Italia Guide Lakes & Islands Italy

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ITALIA! GUIDE

2019 LAKES & ISLANDS

italia! lakes & islands

ITALY

YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE • CULTURE • TRAVEL • PEOPLE • FOOD

PLAN YOUR PERFECT GETAWAY

LAKE MAGGIORE

21 MUST-SEE DESTINATIONS

LAKE GARDA

LAKE COMO

INS IDE ✪ SA R DA ✪ R ✪ GA

TA &

BURANO

S

✪ CO DINIA ✪ ICILY ✪ M MO ✪ BU CAPR I AG R ✪ OR GIOR E ✪ ANO ELB A MO R E!

SICILY

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Italia! Lakes & Islands £9.99

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Image by Heather Crombie

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WELCOME!

All cover images © Getty Images. This image © Getty Images

Welcome to Italia! magazine’s 132page Lakes & Islands Guide, packed with travel ideas, itineraries and advice for planning and making the most of any getaway to Italy’s beautiful islands and lakes. Offering a breathtaking wealth of beauty and diversity, this guide aims to bring you the best of every destination. Whatever type of trip you’re looking for, be it cultural city break, family beach getaway or chilled lakeside retreat, you’ll find all the inspiration you need among the pages of our guide. From firm traveller favourites such as Como and Garda, Sicily and Sardinia to lesser-known places such as Bolsena, Orta, Elba and Ventotene, discover the history, culture and highlights of each location, as well as the best places to eat and stay. Within the two colour-coded sections, our experts show you iconic places to visit, as well as guided city tours, and top attractions like historic gardens, local festivals and beauty spots. This guide will help you find your perfect destination and we’ve made sure the information is as up-todate as possible, but do always check before you travel. Buon viaggio!

Amanda Robinson Editor

SUBSCRIBE TO ITALIA! Limone harbour, Lake Garda, p10

Subscribe to Italia! magazine and save money – turn to page 22 to find out how to subscribe today!

LAKES & ISLANDS 2021 EDITOR Amanda Robinson [email protected]

ART EDITOR Nick Cornwell-Menzies [email protected] CONTRIBUTORS AND THANKS Chris Allsop, Heather Crombie, Joe Gartman, Jane Keightley, Fleur Kinson, Sarah Lane, James Miller, Mary Novakovich, Rosalind Ormiston, Jon Palmer, Sara Scarpa, Laura Thayer PUBLISHER Sally FitzGerald sally.fi[email protected] ADVERTISING MANAGER Adrian Major [email protected] MARKETING Liz Russell

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jenny Cook [email protected] MANAGING DIRECTOR Simon Lewis [email protected] CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Jon Bickley [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONS & BACK ISSUES ☎ +44 (0) 1371 853 609 [email protected] Price (6 issues) £24.50 UK basic annual rate PRINT William Gibbons & Sons Ltd ☎ +44 (0) 1902 730011 DISTRIBUTION Marketforce (UK) Ltd ☎ +44 (0) 330 390 655 LICENSING ENQUIRIES Regina Erak [email protected] IMAGES All images © Getty Images unless otherwise stated

www.italytravelandlife.com

Anthem Publishing Piccadilly House London Road Bath BA1 6PL ☎ +44 (0) 1225 489989 (advertising) [email protected] All content copyright Anthem Publishing Ltd, 2021, all rights reserved. While we make every effort to ensure that the factual content of Italia! is correct we cannot take any responsibility nor be held accountable for any factual errors printed. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or resold without the prior consent of Anthem Publishing Ltd. Anthem Publishing recognises all copyrights contained within this issue. Where possible we acknowledge the copyright holder.

All paper used in this publication comes from responsibly managed forests.

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IN THIS GUIDE ITALIAN LAKES 8

AT A GLANCE GUIDE Welcome to Italy’s lakes

10 HIDDEN GARDA Chris Allsop travels to the quieter corners on the lake’s western shores 16 LAKE MAGGIORE Rosalind Ormiston reveals her favourite aspects of Lake Maggiore 24 BRESCIA GOURMET GUIDE Heather Crombie visits the city of Slow Food on Lake Garda

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56 LAKE ORTA Discover the understated beauty of this lake with Jane Keightley

90 CALTAGIRONE La Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte is famous for its majolica tiles

62 LAKE TRASIMENO This landlocked freshwater lake sits at the heart of Umbria

92 VENTOTENE This tiny island is one of Italy’s best-kept secrets says Sara Lane

64 STRESA Fall under the spell of elegant Stresa and the Borromean islands

98 NORTH WEST SICILY Sara Scarpa journeys to the north-western tip of the Triangle

ITALIAN ISLANDS

104 NORTH SARDINIA There’s more to the north of Sardinia than the glitz of Costa Smeralda

31 BOLSENA Fleur Kinson explores Bolsena in Lazio, an unspoilt volcanic paradise

72 AT A GLANCE GUIDE Welcome to Italy’s islands

110 ETNA ABOVE ALL A land of contrasts around Taormina in the shadow of Mount Etna

36 LAKE COMO Discover ten good reasons to visit Lake Como with Rosalind Ormiston

74 THE ART OF CAPRI Laura Thayer discovers the artistic side to this photogenic island

114 CEFALÙ Jamie Miller explores Cefalù and the dramatic Aeolian Islands

43 LAKESIDE GARDENS Take a tour around the gardens of the northern lakes with Fleur Kinson

81 PIAZZA ARMERINA Joe Gartman tells the fascinating tale of Ozymandius in Sicily

120 SOUTHERN SARDINIA Mary Novakovich discovers a slower pace of life south of Cagliari

50 E-BIKING AROUND LAKE GARDA Jon Palmer experiences the beauty of a natural landscape on an e-bike

84 THE VENICE LAGOON Sara Scarpa visits Pellestrina and Lido, Murano, Burano and Torcello

126 SPRINGTIME ON ELBA Fleur Kinson falls for the charms of this picturesque Tuscan island

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TRASIMENO

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BOLSENA

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NORTH SARDINIA VENTOTENE

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CAPRI

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PIAZZA ARMERINA

AEOLIAN ISLANDS

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TAORMINA

CALTAGIRONE

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Welcome to Italy’s LAKES

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ITALY’S LAKES Shimmering waters and dramatic landscapes – the Italian lakes have all this and more. Read on to find your perfect lake break

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D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

LAKES Lake Maggiore

Hidden Garda LAKES

Hidden Garda

Life on the Lake Ten reasons to love Lake Maggiore

Rosalind Ormiston travels to one of the largest Italian lakes and shares ten good reasons why you should pay this northern beauty a visit

LAKES Lake Maggiore

Lake Garda, the largest of the Italian lakes, can also be the most crowded. Chris Allsop travelled to its western, Brescian, side in search of quieter spots, and discovered a rich vein of history…

LAKES

Hidden Garda

Stresa, a vibrant town at the heart of Lake Maggiore, makes an ideal base for exploring the region (see our guide on p64)

Approaching Gargnano on Lake Garda’s western shore

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Stresa

Lake Orta LAKES

Stresa

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Lake Orta

Stresa

Peaceful, quiet and smaller than some of the country’s more famous lakes, Orta gave Jane Keightley the chance to consider the understated beauty of this sub-Alpine secret…

The romantic allure of Lake Maggiore has always inspired visitors to its shores – Amanda Robinson takes a break in the perfectly located town of Stresa and falls under its spell

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escribed by Honoré de Balzac as “a pearl, enclosed by the green treasure chest of the Piemontese hills”, Orta is one of the smallest of the Italian lakes, and the only one to lie entirely in Piedmont. The main attractions, apart from the beautiful scenery, are the medieval village of Orta San Giulio and the island of San Giulio, which sits just opposite it. I had been inspired to visit Orta after reading a novel set there and, as I made my way down towards the village, it was certainly living up to my expectations. As soon as I had unpacked I headed off towards the main square, Piazza Motta, where, after a long day’s travelling, I sat and relaxed over a large glass of red wine and a delicious risotto made from saffron, rabbit and balsamic vinegar, whilst watching the sun go down over the island. Piazza Motta, which is known as the salotto, or drawing room, of Orta, is surrounded on three sides by ancient porticoed palazzos, some covered in frescoes, whilst the fourth side looks out towards the island. Behind a row of horse chestnut trees boats are moored, waiting to ferry you over to the island. The most important building in the square is the Palazzotto, which was the old council chamber. Covered in frescoes, it has a loggia underneath it and is now used periodically for exhibitions. Now replete from both the food and the view I wandered back to my hotel, thankful that cars are not allowed into the narrow medieval streets. ➤

Clockwise, from top left: Mottarone vista towards Lake Orta; Massimo at Al Buscion; the hanging gardens of Isola Bella; lily pond; island passeggiata; lakeside view; Isola dei Pescatori piazza; torrone semifreddo; lunch al fresco

Images by Amanda Robinson

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Clockwise from top left: Arriving at Isola San Giulio; view from Piazza Motta; more of Isola San Giulio; terracotta figures in the chapel on Sacro Monte; the view from Madonna del Sasso; Piazza Motta; view of the island from Piazza Motta; Orta San Giulio; chapel on the Sacro Monte

LAKES

NORTHERN LAKES ITALY Lake Lake Orta Orta

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ven by the exacting aesthetic standards of the Italian lakes, Lake Maggiore is in the premier league. It might not have the go-to reputation of other Northern Lakes like Garda and Como, but it is that seductive mix of flat watery expanses and soaring slopes that hooks you in from the word go. It was a hazy day as we edged our way towards the lakeside town of Stresa – perfectly poised on the western bord of the lake. Travel-weary from the early flight to Milan Malpensa, I was content to gaze out of the window and let the views work their magic. I was reminded just how close this lake is to the massive Alpine mountain system whose rivers serve it so well, as each narrow little town along the way clung to the contour of the lake, while the thickly wooded and densely green hills rose up sharpy behind them. As we threaded our way to Stresa through the southern town of Arona, our charming driver encouraged us to look right, and there it was – our first glimpse of the lake itself, its greeny-blue waters dimpling slightly in the gentle sunlight. GRAND DESIGNS Tucked under the edge of the mighty Alps, Piedmont hugs the western shore of Lake Maggiore and Lombardy the east, while the very northern edge around Locarno is Swiss. The second largest of the northern Italian lakes, its pleasant Mediterranean microclimate ensures mild temperatures ➤

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At-a-glance Guide LAKES

THE LAKES at a glance

Welcome to Italy’s lakes – among the nation’s most beautiful and enduringly popular destinations. Here we introduce our top six lakes and their many highlights

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1 LAKE COMO ➤ DIMENSIONS Lake Como has a surface area of 146 square kilometres, a shoreline of 170 kilometres and a maximum depth of 410 metres. ➤ REGION Lombardy ➤ GEOGRAPHY Como has the most irregular shape of the Italian lakes: an upsidedown ‘Y’. The surrounding scenery is varied, from

gentle, grass-covered hills and wooded valleys to dramatic, jagged mountain rocks.

➤ OVERVIEW Boasting some of the most iconic, beautiful lake towns in Italy (Bellagio, Menaggio) and some mighty impressive lakeside villas, Como has a reputation as a perfect romantic retreat and as a getaway for the rich and famous. The

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Photos © iStock Photo, Shutterstock, Heather Crombie, Amanda Robinson & Fleur Kinson

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➤ DIMENSIONS Trasimeno has a surface area of 128 square kilometres, a maximum depth of six metres and a shoreline that stretches 53 kilometres. ➤ REGION Umbria ➤ GEOGRAPHY A remarkably shallow lake, Trasimeno is surrounded by low hills and eminently pretty countryside. ➤ OVERVIEW Peaceful, beautiful Trasimeno is rich in freshwater fish, and has several pretty beaches. The fourth largest lake in

Italy, Trasimeno’s local population is relatively small, and its tranquil shores are a haven for nature – the area was made a Natural Park in 1995 to protect the lake’s environment and local species. It doesn’t see as much tourism as Italy’s northern lakes, but there are various places to stay around the lake and on its three islands. Castiglione del Lago and Passignano sul Trasimeno are two popular lakeside towns.

➤ BEST FOR Nature-lovers, hiking & cycling trails, fishing. ➤ GO TO: p62

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3 LAKE MAGGIORE

➤ BEST FOR Romantic breaks, boat trips, stunning scenery. ➤ GO TO: p36, p42

➤ OVERVIEW

Lake Garda covers 370 square kilometres, with a total shoreline of 145 kilometres and a maximum depth of 346 metres.

Italy’s largest lake offers something for all ages and tastes, with a wide range of sporting facilities, historic sights, picturesque towns and even a few amusement parks around its shores. The main towns for visitors include Sirmione, Malcesine, Limone and Riva del Garda, all of which make charming bases, and offer a good range of hotels and restaurants. Boat trips offer a fabulous way to see the sights, including the lake’s five islands.

➤ REGION Veneto, Alto-Adige, Lombardy ➤ GEOGRAPHY The southern part of the lake is characterised by its pretty, predominantly low-lying countryside, while the narrow, northern part of the lake is more dramatic, with the landscape becoming increasingly mountainous as it moves north. Olive groves and vineyards are a regular feature of the scenery around the lake.

➤ REGION Lombardy, Piedmont

➤ OVERVIEW Must-visits around Lake Maggiore include charming Stresa and the delightful trio of islands that make up the Borromean group. The lake’s western shores also plays host to several Nature Reserves,

➤ GEOGRAPHY Italy’s second largest lake, Maggiore, loses its northern point to Switzerland, but its majority resides in Italy. Although

filled with birds, plants and wildlife. The lake’s size ensures it offers a multitude of interests, and so alongside its wild areas, there are many elegant villas and spectacular gardens – not to mention lovely towns – to visit around the lake’s environs.

➤ BEST FOR Island-hopping, watersports, fine architecture, nature.

At-a-glance Guide

lake’s dramatic scenery has inspired countless writers and composers over the years, and boat trips around the lake could keep you entertained for days, taking in the great diversity of towns and panoramas that make up this beloved lake.

➤ DIMENSIONS

it is surrounded by mountains around most of its shores, it also enjoys pretty wooded hills and stunning floral gardens among its lakeside scenery.

LAKES

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➤ DIMENSIONS Its surface area is 213 kilometres, while Maggiore’s maximum depth is 372 metres and its shoreline stretches 150 kilometres.

➤ GO TO: p16, p64

➤ BEST FOR Watersports, food & drink, family holidays. ➤ GO TO: p10, p50

5 LAKE ISEO ➤ DIMENSIONS Iseo’s surface area is 65 square kilometres, its maximum depth 251 metres and its shoreline 61 kilometres. ➤ REGION Lombardy ➤ GEOGRAPHY Formed by a glacier, millions of years ago, Iseo not only has the

largest lake island in Europe (Monte Isola), but also enjoys varied geographical features around its mountainous perimeter, including the ‘Pyramids of Zone’ (eroded glacial deposits that have formed piles of earth up to ten metres high) and the Torbiere peat bogs towards the lake’s south.

➤ OVERVIEW Iseo is one of the least visited of Italy’s northern lakes, but is imbued with a rare beauty and charm. The scenery around it is predominantly mountainous, and the lake’s edge has a plethora of pretty, historic towns, including Iseo, Sarnico, Pisogne

and Marone. Franciacorta vineyards can be found just south of the lake.

➤ BEST FOR Walking & cycling, historic sights & towns. GO TO: p24

6 LAKE BOLSENA ➤ DIMENSIONS Bolsena’s surface covers 113.5 kilometres, with a maximum depth of 151 metres and a shoreline of 48 kilometres. ➤ REGION Lazio ➤ GEOGRAPHY This broad, oval lake is the result of volcanic activity hundreds of thousands of years ago. Its gentle edges are predominantly given over to flat beaches and rolling hills, and the shoreline is dotted with ancient fishing villages. Thanks to the rich, volcanic soil, much of the surrounding land is agricultural, with

countless vineyards, olive groves and wheat fields.

➤ OVERVIEW Lake Bolsena, though popular in summer with holidaying Romans, is still largely undiscovered by foreign visitors. This has kept its peace and beauty perfectly intact for those who do visit. The surrounding scenery is lovely, and the area’s settlements retain their traditional charms. The towns of Bolsena and Montefiascone offer the most choice for food and accommodation. ➤ BEST FOR Tranquility, swimming, history. ➤ GO TO: p31

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Hidden Garda

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Approaching Gargnano on Lake Garda’s western shore

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Lake Garda, the largest of the Italian lakes, can also be the most crowded. Chris Allsop travelled to its western, Brescian, side in search of quieter spots, and discovered a rich vein of history…

LAKES

Hidden Garda

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Images by Chris Allsop

f all the Italian lakes, it’s Garda – with its enviably temperate climate – that really pulls in the punters. At the northern end (‘Alto Garda’), the blue waters spear into rugged Trentino and the pine-scented foothills of the Dolomites. Travelling south, the lake widens out to 18 kilometres and the cafés and restaurants dotted amid the promenades and marinas have a distinctly Mediterranean style. A miniature Med on their doorsteps is hardly going to be ignored by the shivering masses of northern Europe. Interest in Garda has also been stoked by the 2017 Oscar-winning film Call Me by Your Name, which used the famous Grottoes of Catullus as a location. But Garda, with its busy ferries and 150 kilometres of shoreline, does make it easy to flee the summertime crowds and find an entirely new (both literally and figuratively) side to the lake. It’s something I discovered on a short visit to the side of the lake that falls within Brescia, a part that felt breezy and untroubled by the deluge of tourism that has the Venetians and Ligurians, in particular, pushing back. And it was centred around two beautiful destinations with intriguing histories.

Perhaps she sneaks off to quiet Gargnano for a breather. Positioned about halfway up the eastern coast, the pretty town stretches out luxuriously along the lakeside. A jostle of bright buildings greets me as I disembark, and I sneak a swift espresso macchiato at a seat with a view of the far coastline, the gently sloping mountains turning vivid green as the ashen blues of the overcast morning are burnt off by the strong sun. My reverie is interrupted by a dousing of cold water upon my legs – the wake from a passing boat has slid beneath the pier. Time to go. Despite its relative remoteness, Gargnano isn’t sleepy when it comes to history. The grand Villa Feltrinelli – now a super-plush resort with a twoMichelin-starred restaurant – used to be Benito Mussolini’s home during the brief few years when he declared this area the Republic of Salò (more on that later). Less Fascist and more fruity is Gargnano’s role as a preserver of Garda’s sweet-scented past as northern Europe’s main lemon producer, something that was enabled by the unique climate (lemon trees are rare at this latitude). And any local B&B worth its salt will have somewhere in their brochure details about D.H. Lawrence and his then lover, and later wife, Frieda Von Richthofen, who chose Gargnano as a place to live for several months (a plaque marks the house where they stayed). Arriving at the start of the 20th century, Lawrence wrote about the area’s “exquisite scent of lemon flowers”, at a time when some 400 lemonaries (limonaie) still produced fruit on Garda’s steep hillsides. In Gargnano today, there’s only one working example that remains, Limonaia Malora. The renovated 16th-century structure, clambering up a series of stone terraces, is a living museum run by Fabio Gandossi and his family. Led by my tour guide, Maria Pasotti, of enogastronomic tour company Good Food, Good Mood, I enter through a cloud of lilac bougainvillea, marvelling at the deep green leaves of the century-

GARGNANO If you’re seeking a refuge from the crowds, then come to Gargnano. I arrived by tour boat, having just bobbed along near the palatial Venetian-style villa on Isola del Garda – the only inhabited island of the lake’s five – wondering how Lady Charlotte Cavazza, who apparently lives permanently on this manicured islet with her seven children and their families, has managed to do so without burning the entire place to the ground. (If you fancy a closer look yourself, guided tours of the island are available.) 12 LAKES & ISLANDS 2021

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WHERE TO STAY AND EAT

Hidden Garda

RISTORANTE LA TORTUGA Via XXIV Maggio, 5 – Gargnano % +39 0365 71251 www.ristorantelatortuga.it Sited close to the town’s main square – and a popular spot for a romantic night out – Michelin-starred La Tortuga has a seasonal menu paired with a legendary wine list. Expect dishes such as ‘seared scallops served with a cream of borlotti beans and rosemary oil’ and be sure to book to beat those hungry lovers to a table.

LAKES

Garda, with its busy ferries and 150 kilometres of shoreline, does make it easy to flee the summertime crowds and find an entirely new side to the lake

VILLA GIULIA Via Rimembranza, 20 – Gargnano % + 39 0365 71022 www.villagiulialakegarda.com This sophisticated four-star offers excellent waterfront value. Owned by the Bombardelli family, Villa Giulia’s offer modern style and romantic rustic vibe. There’s an indoor pool and spa, and lovely gardens arrayed with climbing roses. The epic lakeside terrace – served by a Michelin-starred restaurant – is torchlit at night.

HOTEL BELLERIVE Via Pietro da Salò, 11 – Salò % +39 0365 520410 www.hotelbellerive.it A dusky blue building fronting onto a marina, Hotel Bellerive is a comfortable four-star with an arty streak. The 100km Restaurant is the jewel in its hospitality crown, drawing on the natural resources of the local area – and the hotel’s herb garden – to put together vivid combos such as the crème brûlée with lemongrass. The staff are sparky and friendly, while the palm-shaded pool area has a nice aperitif vibe. Clockwise from top left: Lake Garda is justly famed for its lemons; the view from the limonaia northwards up the lake; Fabio’s fabulous limoncello verde; the original frames of the limonaia; Lady Charlotte Cavazza’s villa on Isola del Garda

OSTERIA DI MEZZO Via di Mezzo, 10 – Salò % +39 0365 290966 www.osteriadimezzo.it A sophisticated yet homey osteria tucked away in a cellar between the high street and the promenade, Osteria Di Mezzo serves a procession of precise, flavourful dishes, but it’s their interpretation of tiramisù that’ll blow your mind. A bowl-like chocolate filter drips hot coffee onto the dessert sponge before melting inwards.

