Bella Vita! Italy Up Close!
From North to South and everything in-between
Italy awes. It inspires and moves travellers like no other destination on Earth. From Michelangelo’s art to the artful cuisine throughout the country, Italy – and its 20 regions from tip to toe, head to heel, each diverse and dauntingly beautiful
Our travel partners the experts in escorted touring Cosmos & Globus have been helping travellers explore the world for almost 90 years. Here they explain Italy’s best kept secrets and why Italy should be on everyone’s bucket travel list in 2023.
Alpine Italy & its Alluring Lakes
The top of the boot of Italy features some of its best-known regions like Piedmont, Lombardy and Veneto. More importantly, here, you can enjoy some of Italy’s most artful landscapes including snow-capped mountains that wind-down to backdrops with bursts of colour encircling lovely lakes, happy harbours, and some of the most coveted (for good reason) Italian cityscapes – from Milan to Venice.
Venice
Venice is a place where postcard-perfect scenery meets history. It’s both grand (with its Grand Canal and grandiose architecture) and intimate (offering an easy-to-walk and navigate city escape). This floating city is a must-experience for every traveller traversing Italy. Enjoy Venice without the crowds on Cosmos travellers favourite tour – Rome, Florence and Venice
Lake Maggiore
Protruding into Switzerland with Italian shores shared by Piedmont and Lombardy, Lake Maggiore is not only picture-perfect, but also a peaceful alternative to Lake Como. Stresa – the perfect little town that sits with a ringside view of sunrises over the lake – invites you to step back in time to a place that reigned as a resort favourite for 19th century artists. Get there in 2023 on the popular 8 day tour – Magic of the Italian Lakes
Milan
Italy Lombardy Milan Milano Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
One of the most iconic cities in Northern Italy, Milan invites you to enjoy medieval plazas next to modern cityscapes and da Vinci’s Last Supper in combination with Milanese cuisine including quintessential dishes like cotoletta and saffron risotto. Enjoy this special place this year and see Italy’s Best – Cosmos: Italy’s Best
Tuscany: We Chianti love you more!
Here, stunning, sun-drenched wheat fields, olive groves and vineyards that create some of the world’s best sensational “slow foods” and produce incomparable wines meet soul-soaring hilltop villages and cityscapes. Tuscany is a touchstone of art, food, and culture.
Florence
Surrounded by wine-rich hills and brimming with narrow, cobblestone alleyways that are bookended by 16th-century palaces and marble basilicas, not to mention world-class art museums, Florence provides travellers a feast for the eyes, soul, and tastebuds. There’s no better way of seeing this region then on a small group discovery tour with Globus – The Best of Italy
Lucca
Lucca up! This is a place that’s lovely from every angle and invites travellers to fall in love with its cobbled streets, picture-perfect piazzas and promenades. Breathe-in beauty as you sit at a café, drink-in Lucchesi wine and indulge in tradition-rich rustic dishes. Discover Lucca on an Undiscovered Cosmos tour – Cosmos: Gourmet Tuscany – where you will be treated to local gourmet Tuscany fare and enjoy creating Italian culinary creations of your own.
I Say Puglia, You Say Apulia
Everything you crave about Italy can be found in lesser-known and visited Puglia (aka Apulia). It forms the spur to the heel of Italy, with the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast and the Strait of Otranto and Gulf of Taranto to the south. As a result, to its proximity to water and historic ports, Apulia is one of Italy’s richest archaeological regions.
Lecce
Deemed the Florence of the South and the “Capital of Baroque,” Lecce enjoys a generous indulgence of stunning, architectural feats from the 17th century (so much so that they even have their own moniker – “Lecce Baroque” – an expression of hugely decorative accents featuring gargoyles, asparagus columns and gremlins.) Enjoy this off-the-beaten-path destination, off-season, with lesser crowds and more time to explore and better still on select dates they offer a no single supplement wavier – Globus: Southern Italy Escape
Bari
Combining seaside charm with historical significance, Bari is a picturesque Mediterranean port with a postcard-perfect Old Town with quaint streets and grand architecture – including the Basilica San Nicola. Globus offers an off the beaten path tour that will take you to the undiscovered. – Globus: Highlights of Sicily and Southern Italy
Castellana Grotte
These famous limestone caves – located about 40 km southeast of Bari – are Italy’s longest natural subterranean network. The interlinked galleries, first discovered in 1938, contain other-worldly, underground landscapes with extraordinary stalactite and stalagmite formations. Immerse yourself in the unexpected with help from a Globus Expert Tour Director – Globus: Hidden Treasures of Southern Italy
With the experts in escorted touring the world is within reach so let the unexpected begin and book a tour of Italy in 2023. Prices start from just £629pp including savings of up to £200pp. To see more click here.
Globus – Luxury escorted touring
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