tuscan city of Arezzo will host its annual medieval tournament, “The Giostra del Saracino“, on Sepember 2.

The “Jousting of the Saracens” (Giostra del Saracino) is a jousting tournament where gallant knights on battle horses score points on a shield held by a rotating puppet called the Saracen.
Flag-bearers, and parades of people dressed up in medieval costume, invade the streets of Arezzo also in the week previous to the jousting. For detail, visit the Giostra website.

- Travel notes -
Arezzo is a major center for craft jewelry in Italy. It’s worth a shopping trip
- See Arezzo on the interactive map.
- Browse accommodations in Tuscany.

- Truffle Tips
“What are the favorite areas for the truffle hunting in Umbria?”

The Norcia and Gubbio areas are better known for the black truffles as Città di Castello for the white.

However, as Umbria is regarded as one of the most interesting areas for the precious tuber,  you can set up truffle hunting in the woods all across the region, better if with the assistance of a truffle hunter and  the specially-trained dogs. November is the best time.

Concerning the main events for the truffle in Umbria, you have the major truffle festivals and fairs in:
- Spoleto (map) (Second, third, and fourth week-end in November);
- Norcia (map) (fourth week-end in February);
- Fabro (map) (fourth week-end in November);.
- Gubbio (map) (late October early November)
- Città di Castello (map) (early November).

The “Festival Internazionale del Teatro Urbano” — International Urban Theatre Festival, taking place in Rome from August 30 up to September 2, is a real street festival.

The various events take place in street corners and in other random urban sites throughout Rome.
This theatre festival invades streets all over the city, aiming to transform urban spaces into theatre spaces and the pedestrian into the extraordinary.

For details and programme check here.

From September to December the truffle season is underway. A multitude of fairs and festivals take place across the country, especially in what are the most prominent areas for the truffle-hunting: Piedmont, Tuscany, Umbria, and Marches.

In Piedmont, in Alba – the most known area for white truffle, the big local truffle fair (77th Alba White Truffle International Festival) kicks off on the last weekend of September and is held every weekend throughout October.

However, if you are looking for less touristy places, villages throughout the Monferrato and Langhe areas in Piedmont, offer you smaller truffle fairs and festivals with their typical large variety of truffle dishes and delicacies, on weekends throughout October and November.
We’ll cover that in a lot more detail in the upcoming weeks.

- See Alba interactive map.