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old trees reaching to the roof of the wooden framework. Capers scramble over the terraces like ivy. During the short tour, Fabio shows us the ancient stone channels previously used for irrigation (he prudently employs a sprinkler system today); an original storage house (particularly rare as most have been converted into homes); and the innumerable numbered boards with glass panes that he places, over a laborious two-week period, onto the limonaia frame to create a protective greenhouse for the trees between November and March. The tour is available to allcomers, but as I’m with Maria I have an added extra: an incredible lunch high in the limonaia with immense views across Garda. A bowl of pappa al pomodoro with rich stracciatella is followed by a slice of sbrisolona. On the lake, a swirl of sails marks a regatta. Fabio cracks out his home-made limoncello. A glass or two later I’m buying a bottle, but later regret not picking up his unusual Verde as well – a sharp version using only the green skin of young lemons that could have been a champion cocktail mixer. Speaking of mixers, I also pick up a jar of his lemon jam. An earlier stop on Maria’s foodie tour saw us dive

Clockwise from top left: Bignotti’s truffled cheese in the ageing cellar; the shop front of the deli; the charming streets of Salò; Salò from the water; architectural detail in Salò; tastings at the Bignotti deli; the shape of the lake pressed into the rind of a Bignotti cheese; tourist menu in Salò

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into the bounty of Gargnano’s Bignotti deli, with a tasting of a handful of the twenty or so cheeses the deli somehow produces in its cramped back cellar. During aging the cheeses soak up the flavours of the lakeside environs which, when paired with a dollop of jam made from zesty Garda lemons, is a true taste of Gargnano (especially good with the local ricotta).

LAKES air-conditioned museum, check out the impressive MUSA (via Brunati, 9) which has a permanent exhibition on the Republic of Salò with English descriptions. But if you decide to walk the streets, procure a map (in Italian, but clear) at the tourist information centre showing the location of the 17-odd buildings. Be sure to plot in a restorative Aperol spritz at Bar Italia, previously Mussolini’s Casa del Fascio, and gelati (especially La Casa del Dolce by the cathedral) for fuel, smug in the knowledge that the queues for ice cream are definitely shorter on this side of the lake. LI

Hidden Garda

SOUTH TO SALÒ To the south of Gargnano is Salò. A large lakeside town of pastels and earthenware warmth, Salò is situated on a gulf that shares its name. The pace of life is slow, the marble walkways generous. Locals chat in the shade of the horse-chestnuts lining the long central square, while tourists browse the air-conditioned boutiques lining via Mattia Butturini, searching for antiques or bikinis. The sun is high, and I’ve left my hat in the hotel room, so I’m wandering between the shadows of buildings and cool colonnaded corridors. I divert down to the rose marble promenade – the longest on the lake – and encounter a statue of Gasparo da Salò, the inventor of the violin. Magnolias and palms line the waterfront. Here, small boat traffic is busy, and the orange of children’s life-jackets in the midday sun is as bright as flares. Other families lounge in the cafés beating the stultifying heat with heaped sundaes. It’s almost a shame, then, to dwell on a darker aspect of this gorgeous, family-friendly holiday spot. But, like the knowledge that this area lies on a seismic zone (the last significant quake was in 2004), you would barely believe that this water sports idyll also used to be the HQ of Mussolini’s Italian Social Republic (also referred to as the Republic of Salò) between 1943 and 1945. The town doesn’t try to hide the fact, instead labelling the various buildings with multi-lingual plaques that take you on a tour of some of its impressive buildings, generally gathered near the waterfront or the main areas of town. If you’d rather duck into an

GETTING THERE ➤ EasyJet and British Airways fly direct from London Gatwick to the airport of Verona Villafranca, although the transfer time by car from Milan Bergamo can also be roughly the same – about an hour. There are regular bus and train transfers to the lake.

A town of pastels and earthenware warmth, Salò is situated on a gulf that shares its name

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LAKES Lake Maggiore

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

Stresa, a vibrant town at the heart of Lake Maggiore, makes an ideal base for exploring the region (see our guide on p64)

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Life on the Lake Ten reasons to love Lake Maggiore

Rosalind Ormiston travels to one of the largest Italian lakes and shares ten good reasons why you should pay this northern beauty a visit

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The location of Lake Maggiore has given it a colourful past, with northern Italy being close to the borders of Switzerland, Austria and France. Many people have travelled around it or sailed across it, on their way to Milan, Venice, and southern Italy. It is surrounded by mountains, which are snowcapped in winter, and lush landscapes encircle the lake. Its temperate climate attracts visitors all year round, though the main season is from March to November, with winter sports attracting visitors to the mountains in the colder months. At the heart of Lake Maggiore are the Borromean Islands, opposite the town of Stresa. These three jewels in its waters, Isola Bella, Isola dei Pescatori, and Isola Madre, are must-see destinations, rewarding visitors with a memorable experience. And when the Isole Borromee have satisfied the appetite of lovers of art, architecture, food and botany, a faster pace is found around the lake edges, in the boats for hire, water skiing, or a never-tobe-forgotten alpine bobsleigh ride on the summit of Mount Mottarone, above Stresa, reached by cable car from the lake shore. Lake Maggiore is the perfect location for a variety of holidays that can involve using the water for boating, fishing and swimming, or relaxing by a pool in one of the shoreline hotels and villas. The verdant coastline creates an oasis of beauty to explore by car or bicycle. The easiest way to visit the towns on the lake is by ferry, on a hop-on-hop-off service; tickets can be bought at the ferry stops, including those for entry to attractions.

STRESA IS A TOWN THAT HAS TO BE HIGH on the list of any visit to Lake Maggiore, and is a popular choice to stay as a central location. It is just a short water-taxi ride from the spectacular Borromean Islands. The lively town has a variety of hotels to suit everyone, from cyclists on a stopover to long-stay visitors. The grand hotels along the shore front of Stresa recall the town’s first heyday as the Italian riviera of the north. Today, a tranquil ambience flows through Stresa. The hotels have been renovated, refurbished, and offer not only superb accommodation but also spectacular views of Sky Bar at La Palma Hotel, St the lake, some with private access pools by its shore. resa The centre of the town is bustling with places to shop and eat, and is as popular today as it was when it was visited by Stendhal, Dumas, Dickens, Hemingway, Charlie Chaplin and Lord Byron. Panoramic vistas of Lake Maggiore are prevalent from the shore side hotels in Stresa

Ormiston

1 Visit Stresa, and perhaps make it your base

Image by Rosal ind

Stunning Lake Maggiore, the second largest lake in Italy, gently straddles the regions of Piedmont and Lombardy – the west bank is in Piedmont, the east bank is in Lombardy – with the northern shores, about one fifth of its area, crossing the border into Switzerland

2 Explore the Borromean Islands Both images by Rosalind Ormiston

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D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

THESE FABULOUS ISLANDS are the highlight of any visit to Lake Maggiore. They are a short journey by private boat rental (for example www.cantierenauticotaroni.com), with a plentiful service of water taxis, or by ferry from Stresa (a bit longer from other locations) to Isola Bella, Isola Madre and Isola dei Pescatori. The most visited is Isola Bella with an 18thcentury palace, its rooms bursting with ornate detail, exquisite statues in Italian terraced Stroll by the gardens, including a stunning grotto, and lake shore, or fabulous blooms, along with the breathtaking hire a boat amphitheatre, Teatro Massimo. Isola Madre is equally breathtaking, as host to the 16th-century Palazzo Borromeo, and stunning botanical gardens populated with peacocks and Chinese pheasants roaming landscaped gardens of rare plants. Isola dei Pescatori, the ‘Fishermen’s Island’, is the only one with permanent inhabitants. The tiny village is home to restaurants offering freshly caught fish, as well as little shops and boutique albergos. To get a spectacular bird’s eye view of the islands and other parts of Maggiore there are helicopter rides that can take several routes. www.musement.com adre M a ol Is on eo

om Palazzo Borr

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3 Picnic in the grounds of Villa Taranto

HOTEL BELVEDERE Via di Mezzo – 28838 Stresa ☎ +39 0323 32292 www.belvedere-isolapescatori.it One of the most romantic hotels in Italy, with beautifully simple décor. Waking up to views across the lake, especially early in the morning before the day-visitors arrive, adds to its aura. The Isola Pescatori is an intimate place to stay, with regular water taxis and ferries across the lake.

The lush botanical gardens of Villa Taranto are a perfect picnic spot

LA PALMA Corso Umberto I, 33 – 28838 Stresa ☎ +39 0323 32401 www.hlapalma.it A stunning hotel that’s positioned so perfectly that it’s easy to get everywhere, whether by car, water-taxi, ferry, bicycle or rental boat. However, with the panoramic bar, spa and swimming pool you probably won’t want to go anywhere.

www.villataranto.it

4 Ride the Lake Maggiore Express Image © Distretto Turistico dei Laghi

OPERATING FROM EASTER through to September, the Lake Maggiore Express is a combination of lake cruise and express rail tour, journeying from Italy to Switzerland and back, over one day, or at gentler pace over two, depending on your holiday plans. The journey is a comfortable, scenic tour. The boat leaves from any ferry point on Lake Maggiore. For example, from the Stresa ferry landing stage the lake cruise is a journey of 61km, criss-crossing the lake, stopping at Baveno and Pallanza before crossing to Laveno. The medieval town of Cannobio is the last stop before sailing into Switzerland. Another stop at Brissago leads on to Ascona, chosen by authors and artists as a perfect place to stay, then on to Locarno to disembark. The return journey ends at Stresa’s railway station. www.lagomaggioreexpress.eu Combine a lake cruise with a return train from Locarno, Switzerland

5 Explore Mount Mottarone Currently closed, the cable car ride from Stresa to the Alpyland toboggan run at the summit of Mount Mottarone

Image by Rosalind Ormiston

AT A HEIGHT OF 1,491m, Mount Mottarone, above Stresa, is the most wonderful spot for a 360-degree panoramic view of Lake Maggiore and surrounding lakes. The cable car from Stresa is a 20-minute ride up the mountain. At the time of publication the service is closed. At the first stop there is the world-famous Giardini Alpini, well worth a visit for green-fingered plant enthusiasts. From the upper cable car terminus, there is a café for refreshments and a ski chairlift for the last few hundred yards to the top, or you can walk to the summit. Many mountain-bikers take their bikes in the cable cars to cycle from the top down to the lake. At Mottarone’s majestic peak there is Alpyland Alpine Coaster offering an exhilarating ride on a 1.2km of track in individual bobsleighs down the mountain via a circular route back to the top. Suitable for all ages. www.alpyland.com

REGINA PALACE Corso Umberto I, 29 – 28838 Stresa ☎ +39 0323 936936 www.reginapalace.it This majestic historic hotel with manicured lake side gardens offers fabulously ornate rooms as well as an incredible spa, pool and fitness facilities. There are two restaurants, a bar and dancing six nights a week.

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TAKE A PICNIC TO VILLA TARANTO, Pallanza, to relax in the internationally famous botanical gardens, created over 60 years ago by Scotsman Neil McEacharn, a retired captain. On the slopes of Punta Della Castagnolla, a promontory on the lake, McEacharn bought a 40-acre plot of land that he had seen advertised in The Times newspaper. Many childhood holidays spent in Italy led him to make this place on the northern shore of Lake Maggiore his home. A keen botanist and landscape gardener, he set about planting the extraordinarily beautiful gardens that surround the villa today with more than 20,000 different species. On his death in 1952, McEacharn left his property to the Italian State. The garden is open to the public from March to November for us to enjoy the herbarium, Fontana dei Putti and Dahlia garden, which alone has more than 350 varieties.

WHERE TO STAY

HOTEL CANNERO Piazza Umberto I, 2 – 28821 Cannero Riviera ☎ +39 0323 788046 www.hotelcannero.com Positioned in a quiet and relaxing part of the lake, with a close ferry stop, this hotel offers elegant interiors with standard rooms and suites with breathtaking views across Maggiore. There are also apartments that allow use of the facilities, such as the pool. HOTEL FLORA Via Sempione Nord, 30 – 28838 Stresa ☎ +39 0323 30524 www.hotelflorastresa.com This comfortable family-run hotel with pool has wonderful views onto the lake and is close to Cantiere Nautico Taroni (www. cantierenauticotaroni.com) for boat hire, plus water taxis for the Borromean islands, the cable car to Mottarone, and ferries to lake side destinations. HOTEL CASA DEL NEVE Loc. Mottarone – 28838 Stresa ☎ +39 0323 923516 www.casadellaneve.it Open all year round, with breathtaking views on top of Mount Mottarone, this is the perfect place to stay if you are skiing, as the hotel is close to routes in winter, or walking in warmer months.

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6 Get sporty with cycling, golf and sailing around the lake

FOR THOSE WANTING TO STAY FIT and enjoy the views, cycling offers several beautiful routes around the lake, with rewarding stops such as the stunning Hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso. This 12th-century piece of tranquility can be found teetering on the edge of a sheer cliff overlooking the Borromeo Gulf. (To hire bikes or e-bikes go to www.mottarone.it/bike-rent). For golfers, there are a number of breathtaking courses, including the Golf Des Iles Borromées, teeming with flora and fauna and offering incredible views of the Swiss Alps. When you get as far as the last hole, you’ll be able to see Milan, Lake Maggiore and also the lakes of Varese, Monate and Comabbio. If sailing is what you love then you’re in great company as it’s a local lifestyle and every year the shores are filled with the celebration of the annual Verbania Vela Festival in June, with races, concerts and delicious food and wine.

7 Explore Angera Fortress THE ROCCA DI ANGERA, belonging to the Borromeo family, is a superbly preserved fortified medieval building built between the 12th and 14th centuries, situated on an outcrop of limestone above Lake Maggiore, at the southern end. The castle was one of a pair with Arona Castle on the opposite bank, a Lombardian defence system to deter invasion by Swiss troops and other adversaries. The fortress also controlled the shipping and flow of traffic on the lake for trade. It offers commanding views across the lake and inside hosts stunning 12th-century frescoes in the Sala della Giustizia, depicting the life of archbishop Ottone Visconti. The fortress also boasts a collection of tapestries from all over the world, and the renowned museum of toys and dolls, which was founded in the late 1980s and showcases more than 1,000 dolls dating back to the 18th century – a true collector’s delight. www.isoleborromee.it/angera.html Angera Fortress stands on a rocky outcrop overlooking the lake

Go by ferry, bike or car to visit the Hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso

8 Visit specialist museums

Around Lake Maggiore ar e specialist museums, from vintage cars to ‘mira cle water’

THE LAKE IS AWASH with fascinating and quirky museums giving a insight to the history and culture of each area surrounding it. At the southern end is the slightly surreal but fascinating Gottard Park, a vehicle enthusiast’s dream with planes, motorbikes, cars and boats (www.museogottardpark.it). There are also museums dedicated to ceramics, pink granite, hats, pipes, umbrellas and parasols, and a new museum dedicated to perfume. La Casa del Profumo (santamariamaggiore.info/) in Santa Maria Maggiore, celebrates the invention of Eau de Cologne. Learn more about the invention by local Giovanni Paolo Farina, who emigrated to Germany as a child and subsequently created what was then known as Aqua Mirabilis, or ‘Miracle Water’. Its medicinal properties were certified by the University of Cologne in the early 1700s and its scent has been enjoyed by many thousands of wearers since.

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9 See the UNESCO sites Sacro Monte of the Holy Trinity at Ghiffa is worth exploring

The National Park of Val Grande is a haven, perfect for walking or cycling days out

HOTEL RISTORANTE BELVEDERE Via di Mezzo – 28838 Stresa ☎ +39 0323 32292 www.belvedere-isolapescatori.it Open mid-March until November, the hotel on Isola Pescatori also has a wonderful restaurant. Book in advance and a free launch will be sent to the Stresa quayside to collect you and take you back. THE SKY BAR Corso Umberto I, 33 – 28838 Stresa ☎ +39 0323 32401 On the top floor of Hotel La Palma you’ll find delicious local, fresh ingredients. The views alone are worth the visit and you can stay a while with a dip in the open-air pool, or cocktails at the bar. RISTORANTE PIEMONTESE Via Giuseppe Mazzini, 25 – 28838 Stresa ☎ +39 0323 30235 www.ristorantepiemontese.com Set in the heart of historic Stresa, this intimate restaurant with internal garden serves fabulous local courses, including pear and gorgonzola, simple fresh perch with butter and sage, plus dishes with black truffles, and has a spectacular wine list.

10 Try local markets, festivals and cookery courses FOR FASHION AND FOOD LOVERS ALIKE there’s a bustling market every day of the week. The most famous is Luino, every Wednesday and established since the mid-1500s. It offers an abundance of clothing, homeware, sweets, biscuits, salami, fruit and vegetables. Other markets to note (they normally start at around 8am and finish at 1pm) are Cannobio, and VerbaniaIntra, with hundreds of stalls. For those interested in sagre (food festivals), then mid-summer is the best time of year in Italy. Lake Maggiore hosts the Sagra del Pesce a Castelveccana in early August with an abundance of all types of fish to eat. For those wanting to roll up their sleeves, there are several cooking schools around the lake from chefs’ large kitchens in villas to more homely surroundings where you can learn from skilled locals. LI

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UNTOUCHED, PROTECTED TREASURES surrounding Lake Maggiore lie in wait, including the Sacro Monte of the Holy Trinity at Ghiffa, which stands at the foot of Mount Carriage. Made up of a church and three chapels, this serene piece of architecture stands in hundreds of hectares of woodland with footpaths leading to glorious walks. For the last six years, the National Park of Val Grande has become part of UNESCO’s World Network of Geoparks. There are beautiful reserves to be discovered, including the Lagoni di Mercurago springs, which are wonderful to explore, whether you’re walking or biking. You’ll toce come across many to and Fodo The Dormolet uatic birds plant and bird aq t ac tr at reed beds ots swans and co species as well as an like grebes, archeological route leading to necropolises dating back to the 6th century BC. Other places to explore include the Dormoletto and Fodotoce reed beds, which extend for kilometres and act as essential water filters for fish and nesting places for birds such as grebes, swans and coots.

WHERE TO EAT

RISTORANTE MILANO Corso Zanitello, 2 – 28922 Verbania ☎ +39 0323 556816 www.ristorantemilanolagomaggiore.com With rich, red interior walls, gilt-framed paintings and crisp white tablecloths, this elegant restaurant sits on the edge of the lake with a pretty terrace and fabulous view and offers a vast array of Piemontese specialities such as veal with tuna sauce.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rosalind Ormiston is an art and architectural historian and arts and travel writer with books published on Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and the Dutch Golden Age.

INFORMATION

Cannobio mar ket is a must-visit du ring a stay on Lake Mag giore

The busy town of Luino holds a market every Wednesday

➤ Rosalind travelled as a guest of Tui Travel by EasyJet from Gatwick to Milan, with a transfer to Lake Maggiore. She stayed at 3-star Hotel della Torre, located on the edge of Stresa, a 15-minute walk to town and a few hundred metres from the lake shore, the ferry landing stage, and the Mottarone cable car. From here it is easy to get a water taxi to the Borromean islands. The Hotel della Torre is one of several hotels on Lake Maggiore available through Tui Travel www.tui. co.uk/holidays/all-inclusive

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Photography by Heather Crombie unless otherwise stated

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Lombardy Gourmet Guide

Slow Food in

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Lombardy Gourmet Guide

Lombardy

To the northeast of Brescia, in the hinterland of the lakes of Garda, Iseo and Idro, there is a celebration of Slow Food gastronomy. Heather Crombie takes a tour…

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Lombardy Gourmet Guide

WHAT TO SEE AND DO COOKERY CLASS 25015 Desenzano del Garda ☎ +39 30 991 0381 www.selvacapuzza.com For no-nonsense tuition that will have you crafting delicious Italian meals, take the Cucina di Casa lessons at Podere Selva Capuzza. Lessons are hands-on, ingredients are fresh and local, and your mentors are incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. Wines from their own 50-acre estate can also be enjoyed. Remember your experience with a booklet of recipes, as well as a personalised apron to take away with you. ITALIA IN ROSA Moniga del Garda Castle, Via Don Nalini, 25080 Moniga del Garda ☎ +39 37 0110 8423 www.italiainrosa.it The 2021 Italia in Rosa has been cancelled due to Covid restrictions. When the event takes place, there are typically around 100 rosé wines from across Italy for tasting. The castle dates to the 10th century and is one of the best-preserved fortifications in the area. Book for tickets. FONDAZIONE UGO DA COMO Via Rocca, 2 – 25017 Lonato ☎ +39 30 913 0060 [email protected] www.fondazioneugodacomo.it The unassuming museum of Casa del Podestà is famous for its library. There are more than 52,000 books here, including some of the very first to be printed. Ugo da Como began restoration work on the building in the 18th century. Casa del Podestà is open all year round, from 10:00 to 12:00 and from 14.30 to 18.30. Tickets available with reductions available for those under 12 or over 65.

T

hink of Brescia and the chances are you will picture the lake resorts of Iseo, Idra and Garda. Holidaymakers the world over are drawn to the views, the climate, the lazy lakeside coffees of this corner of Lombardy. A series of lakes with gloriously flat, cycle-friendly paths around them and mountains rearing out of the horizon are the perfect holiday cocktail. But what the lakes, mountains and valleys also provide is an ideal climate for some very special food production, meaning that Brescia can also add ‘food lover’s paradise’ to its already long list of charms. Brescia’s culinary culture was celebrated officially as part of the European Region of Gastronomy in 2017, along with Bergamo, Cremona and Mantua. East Lombardy has been given this prestigious international award to

recognise its unique touristic offerings, with specific reference to gastronomy. It was a boost to all local producers, who certainly enjoyed sharing the celebrations with visitors. PLEASURE OF THE PRODUCE On a recent trip to Brescia I was struck by the passion and hospitality shown by all the artisan producers I encountered. They are not simply running tourist-friendly businesses; they have dedicated their lives to sharing the sheer pleasure of their produce – whether it be of the local Franciacorta wines, olive oil, or a beautifully crafted plate designed to invigorate the senses. While I was visiting I went along to the annual Slow Food celebration, Brescia con Gusto, which is a culinary walking tour of the city. The sense of joy and celebration was tangible and I can think of few better ways

I was struck by the passion and hospitality

shown by all the artisan producers I encountered

FONDAZIONE FRANCESO SOLDANO www.fondazionesoldano.com If you are in Brescia between May and July, look at the programme for the Note di Franciacorta festival, a series of concerts celebrating music and wine.

