TRAVEL
TRACY MASON TRAVEL FEATURE
Tracy Mason Travel Advice this edition looks at Italy
My partner and I want to visit Italy this year but have no idea where to go, what can you suggest?
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Italy is the one country that everyone either wants to visit or has lasting memories of a fabulous holiday spent in one of its many historic cities or spectacular coastal resorts.
Where ever you go you will want to go back, and you will never tire of the uniqueness of each city and region from its architecture and scenery, to its art and history.
The choice is immense, from Rome with its ancient buildings and the beating heart of the Eternal City, to Venice with its network of canals, slowly crumbling architecture and the History of hundreds of years of trade and commerce and of course Florence, home to Michelangelo’ s sculpture of David, the world renowned Ponte Vecchio, Giotto bell Tower and the terracotta tiled dome of the Duomo, designed by Brunelleschi.
Once you have ticked these three off your wish list, then there is still Milan, the renowned fashion centre of the world, and the hub of Italy’ s modern commercial trade. Verona, once a flourishing outpost of the Roman Empire but now the host to the annual opera in the magnificent Roman Arena, and visited by thousands of visitors each year to see the setting of Shakespeare’ s Romeo and Juliet and the famous balcony at the house where Juliet lived, or Naples sitting in the Bay of Naples in the shadow of the still active volcano Vesuvius which destroyed both Pompeii and Herculaneum in Roman times, and now is famous for its art and architecture and the beautiful frescoes in the city’ s cathedral, the Duomo di San Genera.
Away from the cities you can enjoy the scenic coast line of Amalfi and travel across by ferry from Sorrento to Capri, to visit the Blue Grotto or take the cable car to the scenic heights of Mount Salaro with its panoramic views of the Bay of Naples.
A visit to Italy has to encompass a trip to either Lake Garda and Lake Como, or indeed Lake Maggiore, again each with a individual feel of its own and uniquely Italian.
Lake Garda has a real Mediterranean feel in the South, with the largest city Desenzano combining a picturesque lakeside resort with the vibrant atmosphere of Italian cafe culture. With two harbours and two public beaches Desenzano makes a fabulous base to visit the area with the best ferry and hydrofoil services on the Lake so all the main lakeside towns like Sirmione, Peschiera and Garda are extremely accessible and with excellent rail and bus services to connect you to Verona, Venice and Padua.