Amazing Italy
Italy is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical region.
Italy is also considered part of Western Europe, and shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino. It has a territorial exclave in Switzerland, Campione. Italy covers an area of 301,230 km2 (116,310 sq mi), with a population of over 60 million. It is the third-most populous member state of the European Union, the sixth-most populous country in Europe, and the tenth-largest country in the continent by land area. Italy’s capital and largest city is Rome.
By going to Italy on vacation, you stand out from most tourists by enjoying the best world cuisine, great caterers and romance of unfathomable proportions. Vacation in Italy where Italian hotels offer superior service in resorts such as Calabria, Sicily, Sardinia, Lido di Jesolo, Rimini…
Wonderful wines, the most famous gastronomy in the world, pearl beaches and the unique spirit of history are just some of the reasons to visit Italy
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ROME
Rome is the capital city of Italy. It is also the capital of the Lazio region, the centre of the Metropolitan City of Rome, and a special comune named Comune di Roma Capitale. With 2,860,009 residents in 1,285 km2 (496.1 sq mi), Rome is the country’s most populated comune and the third most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. The Metropolitan City of Rome, with a population of 4,355,725 residents, is the most populous metropolitan city in Italy. Its metropolitan area is the third-most populous within Italy. Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio (Latium), along the shores of the Tiber. Vatican City (the smallest country in the world) is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city. Rome is often referred to as the City of Seven Hills due to its geographic location, and also as the “Eternal City”. Rome is generally considered to be the “cradle of Western civilization and Christian culture“, and the centre of the Catholic Church.
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MILAN
Milan is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city has 3.26 million inhabitants. Its continuously built-up urban area (whose outer suburbs extend well beyond the boundaries of the administrative metropolitan city and even stretch into the nearby country of Switzerland) is the fourth largest in the EU with 5.27 million inhabitants. According to national sources, the population within the wider Milan metropolitan area (also known as Greater Milan), is estimated between 8.2 million and 12.5 million making it by far the largest metropolitan area in Italy and one of the largest in the EU.
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VENICE
Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islands are in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay lying between the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers (more exactly between the Brenta and the Sile). In 2020, around 258,685 people resided in greater Venice or the Comune di Venezia, of whom around 55,000 live in the historical island city of Venice (centro storico) and the rest on the mainland (terraferma). Together with the cities of Padua and Treviso, Venice is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE), which is considered a statistical metropolitan area, with a total population of 2.6 million.
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FLORENCE
Florence is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.
Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of that era. It is considered by many academics to have been the birthplace of the Renaissance, becoming a major artistic, cultural, commercial, political, economic and financial center. During this time, Florence rose to a position of enormous influence in Italy, Europe, and beyond. Its turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city served as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy (established in 1861). The Florentine dialect forms the base of Standard Italian and it became the language of culture throughout Italy[10] due to the prestige of the masterpieces by Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini.
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SARDINIA
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the 20 regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia and immediately south of the French island of Corsica.
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SAN REMO
Sanremo or San Remo is a city and comune on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. It hosts numerous cultural events, such as the Sanremo Music Festival and the Milan–San Remo cycling classic.
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SICILY
Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy. The Strait of Messina divides it from the region of Calabria in Southern Italy. It is one of the five Italian autonomous regions and is officially referred to as Regione Siciliana. The region has 5 million inhabitants. Its capital city is Palermo.
Sicily is in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, and one of the most active in the world, currently 3,357 m (11,014 ft) high. The island has a typical Mediterranean climate.
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MONTECATINI TERME
Montecatini Terme is an Italian municipality (comune) of c. 20,000 inhabitants in the province of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy. It is the most important center in Valdinievole. The town is located at the eastern end of Piana di Lucca and has a strong tourism industry, as well as industrial and commercial industries related to the spa, which in turn has increased the interest for hotel accommodation in the region.
In 2021, the town became part of the transnational “Great Spa Towns of Europe” UNESCO World Heritage Site, because of its famous mineral springs and its architecture exemplifying the popularity of spa resorts in Europe during the 18th through 20th centuries.