Podestà Library

A cookery lesson with Cucina di Casa

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WHERE TO STAY

WEST GARDA HOTEL Via Prais, 32 – 25080 Padenghe sul Garda ☎ +39 30 990 7161 www.westgardahotel.com A hacienda-style hotel, within walking distance of Padenghe beach and harbour, with rooms arranged around a central courtyard. Two swimming pools in attractive gardens surrounded by mature trees. Extensive buffet breakfast and entertainment in the bar on summer weekend evenings. Popular with Italian families.

Enjoying primi piatti at Podere Selva Capuzza

DON’T MISS ➤ A BOAT TRIP Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy and Brescia is just one of the three provinces it spans. Boat trips from Brescia tend to encompass beautiful Desenzano, Sirmione and surrounds, but there are many places to see and visit. Sirmione Boats offer tours of Lake Garda with prices starting at €10 per person. www. sirmioneboats.it ☎ +39 33 8808 2029

to spend an evening. You simply buy one of several colour-coded cards and follow a route through the streets of Brescia sampling a different course at every stop. Each course is accompanied by a glass of something delicious, perfectly paired with the dish. It is a superb opportunity to see the city sights and sample dishes from the local restaurants, accompanied by live music performances along the way. CLASSIC ITALIAN RECIPES After sampling what the area’s restaurants had to offer I thought I might try my hand at some classic Italian recipes. The Cucina di Casa lessons at Podere Selva Capuzza were a real treat – not least because we all sat down to dine together when the hard work was done. Under the expert tuition of Marina and Nike I got to grips with fresh pasta, malfatti (or gnocchi di pane), classic sauces and tiramisù. Even as a group of novices, we managed

Franciacorta barrels keeping cool in the cellar

to create something truly delicious from scratch. Marina Bompieri knows a thing or two about cooking, and is very glad to share her knowledge with visitors. Using fresh, local ingredients, our mentors gave us practical instruction and instilled us with confidence that recreating the dishes at home would be entirely possible. Perhaps it is time to dust off that pasta machine! When I asked Marina where she likes to eat out she told me, “I will only go to a restaurant if it is better than my home.” She likes to know where ingredients have come from and to talk to the chef. She is still spoilt for choice in a region of superb eateries. For me, taking these cookery classes gave me the best possible souvenir: to return home with happy memories and delicious recipes to try at home – whilst wearing the apron embroidered with my name, which all ‘apprentice chefs’ are given at the class.

CASA DEL TEMPO RITROVATO Via Firenze, 10 – 25088 Toscolano Maderno ☎ +39 347 87 84 699 [email protected] wwww.maripaqueendom.com Maria Paola Gabusi is an excellent host and an expert small-scale olive oil producer. She is passionate about local produce and will gladly arrange guided tasting sessions. A delicious home-made vegetarian breakfast is included in the B&B.

Lombardy Gourmet Guide

Typical products from the region

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Nordic walking through the Manestrini vineyards

RESIDENCE SAN ROCCO Via P. Avanzi, 11 – 25080 Soiano del Lago ☎ +39 0365 198 0499 [email protected] www.residence-garda.com This hotel is attached to olive oil producers Manestrini and enjoys a vista of olive groves stretching towards Lake Garda. As well as rooms there are small apartments available. The on-site restaurant serves traditional food at reasonable prices.

HOTEL VITTORIA Via X Giornate, 20 – 25121 Brescia ☎ +39 3076 87200 www.hotelvittoria.com Elegant Art Nouveau style next to the Duomo and a short hop from Vittorio Metro Station. The Murano glass chandeliers will take you back to a bygone age. The hotel also offers free parking, well-situated about 200 metres from the Teatro Grande and around a five-minute walk from the Santa Giulia Museum.

The presence of the lakes is everywhere

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The area around the Brescia lakes is also

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Lombardy Gourmet Guide

WHERE TO EAT IL RIVALE L’OSTERIA DI PALAZZO Viale G. Marconi, 93 25080 Padenghe sul Garda ☎ +39 030 20 777 84 www.ilrivale.it An elegant restaurant by the lake, with plenty of strolling room to enjoy blissful sunsets. This popular spot in Padenghe has a varied menu which includes lake fish, local meats and vegetarian choices too. The Torta di Rosa is a delightful way to round off a meal at Il Rivale, where you can linger into the evening and enjoy the relaxing candlelit ambience. A meal for two costs around €100, without wine.

famous for the production of olive oil

€● €● € ●

ANTICA CASCINA SAN ZAGO Via dei Colli, 13 – 25087 Salò ☎ +39 0365 42754 [email protected] www.anticacascinasanzago.it The setting of this restaurant is a convent dating to the 1600s, presided over by Chef Carlo Bresciani. Bresciani creates genuinely stunning dishes; he is a master of traditional cuisine and innovative variations. He is particularly passionate about Japanese cooking, so sushi fans will be very well catered for. His wife and son work alongside him in this beautiful location, to bring diners something very special indeed. Closed on Monday evenings and all day Tuesday. A meal for two will cost around €100, not including wine.

Homemade breads at Il Rivale restaurant

€● €● € ●

LA ROCCA CONTESA (LONATO) Via Ugo Da Como, 8 – 25017 Lonato ☎ +39 30 991 3780 [email protected] www.laroccacontesa.it For amazing pizza in beautiful surroundings. Dinner at La Rocca Contesa provides lots of outdoor seating, fresh and seasonal ingredients, often with a sidehelping of live jazz music. A meal for two will cost around €60, not including wine. €● € ●

CARTAPAGLIA PIZZA & GIN Lungolago Cesare Battisti, 25015 Desenzano del Garda ☎ +39 030 836 2458 www.pizzeriacartapaglia.it Super lakeside location, this pizzeria serves creative pizzas made with delicious fresh ingredients – plus they offer gin and local craft beer pairings! €● € ●

➤ KEY TO RESTAURANT PRICES (full meal per person, not including wine) € Up to €25 ● €● € €26-€50 ● €● €● € More than €50 ●

DON’T MISS AN OLIVE OIL TASTING The process and history behind olive oil production is fascinating and it is worth spending a little time with those in the know in order to get a full appreciation of what is involved. Visit Maria Paola at Casa Tempo Ritrovato, ☎ +39 34 7878 4699 www.oliveitaly .it or book a tour and tasting at Agricola Manestrini ☎ +39 03 6550 2231 www. manestrini.it

Of course, the best accompaniment to a fine plate of food is a fine glass of wine. Franciacorta is a very special metodo classico sparkling wine produced in the Brescia region, and there are plenty of vineyards and cantinas to visit. I went to Il Mosnel in

organically means respecting nature in all its various forms – not just the plants, but the animals too,” she insists. In 1995 Franciacorta became the first classic method wine to achieve DOCG status, and it has been a rising star in the global wine market ever since.

Producing organically means respecting nature – not just the plants but the animals too Camignone, which celebrated its 180th birthday this year. The historic villa is surrounded by carefully tended vines and 16th-century cellars, all under the watchful care of the Barboglio family. The grapes across their 39 hectares of strictly organic vines take 60 people 10 days to harvest, with everything done by hand. Lucia Barzanò, one of the current directors, is a passionate proponent of the organic method. “Producing

Most cantinas offer cellar tours and tastings, usually by appointment. If you are planning a special occasion then your visit to Brescia offers the ideal opportunity to find the perfect vintage and have it shipped home. Chiaretto (the name translates as ‘little light one’) is another classic Garda wine which, as you might expect, is a light and clear rosé. This is a perfect choice to enjoy with a plate of lake fish on a summer’s evening.

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Lombardy Gourmet Guide

Stunning street food at Brescia con Gusto

The sunny streets of Desenzano

Western Lake Garda from Padenghe harbour

Chiaretto is also known as ‘the wine of one night’ as it is during the critical first night of the first pressing that the oenologist will repeatedly check the colour development. The result is a delightful fresh and delicate wine that should be drunk young. It was a Chiaretto that took the top prize at this year’s Italia in Rosa event (the Valtenesi Chiaretto Doc 2015 Cantine Avanzi Manerba) against competition from all over Italy. OLIVE OIL PRODUCTION The area around the Brescia lakes is also famous for the production of olive oil. Part of the reason for this is that the climate provides ideal growing conditions along with protection from olive parasites, which need warmer temperatures to thrive. There can be as much pleasure in an olive oil tasting as there is in a wine tasting. There is such a variety of depth and flavour in the various oils.

I arrived at Manestrini on a beautiful afternoon, to be greeted by the family’s friendly boxer dog. Manestrini have around 2,000 olive trees on their estate, including Casaliva, Leccino and Frantoio, which shimmer silver in the sunshine. Each tree can produce between one and five litres of oil, with modern production methods ensuring the best yield. That’s not to say that the estate is not closely linked with traditional ways. Near the entrance to the estate there is part of a 13th-century olive press, a great slab of stone with grooves for collecting the oil. Garda olive oil is one of the precious products worthy of DOC protection and, in the course of the tasting session, I could detect huge differences in the taste and mouthfeel of different oils. The lemoninfused oil was a delicious variation and I couldn’t resist bringing a bottle of it home for a preserved taste of Italian sunshine.

DON’T MISS

Enjoying the view at the Ugo da Como museum in Lonato

Artisanal salumi from the region

BRESCIA CON GUSTO Slow Food Brescia was founded in 1989 as part of the movement to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures. Brescia con Gusto celebrates this with sustainable production, local ingredients and traditional methods of cooking. A ‘route’ around town costs €45 with map, guide, bag with wine satchel, wine glass, plate and cutlery. www.slow foodbs.it

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A floral treat at Trattoria Visconti, with Brescia con Gusto

Photograph by Amanda Robinson

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Lombardy Gourmet Guide

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

Mille Miglia cars

Towards the mountainous areas cheese making predominates. Grana Padano is an essential ingredient in the dishes on many local menus, and the Bagòss of Bagolino is a superb table cheese produced near Lake Idro – intensely yellow with locally grown saffron. Add to this the soft Formagella di Tremosine of the upper Garda area and the Fatulì goats’ cheese made from the milk of Bionda dell’Adamello goats, together with hundreds of other varieties, and you begin to build a picture of a very special province for cheese production. Be sure to try the harder cheeses with mostarda, a variety of candied fruit in spiced syrup. This can be made from various fruits, and the jars of mostarda you may see in specialist shops or on market stalls are mouthwatering jewel boxes of succulent flavour. You can hardly leave Brescia without sampling some of the lake fish, whether you have caught it yourself or left it to the professionals. Fish has been part of the basic diet here for centuries, so locals really know what they are doing when they cook a fish dish. If you visit Clusane d’Iseo, every single restaurant will offer the traditional baked tench, from a recipe dating to 19th century. On Monte Isola itself (the island in the centre of lake Iseo) many of the traditional restaurants are still managed by fisherman. If you’d rather make the catch of the day yourself, you can purchase a tourist fishing

permit on Lake Idro for just a couple of euros. There are no large motorboats allowed on this smaller alpine lake, so it’s the perfect place for a relaxing time by the water. Lake Garda is home to a fish not found anywhere else in the world – the carpione, which lives in the deepest waters of the lake. It is, however, endangered and protected. More commonly, expect to find sardine, carp, eel and three species of trout. SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE Brescia truly is a province with something for everyone. From the Mille Miglia museum (and indeed the famous race itself) for motoring fanatics, to the historical archaeological park in Brescia’s old town and Santa Giulia Museum to satisfy seekers of culture. From skiing, hiking and cycling trails to the wine routes through Brescia which provide ready-made itineraries for enjoying the best of the region. When you need to refuel there will always be some local delicacy nearby, whether at the farmers’ market of Desenzano, a restaurant in Brescia serving the classic spit roast spiedo bresciano with polenta, or a humble plate of fish served beside one of the lakes. For me, relaxing with a coffee in a Brescian café, enjoying a glass of wine by the waterside or having a picnic in a vineyard are all ingredients for a happy holiday. One thing you can count on when visiting Brescia and its surrounds – you will not go home hungry. LI

A plate with a view over the rooftops of Brescia

GETTING THERE ➤ BY PLANE Brescia is well-served for airports, with many major centres within easy reach. Brescia itself has the smaller Montichiari airport (15km from the centre), but you are more likely to find UK flights into Verona Villafranca Valerio Catullo (50km), Bergamo Orio al Serio (80km), Milan Linate and Milan Malpensa (100km) and Venice Marco Polo (100km). ➤ BY TRAIN Take the Brennero-Modena line or the Milan-Venice line. See www.trenitalia.it for timetable details.

Sublime vegetarian flavours

➤ BY ROAD From Turin or Milan: take the A4 highway and the Brescia Centro exit. (From Turin you could also take the alternative highway A21 route). From Venice or Verona: take the A4 highway in the direction of Milan and the Brescia Centro exit. From Bologna, Florence or Rome: take the A1 to Modena then the A22 to Verona and the A4 to Brescia Centro. From Genoa or Liguria: take the A7 to Tortona then highway A21 to Brescia Centro.

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Bolsena

Life on the lake

Photos © Fleur Kinson & Paul Harcourt Davies (www.paulharcourtdavies.com)

Italy’s famous northern lakes aren’t the country’s only glittering freshwater. Fleur Kinson explores Bolsena in Lazio, an unspoilt volcanic paradise, overflowing with history

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erbal perfume floats up from the ground, released from scrubby leaves by my every footfall. A warm breeze rattles the bay leaves dangling overhead, framing views of a grand, dilapidated chapel. To my left, egrets and cormorants wheel round a pale gold cliff that plunges into brilliant blue water. I’m strolling around what’s been described as the most beautiful island on any lake in the world: Isola Bisentina, on Lake Bolsena. It’s the ‘plug’ of a prehistoric volcano – a hardened column of molten rock left standing after a final eruption, lingering for millennia after every other bit of the volcano has vanished. Gazing across the glittering water to the gentle green slopes beyond it, it’s hard to imagine the prehistoric violence of this place. A million years ago, this scene was a maze of volcanic cones constantly spurting lava. They chucked out so much stuff they emptied the ground beneath them, creating a vast underground hollow that collapsed with a deafening whump to form a gigantic crater. Natural springs slowly filled that crater to make Lake Bolsena – the cleanest lake in Europe (you can drink from it). For all its present-day serenity, reminders of the lake’s explosive past are everywhere – in the million tiny filaments of black volcanic glass that make the beaches, and in the stupendous fertility of the surrounding hills, teeming with fruit and flowers. ➤ LAKES & ISLANDS 2021 31

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Bolsena

WHERE TO STAY LE NAIADI PARK HOTEL Viale Cadorna 95, Bolsena ☎ +39 0761 799 017 / 796 315 www.hotelbolsena.it This modern, family-run hotel enjoys a prime position beside Bolsena’s main beach. It’s a quiet, leafy location, and the hotel has a relaxed, al fresco atmosphere. Rooms are smart and cheery, and some have balconies. There are two pools, and a large, elegant dining room. CONVENT OF SANTA MARIA DEL GIGLIO Via Madonna del Giglio 49, Bolsena ☎ +39 0761 799 066 www.conventobolsena.org By renting out very simple rooms at rockbottom prices, this 17th-century convent pays for the upkeep of its cloistered, frescoed premises. Set amid vineyards and olive groves on a hillside with lake views, Bolsena and its beaches are a pleasant walk away. Guests can pay a small supplement to use the kitchen and dining room. ARLENA AGRITURISMO Via Cassia, eastern lakeside ☎ +39 391 7512 328 www.arlena.it This old stone farmhouse with beautifully converted outbuildings sits in 10 hectares of fruit orchards about 4km south of Bolsena. Accommodation is in 8 apartments, each with 1, 2 or 3 bedrooms. There’s a large restaurant with a vaulted ceiling, and a 150m path leads through kiwi groves to a private beach. CASA REMINISCENZA Via Cassia, Località Valleponte SNC ☎ +39 334 312 2943 www.casaremi.com Enjoying magnificent views over the lake, this renovated farmhouse sits in vineyards, olive groves and orchards from which the kindly Norwegian owners make wine, oil and other produce for their guests. Inside, ten en-suite rooms (each with balcony or patio) are decorated in a romantic Italian style, enlivened with nice modern touches. LIDO CAMPING VILLAGE Via Cassia, eastern lakeside ☎ +39 0761 799 258 www.bolsenacamping.it This large, orderly campsite offers every facility on a private stretch of beach just south of Bolsena. A lakeside footpath takes you into town in 15 minutes. There’s a pool, bar, restaurant, supermarket, disco, cinema, games room and tennis courts.

Piazzale Dante Algeheri

Old friends enjoy the leisurely pace of life

The whole town is on the streets, kneeling on the cobbles sketching

Detail on Chiesa di Santa Cristina

DON’T MISS

INFIORATA This festival held annually in early summer is a real spectacle. The amount of work that goes into the elaborate pictures made from flower petals is astonishing and the entire town comes together to celebrate a local miracle of 1263.

➤ INCOMERS OLD AND NEW Set in an unspoilt, gently undulating stretch of countryside at the meeting point of Lazio, Tuscany and Umbria, it’s no surprise that Lake Bolsena has quietly bloomed in popularity over the last couple of decades. Situated just 70 miles from Rome, and offering considerably better swimming than the coast near the capital, the lake has long been a summer bolthole for hot and bothered Romans. But increasing numbers of northern Europeans come here now too – drawn by the tranquility, the rural beauty, and by the overwhelming friendliness of Bolsena’s lovely lakeside towns.

Only three settlements occupy Lake Bolsena’s 30-mile shoreline, the biggest and arguably the loveliest being Bolsena itself. It’s a town of palpable contentment – wellmaintained, litterless, crime-free. For the benefit of just 4,000 inhabitants, a fairytale castle rises above a tangle of medieval lanes, proud Renaissance houses gaze across friendly squares, and tree-lined boulevards lead down to clean beaches. For visitors, a handful of low-rise hotels dot the waterside, the long spaces between them enlivened by flowerbeds, white balustrades and outdoor cafés. Like everywhere else in this area, the Etruscans got here first. They christened their little bit of paradise ‘Velzna’, which Roman mouths mangled into ‘Volsinii’ and subsequent centuries into ‘Bolsena’. 2,500-year-old Etruscan tombs pepper the hills above Bolsena, but Roman remains are more abundant. The Romans drove their main highway running north to the Alps, the Via Cassia, straight through little

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Bolsena – and made a holiday resort of the place even then.

Bolsena’s spring flowers

Bolsena

FULL FLOWERING Bolsena’s position on the old Roman Via Cassia, plus its home-grown martyr St Cristina, ensured that many centuries of Rome-bound pilgrims made a stopover here, swelling the town and its importance. A local miracle boosted things considerably in 1263, and still provides the excuse for Bolsena’s most colourful festival – Infiorata, held every summer. The medieval streets are lined with a million flower petals fashioned into elaborate pictures and patterns, then a lively procession transports sacred relics over the pretty carpet and transforms it to damp mush. It’s wonderful to watch. From early morning the whole town is on the streets, kneeling on the cobbles sketching outlines, hefting boxes of petals separated into piles of colour, and patiently putting the soft blobs in place. By mid-afternoon, bright swathes of pictures are already visible around the feet of the happy labourers – huge, ambitious portraits of Christ, biblical scenes, cherubs, intricate ➤

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SECRETS IN STONE I take a stroll around an excavated section of Roman ‘Volsinii’ in a pretty meadow lying just above the medieval part of town. There’s a forum, a ruined basilica and two private houses adorned with frescoes and mosaics. It’s a tranquil, almost bucolic archaeological site, ringed by olive groves framing views of the electric blue lake. Fallen columns lie watched over by the timeless black silhouettes of cypress trees, and capitals litter the scrub grass. I crouch to trace my fingers over a tiny palm branch carved into one of the forum’s paving stones. An early Christian would have carved this esoteric graffito, subversively signalling his or her new-fangled religion to fellow secret converts. Leaving the excavations, I wander further up the hillside and crash around in farmers’ fields, following some of the giant-cobblestoned Roman roads that rattle off into the undergrowth in perfectly straight lines. These are the long-forgotten streets of the ancient city, arranged in a grid and all oriented north-south

venue, marvelling at its antiquity and at the impossibly archaic lives of those who used it.

DON’T MISS

SWIMMING Lazio’s lakes are cleaner and less crowded than its coastline, and the stunning surrounding scenery makes for an ideal location for a refreshing summer dip. It’s the perfect way to cool off.

