Italian travel - Panoram Italia

The Best Hotels in Puglia

Kayla-Marie Turriciano — Wed, 22 May 2024 00:04:14 +0000

CN Traveler – Back in the 1980s, when everyone was going to Chianti on villa holidays, few of us had even heard of Puglia. A decade later, word got out about the southern Italian region of fertile red earth, gnarled olives, turquoise seas, beautiful trulli, and pioneering masseria hotels. All of a sudden, Puglia was proclaimed the New Tuscany—if not a bit prematurely. But it came into its own in the aftermath of such hype, maturing quietly and steadily out of the limelight. Now all those trailblazing converted farmhouses have been joined by sophisticated new arrivals that combine world-class design with the warmth and originality of the area.

Sophie Knight

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The Best Hotels on the Amalfi Coast

Kayla-Marie Turriciano — Wed, 15 May 2024 01:22:28 +0000

CN Traveler – If you’re looking for paradise on Earth, look no further than the Amalfi Coast—a breathtaking stretch of Italian coastline made up of picturesque cliffs, sandy beaches, and colorful towns. Here, it truly is la dolce vita. Perfect for a romantic couples getaway, scenic girls’ trip, or relaxing solo adventure, this picture-perfect UNESCO World Heritage Site is on many people’s travel bucket list for good reason.

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Europe’s highest pedestrian suspension bridge opens in Italy

Kayla-Marie Turriciano — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 03:47:34 +0000

CNN Travel – It’s known as the green heart of Italy because of its forested hills and landlocked location. But the region of Umbria, in central Italy, is about to become the beating heart of the country – or, even, the very fast beating heart – thanks to its new tourist attraction. A new pedestrian footbridge suspended across a ravine is said to be the highest of its kind in Europe, slung 175 meters, or 574 feet, above the void.

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The Italian region that ‘doesn’t exist’

Anthony Zara — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 09:29:41 +0000

Over the past few years, the Italian region of Molise has risen from obscurity to become the punchline of a popular meme. Now locals are trying to use it to their advantage.

by Alex Sakalis for BBC Travel – Molise, a small region in south-eastern Italy, is famous for one thing: it doesn’t exist.

Well, technically, it does exist. As one of Italy’s 20 official regions, Molise has a status equal to Tuscany, Lombardy or Piedmont. It holds regional elections and votes in national ones. It borders the regions of Abruzzo, Puglia, Lazio and Campania, all indisputably real places. So why do Italians like to pretend that Molise doesn’t exist?

^{Some see the “Molise doesn’t exist” phenomenon as an opportunity to give the region a unique brand (Credit: Renato Corradi/Moleasy)}

“I first came across it on the internet several years ago,” said Enzo Luongo, a journalist and author of the book Il Molise Non Esiste (Molise Doesn’t Exist). “People had started posting the hashtag #ilmolisenonesiste as a joke, making fun of the region’s small size as well as our relative obscurity within Italy.”

However, what surprised Luongo was the creativity of the comments that the hashtag inspired, which ranged from the amusing (“I wrote ‘Molise does not exist’ as my Facebook status. My geography teacher liked it.”) to the downright absurd (“I met a guy from Molise who was doing his Erasmus year in Italy.”). It seemed that the region, hitherto ignored, had suddenly awakened a latent creativity within Italians.

Of course we exist!

The “Molise conspiracy”, as it has come to be known, has gone on to become something of a cultural phenomenon within Italy, spawning books, songs, videos, theatrical monologues, news articles and more. It has been referenced by everyone from comedian Beppe Grillo to former prime minister Matteo Renzi. A popular Facebook page called Molisn’t – lo non credo nell’esistenza del Molise (Molisn’t – I don’t believe in the existence of Molise) revels in the conspiracy, selling “Molisn’t” merchandise such as T-shirts and mugs. Mock scientific papers have been published speculating on the region’s existence, while internet memes compare Molise to Narnia and portray maps of Italy with a black hole where the region should be. A YouTube video from 2015 – dramatically titled IL MOLISE NON ESISTE!! – has more than 1.6 million views, more than five times the 305,000-strong population of Molise itself.

Within a few short years, the region of Molise had gone from obscurity to become, arguably, Italy’s national joke.

^{Simone Cretella: “Molise is one of the last authentic places in Italy” (Credit: onairda/Getty Images)}