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NAPLES
Naples is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city’s administrative limits as of 2022. Its province-level municipality is the third-most populous metropolitan city in Italy with a population of 3,115,320 residents, and its metropolitan area stretches beyond the boundaries of the city wall for approximately 20 miles.
Founded by Greeks in the first millennium BC, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban areas in the world. In the eighth century BC, a colony known as Parthenope was established on the Pizzofalcone hill. In the sixth century BC, it was refounded as Neápolis. The city was an important part of Magna Graecia, played a major role in the merging of Greek and Roman society, and was a significant cultural centre under the Romans.
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POPULAR SKI RESORTS
I T A L Y
Europe’s highest mountain ranges – the Dolomites and the French, Swiss, and Savoy Alps – form Italy’s borders on the north and west. On their snow-covered slopes are some of Europe’s most famous ski resorts. At these high altitudes – more than a dozen peaks in the Dolomites alone exceed 3,000 meters – snow is almost certain from November through April, and the season is often longer.
The most skiable terrain and the broadest range of opportunities are in the Dolomites, where 12 major ski areas total more than 1,200 kilometers of ski trails. Whichever region you choose — the Dolomites, the Val d’Aosta (where Italy borders France and Switzerland), or the Savoy Alps west of Turin — you’ll be rewarded with spectacular scenery and single ski runs that can take several hours, dropping from high in the ou’ll find plenty of things to do here in your off-slope time as well, and you’ll find the cost of a vacation here is usually lower than at ski resorts in France or Switzerland.
If you’re used to skiing in North America, bear in mind that skiing in Europe is somewhat different. In Italy, blue indicates beginner, red intermediate; black is the same. But the level of difficulty may not be same; what Europeans call beginner trails may be more like American intermediate, and safety fences are not as common. Alpine snowstorms can cause serious driving delays, so it’s smart to allow plenty of time to make return flights.
Like much else in Italy, skiing takes on a different pace from its northern neighbors, with a relaxed atmosphere where the point is having fun, not breaking records. This, coupled with lower ticket prices, makes Italy a very attractive place for families to take a ski vacation.
Find the best places to hit the slopes for your next winter vacation with our list of the top ski resorts in Italy.
- Cortina d’Ampezzo
- Val Gardena
- Breuil-Cervinia and Valtournenche
- Sestriere and Val Chisone
- Courmayeur
- Alta Badia
- Madonna di Campiglio
- Livigno
- Bormio
- Val di Fassa
- Monterosa
- Alpe di Siusi
- Arabba-Marmolada
Italy’s ski resorts are known for being family friendly, and nearly everywhere you’ll find beginner hills with child-accessible lifts. Learning and slope-side child-care centers are common at all but the smallest mountains, and family-sized rooms and suites are easy to find.
Some resorts stand out for going the extra mile to make kids feel welcome and parents feel confident about including them in a ski vacation. Along with Cortina d’Ampezzo, Alpe di Siusi, Breuil-Cervinia, and Valtournenche above, known as some of the best Italian ski resorts for families, the resorts below are especially accommodating to young skiers.
Paso Tonale: With deeply discounted or free skiing for skiers under age 10, a ski school, and play centers for tots, Paso Tonale has a lot to please parents. The tubing hill and plenty of beginner and intermediate ski terrain keep the kids busy, and everyone appreciates the slope-side ski-in-and-ski-out lodging that minimizes carrying gear to the slopes.
La Thuile: An entire snow park for children, appropriately named Fantaski, is the center for La Thuile’s ski school and childcare facilities. In the Aosta Valley at the French border, the resort shares its ski domain with the French resort of La Rosière. Older kids will love being able to ski in two countries on the same day.
Sauze d’Oulx: Only an hour from Turin, this resort in the Savoy Alps is part of a group known as The Milky Way; a combined Milky Way ski pass includes several Italian resorts and the French resort of Montgenevre, just across the border.
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