Pomegranate tree on Bisentina Island

outlines, hefting boxes of petals and patiently putting the soft blobs in place… or east-west. Lying in their midst, unsignposted, are the remains of a small amphitheatre – built around the same time as the Colosseum in Rome. Most visitors to Bolsena never learn of its existence, and many locals couldn’t tell you how to find it. But I do find it. Tall lumps of ancient concrete and diamond-pattern brickwork sitting undisturbed on the edge of a field. The rest is completely concealed beneath trees, surrounding a flat oval arena now covered in long grasses. Thus the bowl shape of the amphitheatre is perfectly retained, but rendered in vegetation. A peek under the skirt of branches reveals the dirt-submerged slope of seating, with bits of stone poking through the soil. Wild pink cyclamen are growing quietly in the shade, precisely where spectators once sat. I imagine the relaxed, confident people of Volsinii lapping up some clownish spectacle or murderous contest in this place, none of them thinking that 2,000 years later someone would be wandering over the half-buried ruins of the

Infiorata petal pictures are incredibly ornate

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Bolsena

WHAT TO SEE AND DO BASILICA OF SANTA CRISTINA Built slowly over several centuries, Bolsena’s main church has a very pretty frontage of pale stone decorated with delicate carvings. Inside, you can descend into eerie 3rd-century Roman catacombs. Hundreds of horizontal niches for bodies, stacked vertically along branching corridors, have been carved underground into soft volcanic rock. Some of the lower tombs remain sealed with mortar, traces of frescoed portraits and inscriptions still poignantly visible upon them. MEDIEVAL BOLSENA By day or at night, Bolsena’s medieval streets make an intensely atmospheric place to wander. The narrow cobbled lanes wind up steps and under archways, emerging at the 13th-century castle which crowns the town. Tiny shops, private homes, cafés and artists’ studios add colour and interest en route. Make sure you climb up the little Via delle Piaggie – a long, secret-seeming passageway which runs straight through a strange chapel and includes Etruscan and Roman features. ISOLA BISENTINA The lake’s largest island has long provided a peaceful escape – for the Etruscans fleeing the Romans, for locals hiding from Saracen invaders in the Dark Ages, for medieval monks seeking retreat from the material world, and for Renaissance popes seeking relief from the heat and politics of Rome. It’s an exquisite, garden-ofEden-like place, teeming with unusual wildlife. Boat trips with guided tours run regularly in the summer. VOLSINII SCAVI The excavations of Roman-era Bolsena lie in a field a short distance from the castle. It’s a quiet, beautiful place to wander – olive trees ring its periphery and there’s no excess of archaeological bumf to slow down your wanderings with too much reading. A paved forum features palæoChristian graffiti, and two ancient villas sport frescoes, mosaics and marble floors. Fallen columns prettily litter the grass. CAPODIMONTE & MARTA These two neighbouring towns on the southwest side of the lake are well worth a day’s exploration – and you can walk along a deserted stretch of shoreline to get from one to the other. Both have a clutch of quiet, intriguing medieval lanes, plus a modest church or two. Capodimonte has by far the better beach – a long stretch of sand beside inviting water. But Marta has arguably the better choice of restaurants.

Bolsena rooftops line the hillsides

No-one takes charge, no-one quite knows what’s going on, and there’s a lot

Part of the Via Francigena, a medieval pilgrimage route that goes past the lake

➤ floral patterns painstakingly repeated over hundreds of yards. Out-of-town visitors start drifting in, gasping and angling cameras, squeezing sweatily past the locals who work in an escalating, ecstatic panic down on the ground. And then at 6pm, with the very last petal thrust into place, solemn chaos begins in Piazza Santa Cristina. Ragged-edged groups of worthies teem out of the church into a thick crowd and try to commence the

procession. No-one takes charge, no-one quite knows what’s going on, and there’s a lot of stopping and starting. A clutch of priests gaze round for guidance. Pious matrons with lace headgear inch hesitantly forward in short skirts and steep heels. A gigantic wooden cross sways worryingly above bright, embroidered banners. Then a marching band starts a fumbling tune, and everything lurches forward. For two hours the dense, messy parade shuffles round the town, churning flower petal pictures into abstracts underfoot. FREEWHEELING The day after the Infiorata, with Bolsena calm again and swept clean of petals, I climb on a bike and set out for Capodimonte 15 miles away on the opposite side of the lake. These days Roman Via Cassia is a modestly busy A-road flanked by pretty countryside. I turn off it after a couple of miles, and follow a series of tiny roads skirting the western shore. There are few homes here, just fields of crops

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WHERE TO EAT

Church on Bisentina Island

The procession of the Infiorata

of stopping and starting. A clutch of priests gaze round for guidance vividly green against the brown soil and cobalt blue water. Olive trees wave their friendly silver leaves as I pass, and I smile at the occasional picnicker or swimmer in the sun. Before the final whizz down to Capodimonte, I must climb a single massive hill. Now just a smooth green dome dotted with bales of hay, Monte Bisenzio was the site of an Etruscan town 25 centuries ago. They’ve pulled some wonderful Etruscan artefacts out of the ground here – a bronze cart, a pair of sandals, even a rudimentary set of dentures. Slogging up the hill on foot, pushing my bike, I spot a young deer sprinting into the woods. I think of all the wildlife that quietly lives around the lake, and remember the striped porcupine quills I’ve often picked up on the edges of fields. Freewheeling at giddy speed towards Capodimonte, Bisentina Island looms close to the shore and I snatch admiring glances at its single grand church poking through

Fertile hills

the trees. ‘The most beautiful island on any lake in the world’. Yes, but what of the lake itself? Surely among the world’s most beautiful? In Capodimonte, I sprawl on a bench with an ice cream, admiring the town’s colourful pile of medieval homes rising on a little promontory. Modest yachts ply in and out of a tidy marina, and I hear the shouts of children larking around on the sand. Far across the water, golden now in the late afternoon light, little Bolsena casts up its jaunty roofs and pinnacles. A fairytale town, on a magical lake. LI

DON’T MISS

BOAT HIRE A great way to get around the lake is to get on it. Boat hire is an excellent way to take in the sights around the lake. Visit www. lagodibolsena.org to find out more.

Bolsena

LA PINETA Viale A Diaz 48, Bolsena www.campingpinetabolsena.it Undoubtedly Bolsena’s finest restaurant – set on a quiet, leafy spot beside the water and surrounded by flowery patios. The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed, and the food is stupendous. Special taster menus allow you to sample all sorts of creative things deftly done with fish and seafood. Look out for a show-stopping linguine with lobster and cherry tomatoes. € ● € Price range ●

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LA SIRENETTA Viale Cadorna 10, Bolsena ☎ +39 328 292 3816 With a terrace looking west across the lake, La Sirenetta commands the best spot in Bolsena for watching the sunset. The food is simple but very good – and inexpensive enough to enjoy lots of courses. Try the seafood or asparagus risotto, roasted coregone (white fish), and don’t miss the cipolline balsamiche (sweet onions pickled in balsamic vinegar). € Price range ●

LA TAVERNETTA Corso Cavour 56, Bolsena www.latavernettabolsena.com A snug little den in the heart of Bolsena’s medieval lanes, with good food at low prices. The pizzas are a marvel – delicious, crisp, and painfully filling. Far bigger than the giant plates, they lollop comically over the edges and drape across the tablecloths. The place is always well-attended, so they’re obviously getting something right! € Price range ● LA CARROZZA D’ORO Lungolago 95, Montefiascone ☎ +39 0761 823 157 Far out of the centre of town, you’ll enjoy the dramatic route you have to take to reach this restaurant – steeply descending from Montefiascone through pretty farmland to a quiet stretch of lakeshore. In a cool tiled dining room, a friendly, English-speaking hostess and her staff serve amazing fish and seafood. € ● € Price range ● DA PANCINO Via Dante Alighieri 3, Montefiascone www.ristorantedapancino.com If you tire of the lake area’s excellent seafood, this cosy family-run restaurant is the place to come; it specialises in succulent meats roasted slowly over an open fire. Sited just a short distance from Montefiascone’s spectacular belvedere, you can stroll along and enjoy one of the best views of the lake before or after dinner. € ● € Price range ●

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Images © Provincia di Como Servizio Turismo unless otherwise stated

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Lake Como

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

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Night falls over Como, the city at the southern end of the lake that gives the water its name

Lake Como

Come to Como Ten reasons to love Lake Como

Ros Ormiston reveals ten of the best reasons to visit captivating Lake Como in Lombardy, whatever the season…

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D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

Lake Como

Lake Como was colonized by the Romans in the 2nd century BC and has been a haven for relaxation and vacationing ever since 9

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Map data © 2021 Google

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1 The Villa Melzi botanical gardens at Bellagio BELLAGIO IS PICTURE PERFECT with vibrant cafés and restaurants and busy shops, and is also home to the stunning Villa Melzi. This 19th-century summer residence was built for Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Duke of Lodi. The Neoclassical tastes of the Duke can be seen in the villa and its chapel, the work of the Swiss-born architect Giocondo Albertolli, a man so revered that Napoleon made him a Knight of the Iron Crown. The villa is a private residence, but the gardens, chapel and former orangery museum are open to visitors all summer. The beautiful and tranquil gardens, designed by Villa Melzi over looks the lake architect Luigi Canonica and botanist Luigi Villoresi, offer lush foliage, seasonal colours and winding paths surrounded by several types of cypresses, camellias, azaleas, gingko and dozens of other types of exotic trees and sculptures. The Villa Melzi gardens are perfect for escaping the bustle of Bellagio while taking advantage of the fabulous lakeside views. Open from March to October. www.giardinidivillamelzi.it

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Bellagio is the picturesque town at the heart of Lake Como

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It was called Lacus Larius by the Roman poet Virgil (70-19 BC) – and indeed is still sometimes referred to as Lario. It was mentioned in the letters of the Roman senator Pliny the Younger (61-113 AD), who is said to have owned a villa on the shores of the lake and whose uncle, the natural historian Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD), was certainly born in Como. Lake Como is Italy’s third largest lake, after Garda and Maggiore, and is the only one of those three to be entirely within the region of Lombardy. It is shaped like an inverted Y. At its northern end, on the eastern bank, is the town of Colico. At the southernmost point of the western spur is Como, while Lecco lies at the southernmost tip of the eastern spur. Bellagio, which attracts many visitors, is on the peninsula where the two spurs of the lake meet. A short drive up from Milan brings you to the lakeshore road where in the 19th century small fishing villages began to expand to become modern lakeside resorts. The ancient town of Como, the ‘capital’, is known for the traditional local industry of silk-weaving, with busy silk shops in the centre and factory outlets on its perimeter. From here you can board a ferry to many lakeside towns between here and Colico, nearly 30 miles away. Alternatively, you can follow the route by car.

2 Monzino’s museum at Villa del Balbianello Villa del Balbianello sits on a promontory at Lenno

nello lla del Balbia Loggia at Vi

THIS 18TH-CENTURY VILLA on the edge of the Tremezzo part of the lake at Lenno has beautiful interiors with woodpanelled rooms and wonderful mountain views. The estate was commissioned by the arts patron and scholar Cardinal Durini and was last owned by the first Italian to climb Mount Everest, the adventurer Count Guido Monzino. As well as beautifully decorated rooms there is also an incredible collection of souvenirs from Monzino’s adventures, including his dog sled from a trek to the North Pole in the 1970s as well as books and maps from no fewer than 20 of his other expeditions. Monzino left the property to the FAI (the Italian National Trust), which keeps the villa as he left it and tends to the wonderful garden with its immaculate trees and terraces filled with sculptures. As you’d expect with such a spectacular backdrop, the villa is a popular choice with film directors and has had roles in blockbusters such as Star Wars and Casino Royale. Open all year round. www.fondoambiente.it/luoghi/villa-del-balbianello

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3 Rooms full of romantic art at Villa Carlotta Villa Carlotta

4 Some of the world’s finest silk Before you indulge in the finest fabric in the world, take a trip to the Como Silk Museum, which gives an overview of the entire process from silkworms to fashion collections. The passion seeps through the displays of samples and instruments. Silk from Como is revered worldwide and stems from the introduction of mulberry trees around the lake by Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, in the 15th century; silkworms, farmers and craftsmen did the rest. There are many shops around Lake Como selling beautiful silk items from dressing gowns to ties; brands that are well known include Frey, Ratti, Mantero (the producer of Chanel scarves) and Seteria Bianchi. Brands like Ratti encourage programmes for young designers, so have a look through the markets and silk boutiques for new names producing vibrant designs that look fabulous and should last a very long time. www.museosetacomo.com See the silk shops of Como

5 Vintage steamer and water plane rides WHAT COULD BE MORE ROMANTIC Cruise the than sitting back and enjoying Lake Como lake on the from the decks of the Concordia vintage steam Concordia boat, built in 1926 with original ‘Liberty’ style décor and now recognised as the jewel of Como’s fleet of public ferries? You can cruise across the lake between Como and Varenna with several places en-route to hop on and off including Tavernola, Cernobbio, Moltrasio, Lenno and Bellagio. You can purchase tickets, including those with lunch, through www.navigazionelaghi.it Alternatively, if you fancy a bird’s eye view, then try a thrilling flight in an Idrovolante waterplane with Aero Club Como. Founded in 1913, this is the oldest seaplane operation and flight school in the world. Find hidden parts of the lake with the incredible panorama of all its scenery along with the final excitement of landing on water. If you get hooked, you can also sign up for a course in becoming a pilot yourself. www.aeroclubcomo.com

GRAND HOTEL CADENABBIA Via Regina, 1 22011 Cadenabbia di Griante www.grandhotelcadenabbia.it Originally a private villa, many of the rooms in this 4-star hotel have lake views; the rooftop restaurant serves an excellent menu, and the exquisite outdoor bar overlooks the lake – perfect for an aperitif. HOTEL VILLA FLORI Via Cernobbio, 12 – 22100 Como www.hotelvillaflori.it Renovated in 2011, this 4-star hotel occupies an historic villa built by the Marchese Raimondi in the 19th century. It is set right on the lakeside between Como and Cernobbio.

Lake Como

The Carlotta ga rdens

HOTEL EXCELSIOR SPLENDIDE Via Lungo Lago Manzoni, 28 22021 Bellagio www.hsplendide.com Three-star hotel set in a 1907 Art Nouveau building on the lakeshore promenade, close to the ferry stop and water taxi location. Fabulous views.

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LOCATED IN CADENABBIA, facing the peninsula of Bellagio, is this 18th-century majestic treasure trove of art and sculptures with beautiful pieces from renowned artists and sculptors such as Francesco Hayez’s Last kiss of Romeo and Juliet, Palamedes by Antonio Canova as well as Eros and Psyche by Adamo Tadolini. In 1843 the villa became a wedding gift to Carlotta, daughter of Albert of Prussia, and it now houses fabulous pieces of furniture and décor from that period. It’s surrounded by a wonderful park of approximately eight hectares, full of vibrant rhododendrons, fragrant magnolia and bamboo. It’s been adored by many, including the 19th-century Italian poet and art critic Enrico Panzacchi, who said of it, “From the terrace in Villa Carlotta my soul enjoyed the view of the water and mountains and the poetic laughter of dawns and sunsets.” It’s just a skip away from the ferry terminal, or you could hire a boat from Nautic Planet (www.nauticplanet.com), with or without a driver. Open from March to October. www.villacarlotta.it

WHERE TO STAY

VISTA PALAZZO Piazza Cavour, 24 – 22100 Como www.vistalagodicomo.com An opulent 18-room hotel with the town’s first rooftop restaurant, Sottovoce. The salmon-pink building, overlooking the lake, is in the Venetian style. It’s Como’s premier five-star accommodation but has no swimming pool or spa. HOTEL RISTORANTE LA DARSENA Via Regina, 3 – 22016 Tremezzina www.ladarsena.it Family-run lakeside hotel with a good restaurant and excellent views of the water. Three stars. HOTEL DU LAC Via del Prestino, 11 – 23829 Varenna www.albergodulac.com Four-star hotel right on the eastern lakeshore. A private villa built in 1823 and restored in the mid-20th century with attention paid to maintaining the ambience of its former life. The perfect location from which to explore Lake Como. Fly with Aero

Club Como

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Lake Como

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here is so much to see and do on Lake Como that it is hard to choose four must-see highlights, but one of them must be the vibrant peninsular town of Bellagio, known as ‘the Pearl of Lake Como’. Hop on the little tourist train here (€5) for a 20-minute tour through the town, passing Villa Giulia, and Villa Serbelloni, where Pliny the Younger’s villa ‘Tragedia’ is thought to have stood. Another place you really should see while you are on Lake Como is Villa Carlotta at Cadenabbia. We don’t know who the architect of this 18th-century house was but the gardens are a sumptuous treat for the horticulturally-inclined, and the villa is also a special place to visit for its extraordinary art collection and lake views. The third place on this shortlist should go to Villa Melzi at Bellagio. The Duke of Lodi’s summer home is off-limits to uninvited guests as it is still a private residence, but Luigi Canonica and Luigi Villoresi’s botanical gardens are open to the public for six months of the year and are renowned as some of the finest in Italy. Finally I would recommend that you don’t miss Villa del Balbianello – the spectacular view of it is pure delight if you arrive by ferry boat or water taxi; alternatively, one can walk or cycle along the peninsular spur from Lenno to reach it by land route.

Images on this page by Ros Ormiston

Bellagio

Villa Carlotta

Villa del Balbionello Villa Melzi

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6 Archeological sites on Isola Comancina

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7 The waterfall at Comancina TAKE A TRIP to the picturesque village of Nesso. There are fabulous places to visit, including the Church of San Pietro and San Paolo, believed to date back to the 11th century and rebuilt in the 17th century in the Baroque style. Another attraction is Nesso’s steep waterfall, visited by many, including Leonardo da Vinci, who mentioned it in his Codex Atlanticus. Blue waters lie beneath the gorge’s steep waterfall made of the alpine waters of the Tuf and Nosè. There are several ways to see it: take a walk up several hundred steps into central Piazza Castello, where you will see and hear the gushing water; or go down to the shore and see it from the Roman bridge; a third alternative is to see the waterfall from a boat on the lake; or, for the more daring, why not take a dip in the blue waters beneath the waterfall itself? Nesso is on the eastern shore of the southwestern spur of the lake

Lake Como

A WOODLAND GEM awaits in Lake Como with this little island that can be reached either by ferry from Ossuccio or by hiring your own canoe (www. hiringaboat.com). Playing an important part in the history of Como, from Roman times to the Middle Ages, the island is considered to be one of the most impressive archaeological sites of the Middle Ages in northern Italy. Excavations that took place in the early 20th century discovered many sites of interest, including the Basilica di Sant’Eufeumia, one of the most important basilicas of the 11th century, and the Church of San Giovanni. You’ll also find three artists’ houses built in the 1930s by Pietro Lingeri, who wanted to turn the island into a creative colony. There is a restaurant and a café if you fancy a spot of lunch, or it would make the perfect place for a relaxing picnic on a sunny day. Open from March to October. www.isola-comacina.it

8 Elegant and historic Moltrasio THIS PETITE BUT Moltrasio is steeped in VERY ELEGANT art and hist or y TOWN on the western shores of the lake has an interesting history: it was full of Partisans during the Second World War and is also home to the Neoclassical Villa Passalacqua, surrounded by beautiful gardens and one of the largest residences on Lake Como. It was built in the late 18th century by the Odescalchi family and later became home to the composer Vincenzo Bellini. Towards the lake, and only seen from the water (or by private invitation) is Villa La Fontenelle, the former home of fashion designer Gianni Versace, whose beautiful gardens were curated by the English art and landscape historian Sir Roy Strong. In the town of Moltrasio you will see the frescoed church of San Martino and Sant’Agata, dating back to the 13th century and housing the Holy Thorn, claimed to be a fragment from the Crown of Christ. www.grandhoteltremezzo.com LAKES & ISLANDS 2021 41

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WHERE TO EAT

IN THE NORTHERN, ALTO LARIO, part of Lake Como is the town of Gravedona, home of Palazzo Galio, the residence of Bartolomeo Gallio, locally born Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, along with the wonderful 14th-century frescoes of the late 12th-century church of Santa Maria del Tiglio. If you’re feeling sporty, there are plenty of opportunities on this part of the lake such as windsurfing and canoeing when it’s calm in the morning, and then kitesurfing and sailing later in the day when the wind picks up. On land, there is as much fun to be had with go-karting, trekking and horse-riding. One of the loveliest ways to see Gravedona is by bike – there are several trails for all levels with woods and lake views, not to mention the wonderful air. www.gravedona.it Outdoor enthusiasts gravitate to Gravedona

OSTERIA DEL GALLO Via Vitani, 16 – 22100 Como www.osteriadelgallo-como.it An intimate family-run osteria. The menu, which is renewed daily, reflects the fresh local produce. IL RISTORANTE SPLENDIDE, BELLAGIO HOTEL EXCELSIOR Via Lungo Lario Manzoni, 28 22021 Bellagio www.hsplendide.com Splendide’s lakeside restaurant/café has a superb menu to match the fabulous view across the lake. (See ‘Where to Stay’.) LIDO DI CADENABBIA Via Regina, Cadenabbia www.lidolakecomo.com Enjoy a fabulous selection of fresh Italian local dishes and wine from the menu, with views of the lake, and lido pool on site.

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Lake Como

9 Getting sporty in Gravedona

AZIENDA AGRICOLA SORSASSO Via Gaggio 1/Bis – 22013 Domaso www.sorsasso.com Local produce superbly prepared, with Sorsasso wines and the best service.

10 Climbing to the top of Monte Grona FOR THOSE WITH A SPRING IN THEIR STEP there is a fabulous hike up to the peak of Monte Grona, over 1,700 metres above sea level and with 360-degree views on a clear day across Lake Como, Lake Lugano and the Swiss and Italian Alps. Depending on your fitness, it could take four to five hours to complete – and be sure to take supplies of water (there is a water refill station), power bars and warm clothes as the skies can turn from blue to grey without warning up there. You start by heading towards Rifugio Menaggio, where you can also recharge later with local specialities like polenta and missoltini, fill up on drinks, including wine, and even spend the night (half-board costs around €45 per person). Take a look at hiking sites for more details and tips, such as… www.explorelakecomo.com/go/ hiking-monte-grona LI

This is wonderful hiking country

IL RISTORANTE DU LAC Via del Prestino, 11 – 23829 Varenna www.albergodulac.com Enjoy a delicious culinary experience seated on the terrace or in the lakeside garden of this fabulous restaurant/hotel in Varenna. (See ‘Where to Stay’.)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rosalind Ormiston is an art and architectural historian and arts and travel writer with books published on Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and the Dutch Golden Age.

