What’s New in Italy for 2024: From Roots Tourism to Historic Train Trips

This article originally appeared in the December 2023/January 2024 issue of Dream of Italy. To cope with record-high tourist numbers, Italy has generated new and creative ways to welcome and entertain visitors. This coming year promises a renewed love and appreciation for locomotive travel, ancestry-inspired tours and a fresh Italian Capital of Culture sure to bring a new side of the …

Catania’s Spectacular Christmas Village

Christmas is coming to Catania December 8th. The city’s fairgrounds transform into a Christmas village complete with a Christmas Disco, a cinema playing Christmas movies, bands, parades twice a day and meet-and-greets with beloved characters from children’s films. The Christmas Village will be Southern Italy’s largest, covering about two and a half acres of land.  Kids can take a ride …

New Adler Resort and Spa Opens in Sicily

I’m a huge fan of Adler Resorts, now run by the 6th generation of this German family. Hotel Adler Thermae nestled in Tuscany’s Val d’Orcia is one of my favorite hotels in all of Italy.  Adler’s properties in the Dolomite property have long been on my bucket list.  Now the family is opening Adler Spa Resort Sicilia this month. The …

2022 Travel Inspiration From Our Pages

While times may still be chaotic, to say the least, there’s one thing I know for sure: Italy can provide some relief—dreaming, planning, traveling (yes, I hear from Italy travel planners that summer 2022 is booking up faster than ever—pent-up demand). I’m sharing a handful of full articles below from the pages of Dream of Italy to give you some inspiration …

Podcast Episode #9: Your Crowdsourced Italian Travel Dreams

  Transcript with Show Notes Embedded: Geri Romeo: I’m Geri Romeo of Miami, Florida. When I dream of Italy, I dream of peeking down an alley on the island of Murano in Venice. “Ciao bella,” calls out a man to me, a beautiful man dressed in an exquisite blue suit. Yes, I know a good suit when I see one. The …

Pantelleria: Unspoiled Paradise

This article originally appeared in the August/September 2020 issue of Dream of Italy. Join Dream of Italy as a member to access this issue and 180+ back issues.  I first read about the island of Pantelleria in 1989. The writer referred to it as “a speck between Sicily and Africa,” and added, “Pantelleria feels as if it was formed only a week …

Excerpt From Always Italy by Frances Mayes with Ondine Cohane

Editor’s Note: In a world that has gone mad, let’s close our eyes and dream of Italy. No one writes about Italy the way Frances Mayes does. In the midst of the chaos, she has a stunning new book out from National Geographic – Always Italy – along with her fab travel writer extraordinaire co-author Ondine Cohane. We’re offering a …

Meet the Guest Editor of Our Palermo Special Report

See the full Special Report: Palermo in the March 2019 issue of Dream of Italy. Sarah Murdoch, who wrote and edited our March 2019 Special Report on Palermo, is a tour guide, travel writer, artist, former architect and packing expert. She has worked for Rick Steves for 19 years as a tour guide and guidebook researcher, recently coauthoring Rick Steves’ …