Italy

My love affair with Italy started in Venice. It was a cold November’s day, and the city was thick with fog. I exited Santa Lucia train station to one of the most extraordinary views I’d ever seen: the vast expanse of the Grand Canal, lined with ancient buildings which seem to float on water. It took my breath away. I’ve been back a few times since then and it never fails to overwhelm. There’s nowhere like it.

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I also fell hard for Rome: noisy, charismatic and full of so much beauty it makes my heart ache.

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Bologna has a special place in my heart with great food, lively bars, world-class art & beautiful colonnaded streets. It’s a vibe.

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And have you been to Turin?  Stylish, elegant and effortlessly cool, it’s one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Italy with a vibrant café and aperitivo scene, and a bustling nightlife. We adored it.

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And that’s before I even mention Milan and Florence. Or those incredible but often-bypassed smaller cities like Ferrara, Parma and Mantua, chock-full of art, grand piazzas and remarkable buildings.

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It goes without saying that the Amalfi Coast and Lake Como are almost too beautiful to comprehend.

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And then there’s Puglia, right in the heel of Italy with its dreamy landscape and azure waters I've seen only on postcards. Its vast arid countryside is lined with olive trees while impossibly pretty whitewashed towns sit perched on hilltops. The food is some of the best I’ve experienced anywhere but this is unsurprising – the region is lauded for its exceptional cuisine and smooth-as-silk Puglian wines. One of my favourite holidays ever. Two weeks is nowhere near enough

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Buon viaggio x

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