INFORMATION ➤ Rosalind travelled to Lake Como as a guest of TUI ‘lakes and mountains’ holidays, via easyJet from Gatwick to Milan Malpensa airport, and transfer to Cadenabbia, staying at the lakeshore 4-star Grand Hotel Cadenabbia. TUI has flights to Lake Como available from various UK airports, and many hotels in which to stay on Lake Como. www.tui.co.uk/destinations/europe/italy/ lake-como/holidays-lake-como.html Grand Hotel Cadenabbia

Polenta and missoltini

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D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

LAKES The Garden Tour

Fertile imagination Historically a trailblazer in garden design, Italy still wows with its gorgeous giardini. Fleur Kinson finds variety in all its splendour on the shores of the northern lakes.

© Images by Fleur Kinson

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taly, like England, is one of the great gardening nations of Europe and was hugely influential in the evolution of ideas about green spaces arranged for pleasure and contemplation. In 14th-century Tuscany, discussions on the interplay of art and nature blossomed into a fullscale gardening revolution by the period of the Renaissance – turning the enclosed, inward-looking gardens of the Middle Ages outward to face the world in grand, formal arrangements. Gardens grew beyond gardens to become sculpture galleries, or living catalogues of plant life (the world’s first botanic gardens sprouted in Pisa and Padua), and Italian creativity left the rest of Europe with a lot to imitate, and counteract, for the next 500 years. Today, along with Tuscany and Lazio, one of Italy’s key areas for garden lovers is the northern lakes. A vast range of plants thrive in the lakeside microclimates, where the air is always moist and the temperatures moderate – despite the northerly latitude and the snow-clad Alps rising dramatically ➤ in the near distance. The dark, deep lakes absorb lots of summer heat

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LAKES The Garden Tour

then slowly release it through the colder months, so a Mediterranean climate reigns over the water’s edge while an Alpine one holds sway just 200m further up. Plants from both cold temperate zones and subtropical ones are all happy here. But it’s not just the diversity of species borne of a hospitable climate that makes the northern lakes such a blessed spot for gardens. The lie of the land, climbing up and down lake-plunging hillsides, creates all sorts of natural theatres for arresting garden display. Lake views give each garden extra drama; the green hills that teem with tumbling shrubs and flowers are all the more breathtaking for ending in an expanse of glittering blue. Serene vistas of water framed by plants and statuary make the lake a feature in each garden’s design. It is a deeply romantic arrangement, made even more so by the evaporation haze that so often hangs in the lakeside air and lends a dreamlike quality to the surrounding mountains. Keenly aware of how many gardens of different styles and periods were on offer around the northern lakes, I set out to see as much variety as possible. In just 48 hours, I would meet with sheer romance on a tiny headland in Lake Como, happy effusion in Varenna, austere formality in Casalzuigno, Baroque playfulness on Lake Maggiore, and clean, modern spaciousness in Verbania.

Elegant stone urns keep watch over the landing dock, drawing the eye up to the high branches of plane trees pruned to twist and angle like candelabras. VILLA BALBIANELLO: THE HEIGHT OF ROMANCE On a secluded headland in Lake Como’s south-west area, the tiny 18th-century Villa Balbianello sits where a medieval monastery once provided bottomless tranquillity to a gaggle of Capuchins. It is late afternoon when I arrive by boat, the only way to reach the place. The sunlight is clear and honeyed; a golden evening just an hour or two away. Elegant stone urns on tall columns keep watch over the landing dock, drawing the eye up to the high branches of spectacular plane trees pruned to twist and angle like candelabras. I climb steep sun-dappled paths, past palm trees sprouting from sheer

rock, and am soon at the height of the Capuchin church’s two belltower tips. Topography is the chief enchantment of this garden. The steep, smooth slopes of land – covered in close-cropped grass, or carpets of fragrant bay bushes – rise and fall in sensual, appealing curves to create a series of enchanting spaces. The usual formal layouts are impossible here, and flowers are irrelevant when the surrounding views are so stunning – framed with foliage or dramatised with statuary. Perhaps the garden’s most attractive feature is its central loggia. Open at both ends, it straddles the hilltop and gives lovely views in two directions. Small-leaved ficus pumila (creeping fig) crawl over its columns

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in drunken filigree patterns. Below, a rare bit of flat ground is rimmed by a balustrade topped with statues staring wistfully out across the water. In the centre sprouts an astonishing tree – a giant holm oak clipped into a mushroom shape. Apparently, it so impressed visitor George Lucas that he recreated it in an alien landscape in one of his Star Wars films. VILLAS MONASTERO AND CIPRESSI: RICHLY FERTILE On the other side of Lake Como, in the tiny town of Varenna, two neighbouring villas promise effusive, sensual gardens. I cross the lake in the early morning to visit them. Varenna is still asleep, its clutch of ancient lanes empty and silent. Despite the town’s picturesque perfection, it is never swamped with visitors, so its

two lovely villa gardens never lose their precious tranquillity. Secretive and rambling, they leave the visitor free to wander sinuous paths lined with flowers and greenery punctuated by bijou bits of architecture. Both are centuries-old botanicstyle gardens, with lavish growth of exotic species, but the key aim of each seems to be simply to provide a wonderful place to stroll lost in thought, continually delighted by what crops up along the way. I start with the Villa Monastero’s garden. Long and thin, it spreads for a kilometre along a steep slope of hillside. Much of it is in shade on my outward walk, but transformed by sunshine on my return when the morning sun has wheeled a bit further across the sky. My nostrils constantly ➤ meet with warm and dry, then

Clockwise from above: Tranquility at Villa Monastero; Villa Taranto teems with flowers; View from Villa Balbianello; Loggia at Villa Balbianello; Villa Monastero sits on a steep slope

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cool and moist air as I step in and out of the jungle-like shadows, each fluctuating draught mixing with the shifting fragrances of leaves and flowers. The garden is a journey, and the entertainment en route includes bright flowers, a citrus gallery, fountains, a loggia and a hexagonal turret perched over the water. Next door, at the Villa Cipressi, the garden is less a journey and more a winding meander. Intimate narrow paths snake up and down a series of terraces sprouting greenery. Sudden vistas across the lake compel you to stop and stare. Like the Villa Monastero’s garden, this is a meditative, mind-clearing place. Comfortable and private-feeling, its appearance echoes the fecundity of your thoughts as you wander through, while inspiring lake views

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flowerless (except in spring when the grass is a mass of crocuses), the garden is stark or pristine depending on your taste. I wander down a side avenue to an imposing Baroque folly, then go inside the villa itself. On walls, ceilings, shutters and doors, the decoration is effusive – in complete contrast to the rather cleanlined garden outside. But the quality of original decoration and restorationwork is patchy. The illusionist ballroom frescoes are over-bright and amateur, the shutter patterns ambitious but ill-wrought. It’s a reminder that while Italy is stuffed full of art, not all of it is great. Uncomfortable-looking bedrooms lead to interesting reception and dining rooms. Best of all are the cavernous kitchens festooned with blackened pots, and the library, where dour wooden bookcases contrast with giddily painted walls. Outside, I’m entranced by a seemingly bottomless ice house and a wine press incorporating a gargantuan tree. All in all, a lot to see, and I don’t regret my stop in Casalzuigno. THE BORROMEAN ISLANDS: WORLDS APART The next morning, I spend a couple of hours exploring two of the tiny Borromean islands in Lake Maggiore. Despite being less than a tenminute boat ride from each other, they couldn’t be more different. A

After Isola Madre’s tranquillity, I am wholly unprepared when I land on Isola Bella. It’s a sort of floating theatre; a carnival of Baroque excess… come like sudden moments of clarity and perspective. Two such gardens under my belt, I leave Varenna feeling very refreshed indeed.

VILLA DELLA PORTA BOZZOLO: ARCH FORMALITY In the afternoon I drive west, stopping at little Casalzuigno to the north of Lake Varese. Here the 17th-century Villa Della Porta Bozzolo unfurls its extremely formal garden. Layout, rather than plant life, is the key element. Creating a long, stern central axis, eight balustraded terraces flank a grand staircase, which climbs a sloping lawn and meets a steep path straight up a hillside. Eroded statues break up the balustrades, while needle-like cypresses stand guard on the lawn. With few exotic plants, and largely

quiet, rustic 16th-century palazzo on Isola Madre stands covered in flowering creepers. Behind it, a dozen or more acres of land are arranged as an English-style park, landscaped in the 19th century to frame vistas of lake and plant life, and forming a pleasantly rambling botanic garden with an evident love of exotica. White peacocks emerge from the brush and stride past palm trees, banana plants and hibiscus – all the more striking with the snow-topped Alps standing in the distance. A freak tornado hit the island in 2006, destroying 200 trees in three minutes. It is heart-warming to see how nature recovers, helped along by determined gardeners. I marvel at a vast 150-year-old Cedar of Kashmir – laid flat by the whirlwind,

but winched upright by huge pulleys flown in by helicopters. Lulled by Isola Madre’s tranquil greenery, I am wholly unprepared when I land on Isola Bella. It’s a sort of floating theatre, a carnival of Baroque excess. Generations of visitors have used words such as ‘vulgar’ and ‘absurd’ to describe the palace and garden here, but it doesn’t stop them from coming. Isola Bella is by far the most visited of the Borromean islands. The palace is filled with all sorts of wondrous, over-decorated rooms. Outside, a ziggurat of terraced land is fronted by an extravagant shellwork folly and festooned with statues. Various boldly formal arrangements ➤ of flowers and shrubs dot its

Clockwise from above: Water lily on Isola Bella; Isola Bella’s boldly formal arrangements; Villa Balbianello’s stone urns draw the eye up to the plane trees; Villa Monastero’s gardens take visitors on a journey; Pretty nooks and crannies at Villa Balbianello

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FIND OUT MORE

Five hundred years of ideas seem to meet and mingle at Villa Taranto, adding up to one beautiful place ➤ periphery. This is a delightful island for the spectacle seeker.

Above and below: Cool, modern lines at Villa Taranto are combined with dazzling displays of flowers

VILLA TARANTO: SERENE MODERNITY After lunch, I head a few miles around the lake to Verbania, to explore 16 acres of landscaped botanical gardens at Villa Taranto. Scotsman Neil McEacharn bought the house and land back in the 1930s and spent 30 years artfully arranging 20,000 different

plants into this sprawling, captivating place. (He named his home ‘Taranto’ because he knew Italians would struggle to pronounce ‘McEacharn’.) I wander a serene terraced garden with oblong pools of water lily and lotus flowers – the cool modern lines utterly refreshing after the loud Baroque ’n’ roll on Isola Bella. I stroll winding paths that open out to pretty vistas of vegetation, tiptoe into glasshouses teeming with greenery, and meditatively wander separate avenues devoted wholly to showcasing different species of azaleas, maples, rhododendrons, camellias, dahlias… Five hundred years of ideas in European gardening seem to meet and mingle in this place. There are formal arrangements: statuary, fountains, flowerbeds, lawns; there are carefully categorised exotica; there are landscaped valleys and free-form woods. Being the most modern of all the gardens I’ve visited, Villa Taranto has the benefit of hindsight – taking all that has worked in the past and bringing it together in one beautiful place. I take a last look behind me before I hurry off to the airport, and wonder what garden innovations the next five centuries might bring, climate change permitting. LI

➤ VILLA DEL BALBIANELLO Lenno, Lake Como ☎ +39 034 456 110 www.fondoambiente.it Open 18 March - 27 May, 5 June 31 October, 10am - 6pm Closed Mondays and Wednesdays Access is via boat from Lenno (Property can be seen in Casino Royale) ➤ VILLA MONASTERO Varenna, Lake Como ☎ +39 034 129 5450 www.villamonastero.eu Open April - October, 9am - 7pm ➤ VILLA CIPRESSI Varenna, Lake Como ☎ +39 034 183 0113 www.hotelvillacipressi.it Open March - November, 8am - 8pm Closed Sundays ➤ VILLA DELLA PORTA BOZZOLO Casalzuigno, near Varese ☎ +39 033 262 4136 www.fondoambiente.it Open March - September, 10am - 6pm, October - mid-December, 10am - 5pm, February, 10am - 5pm ➤ ISOLA MADRE Lake Maggiore ☎ +39 032 331 261 www.borromeo.it Open April - September, 9am - 5.30pm ➤ ISOLA BELLA Lake Maggiore ☎ +39 032 330 556 www.borromeo.it Open April - September, 9am - 12 noon, 1.30pm - 5.30pm Access to the Borromean islands is by boat from Arona, Stresa, Baveno, Pallanza and Laveno ➤ VILLA TARANTO Verbania Pallanza, Lake Maggiore ☎ +39 032 355 6667 www.villataranto.it Open April - September, 8:30am 6:30pm, October, 8:30 am - 5:30pm

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E-Biking Lake Garda

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

Image © Verona Garda Bike

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AROUND LAKE GARDA

If you really want to experience the beauty of a natural landscape there is no better vehicle than the bicycle. And it needn’t be an exercise in strength and endurance. Jon Palmer goes e-biking in Italy…

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Image by Jon Palmer

a car anyway. Cycling is a much better way to get around. But then there is the issue of those hills… The last time I was in Bardolino was on a mountain-biking trip. We cycled a little way up into the hills of Valpolicella, to see the famous Masi vineyards and the venerable Turri olive groves, but mostly we’d pootled along on the flat, between the towns on the eastern shore of the lake and along the riverbank to Verona, stopping frequently for coffee, ice cream and photos at Juliet’s balcony. We did spend an enjoyable afternoon risking life and limb by hurtling down La Rocca, but the trip as a whole wasn’t really mountain-biking in any real sense beyond the fact that our bikes were ‘mountain bikes’. With all the will in the world, the problem is that while cycling down mountains is tremendous fun, cycling up them is pretty hard work, and often quite boring. It will keep you fit, but for most people it’s not really a holiday – especially when the shores of the lake and the banks of the river are calling you to tarry in the presence of their prettiness and peacefulness. And that’s where the e-bike comes in.

E-Biking Lake Garda

Clockwise from left: Team Verona Garda Bike visit the Masi vineyards; a seat tube mounted battery; even on the flat, an e-bike will make the going easier; Malcesine, on the eastern shore of Lake Garda

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he hills of Valpolicella, which rise in an uncoordinated eruption of undulations on the eastern shore of Lake Garda, have given us not only one of Italy’s most famous wines, but also some its most distinguished and distinctive olive oils – and the enchanting curiosity of the most northerly lemons in the world. Yes, that’s right: nowhere else on the planet can you grow lemons outside at this latitude. They grow them for fun these days (wine and olive oil are bigger business) but in times of yore the people of central and northern Europe relied on Lake Garda for their citrus-sourced Vitamin C. It’s all about the microclimate, and that’s a product of the topography: the sheltering effects of the Alps to the north; the sun-trap south-facing valleys; the temperate breezes from the lake; the peculiarities of terroir of a onceglacial terrain. For students of wine (and presumably geography) it’s a paradise; and seeing it for yourself, and what and how people cultivate here, will really help you develop your understanding of the region’s produce. However, these hill roads aren’t really designed for car traffic, and you don’t see much from inside

COOPERATIVE NETWORK Verona Garda Bike, which is a cooperative network of people and businesses with a common interest in cycling, has recognised that if they want to further develop cycling in the hills here, which they do, they need to look beyond the hardcore keen cyclists – the mtb’ers, the triallers and trailers and the roadracers – and reach out to people like, well, me. People who like to cycle, but don’t wear lycra. People, perhaps, whose nearest and dearest, LAKES & ISLANDS 2021 51

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CYCLING FOR EVERYBODY E-biking opens up cycling for everybody, and Lake Garda, thanks to the continued efforts of Verona Image by Jon Palmer

Clockwise from right: Here the battery is mounted on the carrier; alliums at the Parco Giardino Sigurtà; kids will love the Parco Acquatico; wolves at the Parco Natura Viva; castelletto at Parco Sigurtà

some energy. If you’re going to visit the Sigurtà gardens, which are huge, an e-bike is a very good way of not only getting there but also getting around the estate. At the zoo you have to leave all bikes at the gates because the animals aren’t too sure about them, and getting around the zoo is quite a long walk. It’s all well and good working on your fitness by ‘feeling the burn’ on that last stretch of hill climb, but if it means you can’t walk round the zoo to see the white rhinos, what have we gained?

Image © Verona Garda Bike

It’s an electric bicycle: a bicycle with an electric motor to augment your pedal power. The motor needs to be charged, at a charging station, but for a day’s riding, as long as you remember to switch it off when you lock up anywhere, this isn’t something that’s ever going to affect you. An e-bike has gears, which you’ll need – because this is not a motorcycle: there is still effort required to keep the wheels going round – but is also has a booster, usually with three settings, that makes the cycling considerably less strenuous that it would otherwise be. If you’re reasonably fit, and you use the gears correctly, a decent e-bike will get you up pretty much any hill. If you’re not fit, even if you don’t cycle at all, they’ll still get you along the riverbank or the lakeside with scarcely any physical exertion. They’re a lot lighter than they used to be and though even the best e-bikes will feel a little heavy with the motor off, you can ride them like that too.

Image © Verona Garda Bike

LAKES

E-Biking Lake Garda

WHAT IS AN E-BIKE?

while encouraging them to cycle for the wide range of health benefits the activity confers, would also actively, and strongly, discourage them from investing heavily in the lycra side of things, for sartorial motives. That’s not to say that e-biking is for people who are old, lazy and/ or unfit. It’s not. Unless you really are just going to drift from shoreside gelateria to gelateria – with the bike motor on full boost all the way – you do need to pedal, and getting up hills does take effort. But it takes a lot less effort that it would on a normal bike. This matters not only in the hills but on the flat too. If your itinerary involves taking the children to Gardaland or the Cavour Water Park, you’ll want to conserve

Using an e-bike is an ideal way to explore the area around Lake Garda, whatever level of fitness you have

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THINGS TO SEE AND DO

Image © Verona Garda Bike

E-Biking Lake Garda

PARCO ACQUATICO CAVOUR Località Ariano, 37067 Valeggio sul Mincio % +39 045 795 0904 www.parcoacquaticocavour.it Open all day every day throughout the summer – and with the right to cancel reservations free of charge in bad weather – the family-run, ecological Cavour Water Park is the perfect place to relax tired grown-up legs after a few days in the hills, while the kids burn off yet more energy on this ‘Sea in a Park’.

LAKES

GARDALAND Via Derna, 4 – Castelnuovo del Garda % +39 045 644 9777 www.gardaland.it Lake Garda’s best amusement park (and Italy’s first) has fun and thrills for all the family, from the pre-school pleasures of the all-new Peppa Pig Land to the terrifying adrenaline rush of Oblivion: The Black Hole. The park has its own hotel and restaurants; there’s even an aquarium – and a big one too. Visit for the day or, if you like, spend your entire holiday here.

PARCO GIARDINO SIGURTÀ Via Cavour, 1 – Valeggio sul Mincio % +39 045 637 1033 www.sigurta.it Carlo Sigurtà opened this estate in 1978 to invite the public to see the groundbreaking ecological work he had been directing here since 1941. You can cycle around the park; and it’s probably a good idea if you do, as it’s quite large, and goes up a hill, which is well worth the climb. You can hire an e-bike at the entrance if you haven’t brought yours with you.

Image © Verona Garda Bike

PARCO NATURA VIVA Garda Zoological Park, Bussolengo % +39 045 717 0113 www.parconaturaviva.it This is an animal park – flamingos, rhinos, monkeys… you name it – but it’s also an important part of the global animal conservation initiative. (On the day we were there the director was unavailable as he’d set off that morning to drive to Romania to release some bears into the wild.) The park survives entirely on entrance fees and public donations.

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D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

MUSEO NICOLIS Viale Postumia, 37069 Villafranca di Verona % +39 045 630 3289 www.museonicolis.com We have been eschewing the automobile on this adventure, but that doesn’t mean we can’t stop to admire some old classics. This is an extraordinary collection of cars – especially when you consider that it is all the work of one man, Luciano Nicolis. The financial value is inestimable. However, “We are not owners of all this,” Luciano said. “Just the safe-keepers for the future.”

Image by Jon Palmer

Image © Verona Garda Bike

TURRI FRATELLI OLIVE OIL MILL Strada Villa, 9 – Cavaion Veronese % +39 045 723 5006 www.turri.com The Turri olive oil mill was one of the first established in the province of Verona and is still very much a family concern. This was my second visit and this time Valentina was heavily pregnant, but she still had the energy to show us around and present the tastings. Don’t be surprised if there’s a small child on the tour when you go!

Image by Jon Palmer

MASI AGRICOLA Via Monteleone, 26 – 37015 Gargagnago % +39 045 683 2511 www.masi.it When people talk about the ‘ripasso’ method in wine-making, they are talking about a method that began here at Masi. They don’t make ripasso here any more; they’ve moved on to more innovative techniques, but you can learn all about the method, and much more, on a tour of the vineyard and its interactive museum.

Image by Jon Palmer

LAKES

E-Biking Lake Garda

THINGS TO SEE AND DO

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➤ BY PLANE Flying in to Verona airport would be ideal as Lake Garda is just a short drive from there, but any of the Milan airports, or even Venice at a push, would not present you with too arduous a road journey afterwards, especially if you were to make arrangements with Europlan for the transfer.

➤ PARC HOTELS ITALIA These days, Parc Hotels Italia operates on Lake Garda and in Sicily, but it all began here. Its founder, the late Germano Chincherini, was a native of Limone sul Garda who in the 1970s developed a network of hotels that is now run by his wife, Helena. Anything you need to know about holiday accommodation on and around Lake Garda, these are the first people to ask. www.parchotels.it ➤ VERONA GARDA BIKE Verona Garda Bike is a trail-blazing cooperative initiative by nine otherwise unrelated companies to promote cycling in the Verona-Garda region for locals and tourists alike. As well as facilitating cycling tourism they are also working to develop cycling infrastructure – off-road routes, rentals, safety signage, etc… Ultimately the aim is to encourage and connect to other organisations in the wider region. www.veronagardabike.com

Image © Verona Garda Bike

Image by Jon Palmer

➤ EUROPLAN Europlan is your one-stop shop for everything you need to organise a holiday on Lake Garda. They can find you a hotel, get you from the airport to the hotel (somebody could personally come and pick you up) and then recommend local shops and restaurants, arrange excursions and tours – by bus, boat or bicycle – and even book your tickets to the opera in Verona, which you could easily get to by e-bike. They’ll show you the route; it’s pretty. www.europlan.it

Garda Bike, is the perfect place to try it out. If you are going to insist on renting a car to join the traffic jam that is the Lake Garda shore road in summer, or take a wrong turn on a single-track road in the hills and have to find a way of getting back to where you were, then I’m sure you’ll find a place to rent you whatever fancy four-wheeler you care for (perhaps check out the Museo Nicolis for inspiration) but now you have to think about where you’re going to park, how long it’s going to take you to get where you’re going – and who’s driving back from the wine-tasting at Masi!

E-Biking Lake Garda

GETTING THERE

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Clockwise from left: Masi vineyards; always wear protective headgear; visit the region’s wine cellars, and maybe try a glass or two; vintage cars at Museo Nicolis; your correspondent and colleague in a virtual wine vat; cycleways abound; the world’s first electric car!

USEFUL CONTACTS

LIGHT AND SLENDER And do also remember that whatever car you’re driving, whatever colour, whatever vintage, whatever the mechanism for retracting the roof, how ever much money you’ve spent on it, you will never, ever, look, or feel, as cool in a car as you will on an e-bike. They are the future. And modern e-bikes are so light and slender that the untrained eye wouldn’t know you were riding motor-assisted anyway, so it’s quite easy to convince bystanders that you’re actually a serious athlete in training for next year’s Giro d’Italia. (The secret is to wear wraparound sunglasses and to make sure you buy a lycra shirt that’s at least two sizes larger than you think you might actually need.) If you’ve ever thought about e-biking, the routes, facilities and support you get here make Lake Garda a great place to try it out. Just make sure you put yourself in touch with Verona Garda Bike, who can help you with everything from bike hire and riding itineraries to restaurants and accommodation for a really memorable experience. LI

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LAKES

Lake Orta

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

Clockwise from top left: Arriving at Isola San Giulio; view from Piazza Motta; more of Isola San Giulio; terracotta figures in the chapel on Sacro Monte; the view from Madonna del Sasso; Piazza Motta; view of the island from Piazza Motta; Orta San Giulio; chapel on the Sacro Monte

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NORTHERN LAKES ITALY Lake Lake Orta Orta

48 HOURS IN…

Lake Orta Peaceful, quiet and smaller than some of the country’s more famous lakes, Orta gave Jane Keightley the chance to consider the understated beauty of this sub-Alpine secret…

Images by Jane Keightley

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escribed by Honoré de Balzac as “a pearl, enclosed by the green treasure chest of the Piemontese hills”, Orta is one of the smallest of the Italian lakes, and the only one to lie entirely in Piedmont. The main attractions, apart from the beautiful scenery, are the medieval village of Orta San Giulio and the island of San Giulio, which sits just opposite it. I had been inspired to visit Orta after reading a novel set there and, as I made my way down towards the village, it was certainly living up to my expectations. As soon as I had unpacked I headed off towards the main square, Piazza Motta, where, after a long day’s travelling, I sat and relaxed over a large glass of red wine and a delicious risotto made from saffron, rabbit and balsamic vinegar, whilst watching the sun go down over the island. Piazza Motta, which is known as the salotto, or drawing room, of Orta, is surrounded on three sides by ancient porticoed palazzos, some covered in frescoes, whilst the fourth side looks out towards the island. Behind a row of horse chestnut trees boats are moored, waiting to ferry you over to the island. The most important building in the square is the Palazzotto, which was the old council chamber. Covered in frescoes, it has a loggia underneath it and is now used periodically for exhibitions. Now replete from both the food and the view I wandered back to my hotel, thankful that cars are not allowed into the narrow medieval streets. ➤ LAKES & ISLANDS 2021 57

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D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

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Lake Orta

WHAT TO SEE AND DO

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BOAT TRIP TO ISOLA SAN GIULIO 1 Piazza Motta 1, Orta San Giulio % +39 333 605 0288 www.motoscafisti.com Motoscafi Pubblici di Orta offer trips across to Isola San Giulio as well as other trips around the lake. You will find them moored up in Piazza Motta just waiting for the opportunity to ferry you across this beautiful lake.

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SACRO MONTE DI ORTA 2 Via al Sacro Monte, Orta San Giulio % +39 0322 911960 www.sacrimonti.net Spectacularly set on a wooded hillside above Orta San Giulio, with fantastic views of the lake and the island, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is a devotional path which follows a series of frescoed chapels illustrating the life of St Francis of Assisi. The 21 chapels, which were erected between 1591 and 1750, are built in the baroque and Renaissance styles and have in total 376 terracotta sculptures and 900 frescoes, all depicting various stories about the life of St Francis.

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MADONNA DEL SASSO SANCTUARY 3 Via Panoramica, Boleto, Madonna del Sasso % +39 0322 981156 www.comune.madonnadelsasso.vb.it This sanctuary, which includes a baroque church, bell tower and hermitage, was built in the 18th century. Inside the buildings are some interesting frescoes and outside there is a Bocca della Verità, or Mouth of Truth. However, the highlight of the trip has to be the magnificent view of the whole of the lake.

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THE TAP MUSEUM 4 Piazza Martiri 1, San Maurizio d’Opaglio % +39 0323 89622 www.museodelrubinetto.it This surprisingly interesting museum shows the importance of the tap industry to the local area and explains about the technological development of taps and water supply in general. Free entry, it is open from Tuesday to Sunday between 3pm and 6pm.

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THE KITCHENWARE MUSEUM 5 Parco Pasquale Maulini 1, Omegna % +39 0323 866141 www.forumomegna.org The comune of Omegna is famous in Italy, and beyond, for being home to several companies that produce stylish kitchenware. These include Alessi, Lagostina, Bialetti, Piazza and Calderoni. This museum showcases their products and how they developed. It is open between 9.30am and 5.30pm on weekdays.

View of the island from the Sacro Monte

DON’T MISS THE PINOCCHIO INDUSTRY Woodworking was a popular occupation in the Valstrona area at the north of the lake. Production once concentrated on kitchen articles, but now focuses on Pinocchio, the famous wooden puppet. One of the best-known workshops to see this is Mastro Geppetto.

➤ The next morning I was eager to explore more thoroughly and I started off by looking round the village. Off the Piazza Motta a wide street leads uphill to the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta, a pale peach baroque building founded in the 15th century. On either side of the street are various palazzos, including the Palazzo Gemelli and the Casa dei Nanni (house of dwarves) which takes its name from its dwarf-sized windows. Down the hill I explored the rest of

nobody would volunteer to row him across, so he calmly used his cloak as a boat and his staff as a rudder and sailed across and vanquished the monsters. He built himself a church and was laid to rest there in 392 AD. He now lies in the crypt of the 11th century church which replaced it. This has a very impressive interior, some well preserved frescoes and a magnificent pulpit made from black serpentine stone quarried from nearby Oira, with carvings denoting Good

Legend has it that the island was the home of dragons and serpents until 390 AD Orta’s narrow medieval streets, which are lined with restaurants and gift shops, and I also visited the gardens of Casa Bossi, which overlook the lake. I now headed across to Isola San Giulio, which is dominated by its large white convent and the tower of the medieval basilica. Legend has it that the island was the home of dragons and serpents until 390 AD, when Julius, a Christian from Greece, arrived. He wanted to cross over to the island but

winning over Evil. Look out for the crocodile fighting with the phoenix. Before you walk around the island make time to visit the only shop on the island, which is full of local products, some of them made by the nuns. A narrow cobbled lane leads round the island and the nuns have tried to maintain the tranquillity of the place by putting up signs advocating silence and meditation, though these are largely ignored…

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WHERE TO STAY

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Isola San Giulio

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HOTEL GIARDINETTO 7 Via Provinciale 1, Pettenasco, Lago d’Orta % +39 0323 89118 www.giardinettohotel.com Hotel Giardinetto enjoys a marvellous position on the side of the lake in Pettenasco. Most of the bedrooms have their own balconies overlooking the lake and these have absolutely stunning views. The staff are very friendly and helpful and it has its own small beach and pool for guests to use. There is also free parking. Breakfast included in the price.

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The path round the lake

Back on dry land I enjoyed a delicious lunch before heading off to the Sacro Monte. The Sacro Monte di San Francisco is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which consists of a hill dotted with 20 chapels all illustrating the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. This lies just behind Orta San Giulio. Not feeling particularly energetic after my lunch I was pleased to find out that once you get to the top of the hill the chapels are pretty much on the same level. The chapels were all built at different times, in different styles, between 1591 and 1788 and are decorated with frescoes and terracotta figures depicting the life of St Francis. The chapels are all numbered and a finger on each one points you in the direction of the next. It is well worth spending an hour or two wandering around this peaceful place where, as well as being able to enjoy the chapels, you can get beautiful views of the lake and the island. Of all the Sacri Monti in Italy this is the only one dedicated to Saint Francis – all the others are devoted to Christ. As I sat having a gelato back down in the village I noticed a tiny white building high up on a rocky

outcrop on the opposite side of the lake. I found out that it was the Madonna del Sasso Sanctuary and that from up there you could view the whole lake – and even see Milan on a clear day. I decided to see this for myself. After a tortuous journey up the mountainside, round numerous hairpin bends, I finally got there and it was certainly worth the effort. The brilliant blue lake shimmered below, surrounded by the snow-capped mountains and, as promised, I could see Milan far away in the distance. Unfortunately, by the time I got there the pretty baroque church was closed. On the outside of the church, however, there is a version of Rome’s Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth) where, legend says, you are liable to lose your hand if you put it in the stone lion’s mouth and tell a lie. By now I was tired and hungry and I headed back to Orta San Giulio looking forward to a relaxing evening and more good food. The next morning I decided to head off to explore the rest of the lake. My first stop was San Maurizio d’Opaglio, where I found the Museo del Rubinetto – the tap museum. ➤

NORTHERN LAKES ITALY Lake Lake Orta Orta

Villa Crespi

VILLA CRESPI 6 Via G. Fava 18, Orta San Giulio % +39 0322 911902 www.villacrespi.it Staying at Villa Crespi is a wonderfully unique experience. A Moorish style villa, complete with its own minaret, it offers 14 ornate rooms with sumptuous four poster beds, antique furniture and decadently luxurious bathrooms. Staff are helpful, polite and courteous and there is ample car parking in the grounds around the hotel. Includes breakfast.

DON’T MISS IL TRENINO DI ORTA Between March and October, a little tourist train – il Trenino di Orta – shuttles between the town centre, the Sacro Monte, and the train station, approximately every half hour. It is invaluable for conquering Orta’s steep slopes and navigating its narrow streets.

HOTEL LEON D’ORO 8 Piazza Motta 42, Orta San Giulio % +39 0322 911991 www.albergoleondoro.it A centuries old building on Piazza Motta, this hotel looks directly across to Isola San Giulio. Bedrooms are bright and airy and some have jacuzzi style baths. Family run and very friendly. Room tariffs include breakfast.

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LA CONTRADA DEI MONTI 9 Via Contrada dei Monti 10, Orta San Giulio % +39 0322 905114 www.lacontradadeimonti.it A small, family run hotel in the centre of Orta, very well located as it is not far from the restaurants and shops. It has comfortable, stylish rooms, many of them overlooking the pretty and small courtyard where breakfast is served in the summer months. Room rates include breakfast.

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LOCANDA DI ORTA 10 Via Olina 18, Orta San Giulio % +39 0322 905188 www.locandaorta.com Locanda di Orta is a very good value hotel right in the centre of Orta. The rooms combine medieval touches with contemporary design. The restaurant is on a rooftop terrace, and dining there means you can enjoy some amazing views across the town and the lake. Room tariffs include breakfast.

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WHERE TO EAT

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Lake Orta

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HOTEL CRESPI 11 Via G. Fava 18, Orta San Giulio ☎ +39 0322 911902 www.villacrespi.it Orta’s finest hotel is also home to a quite superb restaurant. Antonino Cannavacciuolo’s gourmet dishes have earned him two Michelin stars over the years. Set in extravagant, exotic surroundings, dining here is an experience not to be missed. € ● € ● € Price range ●

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HOTEL GIARDINETTO 12 Via Provinciale 1, Pettenasco ☎ +39 0323 89118 www.giardinettohotel.com The Giardinetto’s light and airy restaurant looks directly out over the lake and, while you are enjoying the wonderful views, you can have a truly great meal too. The staff are very friendly and helpful, and there is a very good selection of wine to choose from to accompany your dishes. € ● € Price range ●

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TAVERNA ANTICO AGNELLO 13 Via Solaroli 5, Miasino ☎ +39 0322 980527 www.ristoranteanticoagnello.it A very friendly family run restaurant located up in the hills above Orta in Miasino. Set in the grounds of the Villa Nigra, the food is delicious and well worth the journey. The lady who runs it speaks excellent English and is very welcoming. Make sure you save some room for the desserts. A meal for two with wine costs from €85. € ● € Price range ●

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RISTORANTE VENUS 14` Piazza Motta 50, Orta San Giulio ☎ +39 347 466 7447 www.ristorante-venus.it Situated in Piazza Motta with magnificent views of the Lake and the island, you can either sit inside, or choose to eat on a table out on the piazza. The food is good and there is a varied and interesting menu on offer. € ● € Price range ●

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ENOTECA AL BOUEC 15 Via Bersani 28, Orta San Giulio ☎ +39 339 584 0039 www.facebook.com/pages/Al-Boeuc Don’t miss this cosy little wine bar situated in a very old building, and the perfect place to linger for an atmospheric glass or two They serve light meals to accompany their wonderful wines. € ● € Price range ●

Map data © 2021 Google

DON’T MISS ORTA’S OWN MIAMI BEACH On the southeastern shore of the lake lies Spiaggia Miami, Orta’s own Miami Beach. Not far from Orta San Giulio, it offers all the usual beach facilities and has a bar and a restaurant. Enjoy a taste of the seaside surrounded by the beautiful scenery of the hills and mountains.

➤ I wondered how interesting a whole museum about taps could be but I was pleasantly surprised. I was shown round by S. Del Duca from the Ecomuseo del Lago d’Orta Association, who explained the history of tap making in the local area. It was fascinating. I’ll never look at taps in the same way again! I then went on to Omegna which, although not as obviously picturesque as Orta San Giuilio, is a pleasant town. Omegna is famous for being the home of the Italian kitchenware industry and being the headquarters of Alessi and Bialetti and has several factory outlets selling their wares. In the centre of the town is a fascinating museum showcasing the history of kitchenware produced in this region. An interesting fact about the river that flows through Omegna is that it flows north, unlike the other rivers of the Italian Lakes, which all flow south. This has given rise to a saying in the local dialect, “La Nigoglia la va in su e la legge la femo nu!” which means, “The Nigoglia runs upwards and we make our own laws!” As I returned back to Orta San Giulio I passed through the village of

Legro, which has become famous for the frescoes painted onto the houses, inspired by the work of the local poet and writer Gianni Rodari and by films made in the Lake Orta area. Back in Orta, I decided I would walk round the whole of the peninsula that Orta is situated on. This path, called the Lungolago 11 Settembre 2001, gives many different viewpoints of the lake. As I walked I admired Orta’s most distinctive hotel, Villa Crespi, which is located away from the lake in its own grounds. This amazing building, which resembles a Moorish palace with its minaret, dates from 1879, when Cristoforo Crespi, a cotton trader who made his fortune in Baghdad, returned to Orta and built a palace to remind him of the East. It is now a four-star hotel with a two Michelin starred restaurant. My stay in this peaceful place was now drawing to a close and although I had managed to fit in a great deal, 48 hours was not long enough and I would love to return and have time to try some of the beautiful and scenic walks in the area and visit Lake Orta’s own sandy beach, Spiaggia Miami. LI

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Santa Maria Assunta

Lake Orta

Enjoying the calm of the water’s edge

GETTING THERE ➤ BY PLANE Fly to Bergamo (Orio al Serio) airport with Ryanair from nine UK & Ireland airports. Get a bus to Milan Centrale Station and travel the rest of the way by train.

Terracotta figures

The view from the Madonna del Sasso Sanctuary

➤ TRAIN Travel from Milan Centrale to OrtaMiasino station, changing at Novara. The station is about a 20-minute walk down to Orta San Giulio, or take a taxi, or use the Trenino (the little tourist train). ➤ BY CAR The most direct way to reach Orta from Milan is to follow the A26 tollway and exit at Meina, for the south end of the lake, or Gravellona Toca for the north end of the lake. ➤ KEY TO RESTAURANT PRICES (full meal per person, not including wine) € Up to €25 ● € ● € €26-€50 ● € ● € ● € More than €50 ●

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D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

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Lake Trasimeno

VIEWPOINT As sunset falls over Lake Trasimeno in Umbria, a fisherman takes to his boat and waits in the stillness for his next catch on this stunning freshwater lake

Umbria might be the landlocked green heart of Italy but it has Italy’s fourth largest lake, Trasimeno, to the west of Perugia. Mainly fed by rainwater, it is a shallow basin surrounded by low hills. Its three wooded islands – Polvese, Maggiore and Minore were once places of pilgrimage – it is said St Francis of Assisi visited all three. A haven for wildlife and dotted with lakeside medieval towns, this freshwater lake has tranquil reed beds and a fishing industry which continues sustainably to this day. Enjoy the best views of the sunset over Lake Trasimeno from the eastern shores around the tiny hamlet of Torricella. LI

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Lake Trasimeno LAKES & ISLANDS 2021 63

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Stresa

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

Clockwise, from top left: Mottarone vista towards Lake Orta; Massimo at Al Buscion; the hanging gardens of Isola Bella; lily pond; island passeggiata; lakeside view; Isola dei Pescatori piazza; torrone semifreddo; lunch al fresco 64 LAKES & ISLANDS 2021

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LAKES

Stresa

48 HOURS IN…

Stresa The romantic allure of Lake Maggiore has always inspired visitors to its shores – Amanda Robinson takes a break in the perfectly located town of Stresa and falls under its spell

Images by Amanda Robinson

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ven by the exacting aesthetic standards of the Italian lakes, Lake Maggiore is in the premier league. It might not have the go-to reputation of other Northern Lakes like Garda and Como, but it is that seductive mix of flat watery expanses and soaring slopes that hooks you in from the word go. It was a hazy day as we edged our way towards the lakeside town of Stresa – perfectly poised on the western bord of the lake. Travel-weary from the early flight to Milan Malpensa, I was content to gaze out of the window and let the views work their magic. I was reminded just how close this lake is to the massive Alpine mountain system whose rivers serve it so well, as each narrow little town along the way clung to the contour of the lake, while the thickly wooded and densely green hills rose up sharpy behind them. As we threaded our way to Stresa through the southern town of Arona, our charming driver encouraged us to look right, and there it was – our first glimpse of the lake itself, its greeny-blue waters dimpling slightly in the gentle sunlight. GRAND DESIGNS Tucked under the edge of the mighty Alps, Piedmont hugs the western shore of Lake Maggiore and Lombardy the east, while the very northern edge around Locarno is Swiss. The second largest of the northern Italian lakes, its pleasant Mediterranean microclimate ensures mild temperatures ➤ LAKES & ISLANDS 2021 65

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WHERE TO STAY

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Stresa

HOTEL REGINA PALACE 1 Corso Umberto I 33, Stresa % +39 0323 936936 www.regina-palace.com A gilt-edged lakeside Belle Epoque hotel, with 170 opulent bedrooms. The plush interior décor includes wall and ceiling frescoes, chandeliers and periodstyle furnishings to complete the scene.

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HOTEL LA PALMA 2 Lungolago Umberto I 33, Stresa % +39 0323 32401 www.hlapalma.it This gorgeous place has a chic rooftop bar, which features stunning views across the lake – try and come at sunset, as they are spectacular from the balcony. You can complete the relaxation process by reclining in the waters of the infinity pool. HOTEL VILLA E PALAZZO AMINTA Via Sempione Nord 123, Stresa

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% +39 0323 933818 www.villa-aminta.it Overlooking the enchanting Gulf of the Borromean Islands in Stresa, Villa & Palazzo Aminta is surrounded by the lush vegetation and overlooks the crystal clear water of Lake Maggiore. With the feel of an elegant family home, this is a place to retreat and recharge.

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HOTEL PENSIONE ELENA 4 Piazza Generale Luigi Cadorna 15, Stresa % +39 0323 31043 www.hotelelena.com This one-star hotel in the centre of Stresa is within a stone’s throw of many popular cafés. Very clean and comfortable, this is an ideal place to stay if you are on a budget.

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HOTEL DU PARC 5 Via E. Gignous, 1, 28838 Stresa % +39 0323 30335 www.duparc.it Period villa with elegant rooms surrounded by its own gardens park was transformed into a hotel in the 1950s. Lots of retro features and just a sixminute walk from the shoreline.

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HOTEL DELLA TORRE 6 Via Sempione Nord, 45, 28838 Stresa % +39 0323 32555 www.hoteldellatorrestresa.it Comfortable 3-star hotel with its own swimming pool, you’re close to the shores of Lake Maggiore here.

View from Isola Bella across the lake

DON’T MISS FOOD AND MUSIC FESTIVALS After the many musical events of the summer (see overleaf), the autumn brings the local sagre or food festivals. From chestnuts to chocolate, gorgonzola to pumpkins, these seasonal celebrations are high points in the local calendar. For the most up-to-date information, go to stresatravel. blogspot.com

➤ even in winter, and you’ll see

the evidence of this everywhere in the palm-lined boulevards and formal gardens well-stocked with exotic plants and brightly-coloured tropical flowers. Attractive to the 18th- and 19th-century Grand Tourists who preferred to overwinter away from the bitter rigours of northern European temperatures, towns like my destination, Stresa, grew to cater for the needs of the coterie of well-heeled and leisured individuals who came to the shores of the lake for a spot of aristocratic R&R. And it is indeed grand, in the Edwardian sense of the word – think majestic hotels lining the broad sweeps of promenade, their fin-de-siècle ostentation perfectly at one with the drama of the mountainous backdrop that towers over them. As its reputation increased, Stresa became a destination for the rich, the royals and the famous, with such luminaries as Hemingway, Princess Margaret and Charlie Chaplin dropping by to enjoy the elegant ambiance and mild climate. Even wartime prime minister

Winston Churchill came here with his beloved Clemmie for their honeymoon. Establishing its credentials as a top-class resort for well-heeled Italians during the first half of the 20th century, Stresa even hosted the very first Miss Italy beauty contest in 1946, the very pinnacle of 40s chic. These days of course, visitors come from all over the world, such is the magnetic pull of Maggiore’s waters. PERFECTLY PLACED Stresa is an ideal base for exploring the lake, situated as it is midway along the western shore and well served by public transport links. Take the Lake Maggiore ferry up to Locarno at the Swiss end of the lake or down to Arona from here, cruise around the trio of Borromean Islands, ascend the slopes to Mottarone by cable car (more of that later…) – there’s plenty to do and see while you’re here if you want to use Stresa as your base. Or you could just stay put and explore the town itself, which is full of magnificent villas and splendid gardens built in the late 18th and

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WHERE TO EAT

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Local lonzino antipasti

Ornamental fountain on Stresa’s promenade

AL BUSCION 7 Via Principessa Margherita 18, Stresa % +39 0323 934772 Here you’ll find wines by the glass and outstandingly delicious locally sourced food. Run by charming Massimo and his sister Barbara, this vibrant enoteca has a great atmosphere and is a firm favourite with locals as well as visitors to Stresa. € ● € Price range ●

LAKES

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Stresa

RISTORANTE BELVEDERE 8 Isola dei Pescatori, Stresa % +39 0323 32292 www.belvedere-isolapescatori.it For a real taste of Lake Maggiore, come here to try delicious homemade specialities, all based around the freshwater fish from the lake and locallysourced produce. Sit outside and enjoy the fine lake views as you eat. € ● € Price range ●

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Looking across the water from Isola dei Pescatori

The Mottarone cable Xxx car

early 19th century for the wealthy residents. This picturesquely elegant town of winding narrow streets and tiny piazzas has a vibrant heart, with plenty of independent shops and boutiques to tempt the visitor. Good cafés, bars and restaurants abound and there is a local market every

positively invites you to punctuate your meanderings with a leisurely sit down every few minutes, to muse on the gloriously expansive vistas. The diligent ferries crisscrossing the gently rolling waters set a hypnotic rhythm. A photo opportunity at every turn, your gaze

Its pleasant Mediterranean microclimate ensures mild temperatures even in winter Friday in Piazza Capucci, where the Stresa residents go to stock up for the weekend – well worth a visit for fresh fruit and veg, local alpine cheeses and the odd household bargain! In fact, if you are at a loose end any day of the week, you’ll find a busy market at one of the towns up and down the shoreline, from Cannobio in the north to Arona in the south. You’ll need to check the opening times though, as some of them run all day while others close by lunchtime. Life along the lakeside promenade moves at a more sedate rhythm though, as the lake

is irresistibly drawn to the three Borromean islands sitting in the bay. ISLAND HOPPING You simply cannot visit Stresa without taking in the islands as well. Nestling in the bay, each one – Bella, Madre and Pescatori – has its own personality, so do make time to visit all three. Just a word or two about the Borromeo family, the eponymous owners of the islands – originally from Tuscany, their fortune was based on banking, which allowed them to acquire the islands along with areas of the surrounding mainland in the 14th and 15th ➤

DON’T MISS THE LAVENO BUCKET LIFT If you want a loftier view of the lake, take the ferry from Stresa to Laveno and catch the ‘bucket lift’ up Mount Sasso del Ferro. So-called because the two-man cabins are open topped and look like buckets, the ascent takes about 16 minutes and climbs nearly 4,000 feet. For more info go to www.funiviedel lagomaggiore.it

MAMMA MIA 9 Via Principe Tomaso 11-13, Stresa % +39 0323 30124 Just off the main promenade in Stresa, at this delightful place you will find perfect pastas and amazing pizzas, including the fabulous Il Vesuvio, a double-layered pizza with a spicy filling. € Price range ●

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IL CLANDESTINO 10 Via Rosmini 5, Stresa % +39 0323 30399 www.ristoranteilclandestino.com An elegant, fine dining restaurant where the fish arrives daily. The menu is imaginative and the wine list excellent. For a treat, order the four-course degustazione menu with salted codfish mash and prawn-filled squid ink ravioli. € ● € ● € Price range ●

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TAVERNA DEL PAPPAGALLO 11 Via Principessa Margherita 46, Stresa % +39 0323 30411 www.tavernapappagallo.com Popular pizzeria, right in the centre of Stresa serving homemade pastas and crisp pizzas from the wood-fired oven. Eat outside on the hot summer nights. € Price range ●

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RISTORANTE VECCHIO 12 Vicolo del Poncivo 3, Stresa % +39 0323 932102 www.ristorantevecchio.com A typical local eatery tucked away in the narrow streets at the historic centre of Stresa, this relaxed restaurant offers traditional Piedmontese home cooking with a large outdoors space and just a few minutes walk from the town square. € ● € Price range ●

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WHAT TO SEE & DO

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LAKES

Stresa

CENTOVALLI RAILWAY 13 Take the train from Stresa to Domodossola and connect with the narrow-gauge Centovalli (Hundred Valleys) railway line which runs to Locarno in Switzerland through the spectacular Vigezzo Valley. You can then take a leisurely ferry ride back to Stresa. Rail tickets cost €32 for adults and €16 for children. And don’t forget your passport!

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MOTTARONE CABLE CAR Currently closed. this 20-minute cable car ride will be rewarded by fantastic 360-degree views from Mottarone. The Alpyland alpine roller coaster is also at the summit. For more information visit www.stresa-mottarone.it 14

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STRESA MUSIC FESTIVAL 15 This prestigious musical event is now in its 60th year and runs from the spring to September. There is a varied programme of concerts and recitals that take place in and around the town, including concerts in the sumptuous Borromean palazzo on Isola Bella. Find out more about the latest programme at www.stresafestival.eu

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Map data © 2021 Google

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VILLA TARANTO 16 Scotsman Capt. Neil McEarcharn spent nine years creating an English-style garden here. He collected many exotic botanical specimens from around the world and they thrive to this day in the lake’s mild micro-climate. Don’t miss the Valletta (little valley), the terraced gardens and waterfalls, the water lily and lotus pools, the ornamental fountains and more. Open from March to November, check website for details www.villataranto.it

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SANTA CATERINA DEL SASSO 17 On the Lombardy side of Lake Maggiore a ferry ride from Stresa, this hermitage is an intriguing place. Founded in 1170 by the wealthy merchant, Alberto Besozzi, it has a dramatic and precarious poition cllinging to the rocks above the lake. www.santacaterinadelsasso.com/en

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LAKE ORTA 18 Just a 45-minute drive from Lake Maggiore, Lake Orta is one of the most beautiful and romantic lakes in Europe. Simply wander the cobbled streets of the pretty village of Orta or take a cruise out to the enchanting isle of San Guilio – whatever takes your fancy. For more information, contact Tomassucci Travel, Piazza Marconi 3, Stresa ☎ +39 0323 31862/30341 www.stresatravel.com

DON’T MISS TULIP WEEK At Villa Taranto (see left) from 25 April to 1 May, the spectacular Tulip Week takes place. See over 80,000 tulips including the specially planted Tulip Maze. One in five entrance tickets has a special stamp on the back and the lucky owner receives a free plant grown in the gardens www. villataranto.it/ eng/eventi.asp

➤ centuries. They still own the islands today, and have a sumptuous residence on Isola Bella, part of which is open to the public. First stop for me was Isola Madre, the ‘Mother Island’ and home to the family’s summer palazzo, serene English-style botanical gardens and a host of splendidly tame white peacocks. Thriving in the mild microclimate, you’ll spot banana and palm trees alongside eucalyptus and colourful

which is a complete contrast to the hushed elegance of Madre. The only one of the three islands with permanent residents, its excellent fish restaurants, lakeside bars and souvenir shops ensure its year-round popularity. My highlight was lunch – a delicious freshwater fish feast at the welcoming Albergo Ristorante Belvedere, right on the shore. Replete and relaxed, my final stop was craggy Isola Bella where everything you see is larger than

Each of these islands has its own personality, so do make time to visit all three camellias. No longer occupied, the 16th-century palazzo has been turned into a fascinating museum. Wander through the gracious rooms crowded with the family’s private collections – an eclectic mix from costume, manuscripts and fine porcelain to an extraordinary display of ingenious puppet theatres and antique marionettes. And then on to bustling Isola dei Pescatori, the ‘Fishermen’s Island’,

life: from the supersize confection of the Baroque palace to the hyperbole of the fanciful formal gardens, it really is an extraordinary sensory overload. Modelled on the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, let the ten terraces lead you upwards to the apex of the garden’s pyramid construction where far-reaching views across the lake are your reward. You can also take a tour around the palazzo whose ornate

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One of Stresa’s many cobbled streets

LAKES

Stresa

ta © 2021 Google

View across Lake Maggiore

rooms have welcomed the great and the good, but it is the grottoes, where every inch is decorated with intricate shell and pebble mosaics, that will take your breath away. A WIDER VIEW And for a loftier perspective on the lake, when it reopens, take a vertiginous cable car trip up to Mottarone, some 1,400 metres above the town. Despite the rather rickety ride,I thoroughly enjoyed the unfolding panoramic views as we climbed ever higher, but it was clear that some of the other passengers were somewhat out of their comfort zone… A word to the faint-hearted – you swap cable cars halfway, and can admire the Alpine Botanical Gardens before doing the next leg to the top. A brisk ten-minute walk uphill to the summit and wow – your reward is spellbinding 360-degree views of seven Italian lakes and Monte Rosa, the highest peak in Italy. Grand, majestic, romantic, dramatic, unparalleled – Lake Maggiore has it all, whichever way you look at it. LI

GETTING THERE

Stresa market flower stall Xxx

Dusk on the lake

➤ BY PLANE Lake Maggiore is most accessible by train from Milan Malpensa (about 45km south of the lake) and other Milan airports, as well as Turin airport (about 140km from Stresa). A bus service runs five times a day from Malpensa up the western edge of the lake (April to October, book ahead: www.safduemila.com) ➤ TRAIN & CAR Stresa is well-served by trains from Milan and elsewhere in northern Italy. By car, take the fast A26 route from Malpensa to Stresa and the western coast, or the slower SS33, if you want the scenic route. ➤ GETTING AROUND You can use the local bus service for villages around the lake, but the best way to travel is by water. For more information on Maggiore ferries, see www.navigazionelaghi.it

A selection of local cheeses

➤ KEY TO RESTAURANT PRICES (full meal per person, not including wine) € Up to €25 ● € ● € €26-€50 ● € ● € ● € More than €50 ● Amanda travelled to Lake Maggiore with TUI. To book, visit www.tui.co.uk/ europe/italy/and look for Stresa

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Welcome to Italy’s ISLANDS Image © iStock

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ELBA

p84

VENICE LAGOON

Welcome to Italy’s ISLANDS

p104

p126

NORTH SARDINIA VENTOTENE

p92 p74

CAPRI

p120 SOUTH SARDINIA

p114 NORTHWEST SICILY

AEOLIAN ISLANDS

p98

p110

PIAZZA ARMERINA

p90

p81

TAORMINA

CALTAGIRONE

ITALY’S ISLANDS From Sicily and Sardinia to equally beautiful but lesser-known destinations, we bring you the very best of Italian island life p84

p74

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

Images by Laura Thayer

Photography by Sara Scarpa

ISLANDS Venice Lagoon

Capri ISLANDS

Capri

ISLANDS Venice Lagoon

ISLANDS

48 HOURS ON…

Capri Laura Thayer delves into the artistic side of Capri to discover why this photogenic island is more than just a pretty face

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rriving on a nearly packed ferry, surrounded by cameras and phones snapping away to capture the view, it’s impossible to underestimate the popular appeal of this tiny island off the coast of the Sorrentine peninsula, not far from Naples. This is one of the most popular travel destinations in Italy and I never expect my experience here to be a solitary one. Yet it’s precisely this enduring appeal that fascinates me, as it’s not just today’s travellers that have been drawn here: Capri has attracted visitors for as long as history can recall. While the island’s popularity may seem a modern invention, the call of Capri has deep roots. In 29 BC, for example, Octavian, soon to be the Roman emperor Augustus, arrived on Capri and was so taken by its natural beauty that he gave the island of Ischia to Naples in exchange for it. Approaching the island’s port of Marina Grande, I step outside onto the front deck of the ferry and gaze up at the sheer cliffs. It’s an imposing and captivating sight. There’s just something about this place that has always been impossible to resist. From the Marina Grande port, a funicular train leads up to Capri town. At the top, I go with the flow of people spilling out onto a terrace and stop to look up at the Torre dell’Orologio. Locals consider this bell tower with its majolica-tiled clock to be the symbol of Capri.

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D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

ISLANDS

ISLANDS

Southern Sardinia

Caltagirone, Sicily

SANTA MARIA DEL MONTE

Southern Sardinia

PA S T I TA L I A !

Caltagirone, Sicily

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isitors to Venice, especially those visiting for the first time, tend to associate the city with the main fish-shaped island in the Lagoon – Saint Mark’s Square, the Rialto Bridge and the canals filled with singing gondoliers… This is understandable, but Venice is much more than this, and even for returning visitors it is still full of surprises, many of which are hidden amongst the numerous islands within its Lagoon. Most tourists tend to postpone the tour of the islands to the last few hours of their holiday, if time still allows it. Obviously, you cannot miss the main sights but, historically and geographically, it would make more sense to start by visiting the Venetian islands, as it is here that this unique and fascinating city originated. So, if you are planning your second trip to Venice, I would recommend you dedicate it to visiting some of the islands where the story began…

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Venice native Sara Scarpa takes us out of town on a long cycle ride from Lido to Pellestrina, and then on a boat trip to Murano, Burano and Torcello…

Clockwise from top left: the Ponte del Diavolo; Santa Maria e San Donato, Murano; view of St Mark’s Square from the Campanile of San Giorgio; Alberto, Roberto and Stefano offer a warm welcome; two views of houses on Burano; Lido beach and the Excelsior Hotel; La Giudecca

ISLANDS

Clockwise from top left: Climb to the top of Monte Solaro for views across the island; shopping here is rarely cheap but always fun; view of the Marina Grande as you arrive; fishing boats in the Marina Grande; the turquoise sea; Eco Capri is a celebration of the work of artist Letizia Cerio; the view from Anacapri; the garden at the Villa San Michele; boat tours to the Blue Grotto

48 HOURS ON…

The Venetian Islands

La Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte climbs to the church of St Mary of the Mount in Caltagirone, Sicily

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Sardinia’s

Song of the South Many people seek the northernmost reaches of Sardinia for their holiday destination. Mary Novakovich went the other way, southwest of Cagliari to a corner of the island where the pace of life is slower…

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Images by Adam Batterbee

he Church of Saint Mary of the Mount in Caltagirone dates back to the 12th-century; its staircase is early 17th-century; but the majolica tiles that have made the staircase famous today were only placed in the 1950s. Created by local craftsmen, the tiles tell the story, in chronological order, of the town and its connections with the ceramics industry, which predate even the church itself. A sight to behold on any day of the year, the staircase is properly put to use on St James’ Night (25 July), when the people of Caltagirone pay respect to their patron saint. LI

he name of the house was a good omen. Casetta Maria – Mary’s Little House – had two small bedrooms and three big terraces. Yes, three. I could flit from the top terrace, where the swing seat was by an olive tree, to the rear terrace, with its handy brick barbecue and huge, private outdoor shower, before relaxing on the sheltered front terrace surrounded by bougainvillea, palms and luxuriant shrubs. It was just the place to savour Sardinian life in the balmy late-summer air that was heavy with the scent of juniper, pine and wild herbs. I was in Sardinia’s deep south, where the coast road west of Cagliari wound alongside mountains covered in macchia – a scrubby, fragrant landscape of myrtle, heather, gorse, stunted juniper bushes and prickly pear hanging with ripe fruit. The jagged coast hid countless little coves and much bigger sandy beaches – some of the loveliest on the island. From Casetta Maria I walked two minutes through a pine forest to what felt like a little private beach for the residents of Sa Pinnetta, our small hamlet of mainly holiday cottages and second homes. This intimate spot became our favourite for a late-afternoon swim after a day’s exploring.

Sardinia’s Costa del Sud, as I was discovering, was full of surprises. To the east towards the capital, Cagliari, is Pula, a pleasant inland village with a lively Tuesday morning market and an attractive main square filled with busy restaurants and cafés. About two kilometres away is the town beach, which happens to be next to one of Sardinia’s most important ancient sites, Nora Archaeological Park. BOTTARGA AND CLAMS In Pula, on the little terrace of Mr Jingles in the main square, I had my first taste of one of Sardinia’s most distinctive flavours: bottarga. This cured, dried mullet roe is usually grated onto pasta and was – as I discovered over a bowl of spaghetti with bottarga and clams – instantly addictive. Over the course of a week, I was chasing this heavenly taste of the sea all over the southern coast, from seafood restaurant to seafood restaurant. Happily for me, that’s one thing the Costa del Sud didn’t lack. One day, heading west on the winding coast road, I had noticed signs advertising Trattoria da Gianni. In my experience, I’ve found that the more signs you see

Clockwise from top left: View over Sa Pinnetta, our home for the holiday; the top terrace at Casetta Maria; spaghetti with bottarga and clams; our outdoor shower; cheese at Pula market; fresh sardines for sale; joining the locals in the acquisition of fruit and vegetables; sea view from the top of Sa Pinnetta

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At-a-glance Guide

SMALL ISLANDS,

ISLANDS

BIG attractions

BEST FOR SCENERY

ELBA (see p126) For sheer diversity of landscape Elba takes some beating. This pretty island boasts enchanting inland scenery as well as some glorious beaches and coves around its edges.

BEST FOR MYSTERY

MONTECRISTO Legend has it that gold is hidden on this famous island, now an important nature reserve. Visits are limited to 1,000 people a year, and gaining a permit is very difficult.

BEST FOR NATURE

ASINARA Famous for its native albino donkey, pretty Asinara is also an important national park that plays host to a range of vegetation, birds and animals.

© iStock Photo

Sicily and Sardinia are spectacular, but Italy has a wealth of heavenly archipelagos to explore – indulge in a spot of island-hopping as we bring you our favourite spots…

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BEST FOR DIVING BEST FOR COVES

BEST FOR SAILING BEST FOR SPAS

ISCHIA The restorative properties of Ischia’s waters attract countless visitors seeking healing or simply relaxation. You can choose from a vast array of spas and spa hotels.

BEST FOR GLAMOUR

CAPRI (see p74) Luxe hotels, chic boutiques and gourmet restaurants add to this island’s appeal, and it’s a charming place to visit, even if you’re not with the jet-set.

BEST FOR WALKING

LAMPEDUSA The island itself isn’t one of Italy’s finest, but La Spiaggia dei Conigli is one of the best beaches in Europe: idyllic white sand edging into a perfect turquoise sea.

At-a-glance Guide

PONZA The coast around Ponza is popular for sailing, and it’s worth taking a boat out, either self-driven or as a guided day-trip. A fantastic range of watersports are available too.

SAN DOMINO For the best swimming in Italy try the picture-perfect coves of the Tremiti islands. San Domino’s natural inlets can be accessed via the island’s paths or by boat.

ISLANDS

GIANNUTRI This tiny island has some of the best diving in the Med, with plenty of underwater flora and fauna to wow sub-aqua tourists – there’s even a shipwreck to explore.

STROMBOLI (see p114) For serious hikers this volcano offers a trek you’ll never forget, with vertiginous ascents and dramatic views (but you’ll need a guide to make the full ascent).

BEST FOR BEACHES

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ISLANDS

Capri

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

Clockwise from top left: Climb to the top of Monte Solaro for views across the island; shopping here is rarely cheap but always fun; view of the Marina Grande as you arrive; fishing boats in the Marina Grande; the turquoise sea; Eco Capri is a celebration of the work of artist Letizia Cerio; the view from Anacapri; the garden at the Villa San Michele; boat tours to the Blue Grotto

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ISLANDS

Capri

Images by Laura Thayer

Capri

48 HOURS ON…

Laura Thayer delves into the artistic side of Capri to discover why this photogenic island is more than just a pretty face

A

rriving on a nearly packed ferry, surrounded by cameras and phones snapping away to capture the view, it’s impossible to underestimate the popular appeal of this tiny island off the coast of the Sorrentine peninsula, not far from Naples. This is one of the most popular travel destinations in Italy and I never expect my experience here to be a solitary one. Yet it’s precisely this enduring appeal that fascinates me, as it’s not just today’s travellers that have been drawn here: Capri has attracted visitors for as long as history can recall. While the island’s popularity may seem a modern invention, the call of Capri has deep roots. In 29 BC, for example, Octavian, soon to be the Roman emperor Augustus, arrived on Capri and was so taken by its natural beauty that he gave the island of Ischia to Naples in exchange for it. Approaching the island’s port of Marina Grande, I step outside onto the front deck of the ferry and gaze up at the sheer cliffs. It’s an imposing and captivating sight. There’s just something about this place that has always been impossible to resist. From the Marina Grande port, a funicular train leads up to Capri town. At the top, I go with the flow of people spilling out onto a terrace and stop to look up at the Torre dell’Orologio. Locals consider this bell tower with its majolica-tiled clock to be the symbol of Capri. LAKES & ISLANDS 2021 75

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WHAT TO SEE AND DO

ISLANDS

Capri

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GIARDINI DI AUGUSTO 1 Via Matteotti 2, 80076 Capri www.cittadicapri.it/it/s/giardini-diaugusto-e-via-krupp These lovely gardens were created in the late 1800s by German industrialist Friedrich Alfred Krupp, who also built the impressive zig-zagging pathway nearby that leads down to the sea. The terraced gardens are planted with typical Capri and Mediterranean plants and offer a fine view over the nearby Certosa di San Giacomo and to the Faraglioni rocks.

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CERTOSA DI SAN GIACOMO 2 Via Certosa 1, 80073 Capri www.musei.campania.beniculturali.it/ Built in the late 14th century, this grand Carthusian monastery is one of the island’s most peaceful spots. The complex includes an impressive large cloister and a smaller cloister, a church with historic frescoes, and a museum dedicated to the works of German artist Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach, who lived on Capri for 12 years.

View over the Piazzetta, the centre of life in Capri town

The waterfront at the Marina Grande

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CENTRO CAPRENSE IGNAZIO CERIO 3 Piazzetta Cerio 5, 80076 Capri www.centrocaprense.org Overlooking the Piazzetta in a 14th-century palazzo, this cultural centre is dedicated to Capri’s history. Inside you’ll find a library and museum with an extensive collection that tells the story of the island’s natural history, including paleontological and archaeological finds. Climb to the rooftop terrace for its views of the Piazzetta. CHIESA MONUMENTALE DI SAN MICHELE 4 Piazza San Nicola, 80071 Anacapri www.chiesa-san-michele.com Behind the white baroque façade of this small church lies an incredibly detailed, hand-painted majolica tiled floor depicting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Admire all the creatures of the garden while walking around the church floor perimeter and then climb the spiral staircase to the upper level for a full view.

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VILLA SAN MICHELE 5 Viale Axel Munthe 34, 80071 Anacapri www.villasanmichele.eu Surrounded by an expansive garden, this villa was the home of noted Swedish writer and doctor Axel Munthe. Visit the house museum and stroll through the gardens dotted with sculptures to the overlook with a statue of a sphinx and outstanding view over Capri and the Gulf of Naples. The estate was willed to the Swiss government and actively promotes the interchange of writers, researchers, and artists between Switzerland and Italy.

More shopping opportunities

DON’T MISS CAPRI FROM THE SEA One of the best vantage points for experiencing Capri’s natural beauty is from the sea. Whether you enjoy a private boat excursion, join a group boat tour, or even rent a boat and explore on your own, do find time to get out on the water. Laser Capri offers a group tour around the island that can be combined with a visit to the Grotta Azzurra. From €15 per person. Laser Capri ☎ +39 081 837 5208, www. lasercapri.com

Just beyond is the heart of town, the tiny yet very busy little piazza referred to as La Piazzetta. Here you’ll find pieces of all aspects of Capri life in one flamboyant jumble. Climbing a small flight of steps from the Piazzetta, I crane my neck to look up at the bright white façade of the Chiesa di Santo Stefano. Built in the late 17th century, the baroque interior is flooded with light that seems only appropriate for Capri.

archeological, paleontological and natural finds from the island. At the top of the museum is a terrace offering a bird’s eye view over the Piazzetta below. Letizia Cerio was one of Capri’s most celebrated artists. Images of her Capri swirl through my mind as I wander down Via Vittorio Emanuele, a street lined with boutiques, each more elegant than the last. This is where local

The Palazzo Cerio offers a unique glimpse into Capri’s history and artistic tradition Before leaving the church, I stop to see the marble details in the altar area that came from Roman-era villas on the island. Overlooking the Piazzetta, the Palazzo Cerio dates back to the 14th century and offers a unique glimpse into Capri’s history and artistic traditions. Inside is the Centro Caprense Ignazio Cerio, a real Capri treasure, where I like to peer into the display cases holding

traditions, such as the making of handmade sandals, stand alongside the biggest names in international fashion. Yet on this occasion I am heading in a different direction for a moment of calm and reflection at the Certosa di San Giacomo. QUIET MOMENTS IN CAPRI Built in the 14th century as a Carthusian monastery, the church’s cloisters and long corridors have

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The Museo Diefenbach at the Certosa

La Certosa di San Giacomo, a chance for quiet and reflection

ISLANDS

The Faraglioni from Giardini di Agosto

Salvatore Federico in his gallery

Capri

long been silent. In the grand cloister, time seems to stand still. Before leaving, I spend a moment taking in the tumultuous scenes of the German painter Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach (1851-1913). Arriving on Capri in 1901, Diefenbach stayed here, painting scenes often inspired by Capri’s beauty, until his death in 1913. These grand, stark white rooms are the perfect setting to admire the large scale of the often dark paintings of Diefenbach before

stepping back out into the bright and airy bougainvillea-hued streets of Capri. Next I follow the signs leading to the Giardini di Augusto, the Gardens of Augustus. While the gardens never actually belonged to the Roman emperor, it’s hard to imagine that he wouldn’t have enjoyed them, or the picture-perfect views of the Faraglioni they afford. The Faraglioni are the formation of three rocks jutting out of the sea, with a hole through the central rock Shade in the garden at Villa San Michele

where boats cruise through. I watch them come and go as I dodge in and out of the way of photos. (Of course, though it may be quiet here, you won’t be the only one with the idea of stopping for photos.) I peer over the edge of the terrace down to the zig-zag Via Krupp, a scenic walkway (now closed) that leads down to the tempting turquoise sea below. But I’ve set my sights high and am off to the island’s other town. ARTISTIC ANACAPRI To delve a little deeper into Capri’s historic and artistic side, I’m heading to the higher part on the island’s western side to the town called Anacapri. I set off first for Villa San Michele, once the home of the Swiss doctor and writer Axel Munthe (1857-1949). His home has been transformed into a museum where I read more about his life and work before stepping out into the gardens. A pergola-covered pathway leads to a tiny lookout point with a spectacular view over Marina Grande below

DON’T MISS LA GROTTA AZZURRA The Blue Grotto is one of Capri’s most popular sights. The experience of being whisked inside on a small rowing boat and seeing the electric blue water is an exhilarating one. Be prepared for a long wait and a high ticket price. The entrance is small and access is dependent on the weather and sea conditions. Motoscafisti di Capri ☎ +39 081 837 5646, www. motoscafisti capri.com €14 entrance plus boat transfer from €18 per person.

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D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

5 9

10

4 14 8

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Capri

12 3 11 13 7 2 15 1 6

Map data © 2021 Google

WHERE TO STAY

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HOTEL LUNA 5 Viale Giacomo Matteotti 3, 80073 Capri www.lunahotel.com In the centre of Capri, near the Giardini di Augusto and the Certosa di San Giacomo. Splurge for a Deluxe room to enjoy views of the Faraglioni from your own terrace.

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HOTEL CANASTA 7 Via Campo di Teste 6, 80076 Capri www.canastahotelcapri.com This 15-room boutique hotel has recently been remodelled and features a blend of classic décor and crisp design. To enjoy a sea view, go for one of the Superior rooms.

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CASA MARIANTONIA 8 Via Giuseppe Orlandi 180, 80071 Anacapri www.casamariantonia.com Just a short stroll from Anacapri’s main sights, this lovely hotel offers comfortably furnished rooms set among a lemon grove.

with the Sorrentine peninsula just beyond and Mount Vesuvius looming across the Gulf of Naples. Just a few steps away from Villa San Michele, Salvatore Federico has a gallery (Via Capodimonte 58, Anacapri) of his paintings and drawings. Born on Capri, he started painting when he was only seven years old. Even after a lifetime spent capturing the island from all

The tradition of ceramics on the island isn’t just for the history books

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IL GIARDINO DELL’ ARTE 9 Traversa la Vigna 32b, 80071 Anacapri www.ilgiardinocapri.com This charming B&B has a decidedly artistic atmosphere throughout its five bright and beautifully decorated rooms. Each has a terrace and views over the Gulf of Naples.

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J.K. PLACE CAPRI 10 Via Marina Grande 225, 80076 Capri www.jkcapri.com Exquisite taste and fine views come together at this luxury property overlooking the Marina Grande. Considered to be one of Capri’s finest addresses.

angles and in all seasons, he is still continually searching for the next moment of inspiration. My next stop is to see one of the island’s artistic gems. While the Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo is not a large church, inside is a majolica-tiled floor completely covered with an ornate scene of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Created in 1761 by Leonardo

La Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo

Chiaiese, a master ceramic artist from Naples, it’s fascinating to walk around the viewing platform along the edges (you can’t walk on the tiles!) and get lost in the scene jampacked with creatures – including some intriguing 18th-century interpretations of exotic animals. The tradition of ceramics on the island isn’t just for the history books. I stop in Ceramiche Tavassi (Via Giuseppe Orlandi 129, Anacapri), where Gennaro Tavassi is at work painting at his studio in the back of the shop. I stop to admire the scene he’s painting of a garden pergola and to chat about his designs and the Capri that inspires them. Inscribed above his

DON’T MISS MONTE SOLARO At 598 metres, the peak of Monte Solaro is Capri’s highest point and the view from the top cannot be beaten. From here you can see all over the island and even enjoy a fine view of the Sorrentine peninsula and the Gulf of Naples. Capri Seggiovia runs a chairlift connecting Anacapri with the summit for €11, round trip. Seggiovia Monte Solaro, Via Caposcuro, 10, Anacapri ☎ +39 081 837 1438, www.capri seggiovia.it

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D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

ISLANDS

The Eco Capri store

Capri

Capri Shopping Located in what was once the stable area for the Palazzo Cerio is one of Capri’s most unique stores. Inside Eco Capri, the history and artistic style of the island come together to celebrate the work of Letizia Cerio, one of Capri’s most captivating artists. Her creative designs, many of them inspired by things she saw on the island, are the basis for Eco Capri’s custom line of clothing, accessories, and home décor – all of it imagined and brought to life by her grandson, Federico Alvarez de Toledo. Her original artwork on display in the store offers a special glimpse of the source of inspiration behind the beautifully crafted pieces. While you can catch the sweet scent of the Carthusia perfume stores in many places around Capri, I always make time to visit their factory. Local legend has it that the first perfume to be created here was inspired by the nearby Certosa di San Giacomo, when a special bouquet of flowers given to the visiting Queen Giovanna d’Angiò in the 14th century created a sweetly infused scent. Today the production of perfumes, soaps, and home scents all takes place on Capri, with the island’s many distinctive native plants inspiring the line of fragrances.

Carthusia perfume stores

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D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

WHERE TO EAT

ISLANDS

Capri

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MICHEL’ANGELO 11 Via Vecchia, Grotta Azzurra, Capri www.caprimichelangelo.com Located on two hectares of rich and fertile sea view garden property, adjacent to the famous Blue Grotto, Capri local Gianluca D’Esposito and his Australian-born wife Holly Star are behind the magic here. They closed their restaurant in 2020 after 12 happy years, but guests are now welcome to take private cooking classes and tasting sessions and learn how to recreate iconic Capri recipes at home! They also supply lavish picnic baskets to visitors, which must be ordered in advance for collection. €● € ●

Gennaro Tavassi creating ceramics in his workshop

Riding the Monte Solaro chairlift

This is the easy way to get to the top

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PESCHERIA LE BOTTEGHE 12 Via le Botteghe 19, 80076 Capri www.pescherialebotteghe.it This busy fish shop in the morning transforms into a dining spot for lunch and dinner with a casual bar-style setting. Of course, the freshest fish is guaranteed! A great spot near the Piazzetta to enjoy oysters or try their crudo di pesce (raw seafood) selection. €● € ●

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VILLA MARGHERITA 13 Via Campo di Teste 4, 80073 Capri www.ristorantevillamargheritacapri.com Set in a quiet area in Capri with an outdoor dining area below the olive trees, this restaurant is an excellent choice for lunch or dinner. Start with the grilled octopus served over an orange infused salad and follow with the house speciality of fettucine with red shrimp and lemon. €● € ●

workspace is a saying that in part reads: “When you buy something from an artist, you’re not buying just one thing. You are buying a piece of a heart, a piece of a soul – a small piece of some else’s life.” When I look around Ceramiche Tavassi, I see ceramics inspired by a deep love of Capri. Before leaving Capri, I have to visit the island’s most panoramic spot. The Seggiovia Monte Solaro

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LA ZAGARA 14 Via Giuseppe Orlandi 180, 80071 Anacapri www.casamariantonia.com Dine among a lemon grove at this peaceful spot at the Casa Mariantonia. With the fresh scent of lemon in the air, this is a dreamy setting for enjoying classic Mediterranean flavours from the menu that is well balanced with seafood and meat options. The La Zagara wine bar is a good choice for local wine and charcuterie. €● € ●

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THE VIEW FROM THE TOP The beauty is quite intoxicating. Yet, as I look down over the island below, what strikes me most about Capri are the stories. These stories are a blend of the people who live here, the people who visit here and carry a piece of it with them, and

The sun bakes the pine trees and the sounds of Capri fall away behind

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CAPRI ROOFTOP 150 Viale Giacomo Matteotti 7, 80073 Capri www.caprirooftop.com With the same fine views of the Faraglioni as the adjacent Giardini di Augusto, this rooftop bar is great for drinks during the day and is especially fine as the sun sets and the Capri nightlife begins. You can’t go wrong with the menu of classic cocktails, or try their signature luna caprese drink made with limoncello, vodka, citrus and soda.

through the clear turquoise sea sparkling in the sun as sea gulls float gently in the breeze.

➤ KEY TO RESTAURANT PRICES (full meal per person, not including wine) € Up to €25 ● €● € €26-€50 ● €● €● € More than €50 ●

runs a chairlift to the top of Monte Solaro, the highest point on Capri. As the chairlift begins to climb up the mountain, I’m distracted at first by villas and gardens just below. Before long, the incline becomes steep and increasingly rugged. The sun bakes the pine trees and the sounds of Capri fall away behind. Hopping off at the top, I hurry straight to the edge and catch my breath as I lean over and look down the sheer cliff to the sea far below. Boats cut their way

the people who arrive and can never quite leave again. This, for me, is heart of Capri. Take time to listen to discover the island’s history, experience the quiet yet inspiring natural beauty that’s there just around the corner from bustling piazzas, and meet the people keeping the artistic tradition of Capri alive. Then, just maybe, you’ll see the Capri that captured my heart on my first visit 12 years ago and that keeps calling me back. LI

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FA S T C U LT U R E

Piazza Armerina

in Sicily

ISLANDS

Ozymandias

Percy Shelley wrote of Ozymandias, the King of Kings whose Mighty Works became a Colossal Wreck of decay. But who was the Ozymandias of the Villa Romana del Casale at Piazza Armerina? Will we ever know?

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FA S T C U LT U R E

ISLANDS

Walkways for visitors above the mosaic floors

Getting orientated within the Villa

Viewing gallery over the mosaic floors

Images © Patricia Gartman

Piazza Armerina

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he Sicilian town of Piazza Armerina developed in the 11th century during the Norman domination of Sicily. It was first settled by Saracens and later populated by immigrants from Lombardy, which helps to explain traces of a unique dialect in the native speech. The odd name evidently stems from the fact the town was simply known as “Piazza” – which can mean both “square” and “market” – for centuries, because it was the local market centre. “Armerina” was added later to acknowledge one of the town’s hills, Colle Armerina. Narrow, steep medieval streets lead to the very top of the town where there is a fine, baroque cathedral with a 15th-century bell tower. From the square by the church there is a panoramic view of the surrounding fertile farmland. But the town is known worldwide only because there is a great villa, three kilometres southwest, nestled in a green and pleasant valley. Most of the walls are gone, of course. The villa was built long ago; no one can say exactly when. The floors are still there, though, and that’s a very good thing, since there are no other floors like these in all the wide world. Some time between the late 3rd and the end of the 4th century AD someone lived in this spot like a potentate, in 62 rooms paved with over 120 million mosaic tesserae, in approximately 35 different colours. There was a monumental entrance in the form of a triumphal arch, and a peristyle with a central pool and fountain, surrounded by a loggia of 32 Corinthian columns made of white marble. Nearby, the family and guests could stroll the 138-metre length of a covered ambulatory. There were dining rooms, dressing rooms, and bedrooms, of course; not to mention a lararium, dedicated to the worship of the lares and penates – Roman household gods. There was also a gymnasium next to a bath complex with cold, tepid, and hot pools, like a private version of the public baths in Rome; and in all the rooms, large and small, the floors were covered with pictures made of small stone tesserae, coloured like jewels. It’s clear that the villa, now known as Villa Romana del Casale, was the centre of a vast rural estate called a latifundium. Such privately held estates were subdivided and managed by leaseholders, who further sublet to farmers. The fieldwork was done by slaves. But who owned the villa, and when was it built? Who decided to decorate over 4,000 square metres of pavement with such vivid images? There are many subjects. In the Corridor of the Great Hunt, exotic animals from all over the known world – lions, tigers, elephants, ostriches and more – are shown being trapped

The central medallion in the main bedroom

The Corridor of the Great Hunt

The Children’s Hunting Scene

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The Family: mother, centre, with son, daughter and servants

Piazza Armerina

The Chariot Race at the Circus Maximus

ISLANDS

The Bikini Athletic Tournament

and loaded on ships bound for Rome. There are other hunting and fishing scenes elsewhere. In one room, ten long-limbed young women in costumes resembling bikinis are shown competing in athletic events. There are scenes of chariot racing in the Circus Maximus, and another event with children driving chariots pulled by peacocks, pigeons, flamingos and geese. There are depictions of mythical and historical events, like the Rape of the Sabine Women. The owner and his family were obviously people with a multitude of interests, but do the images give us enough clues to identify them? The arguments between scholars go back and forth like a game of intellectual tennis. One faction begins service by placing the building of the palace before 310 AD, and posits that it belonged to Maximian, co-emperor with Diocletian, because the scene showing the Circus Maximus has only one obelisk, the one erected by Augustus in 10 AD. Since the other obelisk was erected by Constantius II in 357 AD, the mosaic must have been created before that date. Who was wealthy enough to build the estate but an emperor? Besides, mosaics of the family depict the owner’s son with a squint, which Maximian’s son, Maxentius, is known to have had. Another scholarly camp returns serve by observing that the single obelisk in the mosaic is not in the middle of the Circus Maximus’s spina, the dividing wall between the two sides of the chariot-racing course, but rather towards one end, where it was moved in 327 AD to make room for Constantius’s second obelisk. Therefore, they say, the mosaic was created after 327. Since Maximian died in 310, and Maxentius died at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, the villa could not have been theirs. Anyway, they insist, the alleged squint is just a figment of mosaic-induced imagination. And so the game continues. It has been estimated that the labour necessary to create the masterful artworks took nearly 21,000 working days. The teams of artists who made the mosaics probably came from north Africa, and some of them signed their work with cryptic symbols, which we, after so many centuries, cannot interpret. It would be as thrilling to know their stories as to know about the life of the aristocratic owner, who built a splendid monument to celebrate his greatness, and then forgot to sign it. LI

ABOUT THE WRITER JOE GARTMAN writes about travel, history and culture, and divides his time between the southwest US and Europe. Learn more at www.joegartman.com

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ISLANDS Venice Lagoon

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

Clockwise from top left: the Ponte del Diavolo; Santa Maria e San Donato, Murano; view of St Mark’s Square from the Campanile of San Giorgio; Alberto, Roberto and Stefano offer a warm welcome; two views of houses on Burano; Lido beach and the Excelsior Hotel; La Giudecca

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Photography by Sara Scarpa

ISLANDS Venice Lagoon

48 HOURS ON…

The Venetian Islands Venice native Sara Scarpa takes us out of town on a long cycle ride from Lido to Pellestrina, and then on a boat trip to Murano, Burano and Torcello…

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isitors to Venice, especially those visiting for the first time, tend to associate the city with the main fish-shaped island in the Lagoon – Saint Mark’s Square, the Rialto Bridge and the canals filled with singing gondoliers… This is understandable, but Venice is much more than this, and even for returning visitors it is still full of surprises, many of which are hidden amongst the numerous islands within its Lagoon. Most tourists tend to postpone the tour of the islands to the last few hours of their holiday, if time still allows it. Obviously, you cannot miss the main sights but, historically and geographically, it would make more sense to start by visiting the Venetian islands, as it is here that this unique and fascinating city originated. So, if you are planning your second trip to Venice, I would recommend you dedicate it to visiting some of the islands where the story began… LAKES & ISLANDS 2021 85

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WHAT TO SEE AND DO

ISLANDS Venice Lagoon

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CHIESA DI SAN NICOLÒ (LIDO DI VENEZIA) 1 Riviera di San Nicolò, 26 This was the last sight of Venice for the sailors on their trading trips. The Sposalizio del Mare (the Marriage of the Sea) takes place every year in the Lagoon in front of this church. The Sposalizio is followed by Mass in the church. Here also rest some relics of Saint Nicholas, who inspired the figure of Father Christmas.

SUNBATHING ON THE MURAZZI (LIDO DI VENEZIA) 2 If you want to relax, stop cycling and sunbathe on one of the piers of the Murazzi. The farther you venture the quieter it becomes. You might be lucky enough to get a pier just for yourself. Do not forget your sun lotion and a bottle of water as there is little in the way of refreshments – just you and the natural surroundings!

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BASILICA DI SANTA MARIA ASSUNTA (TORCELLO) 3 Piazza Torcello % +39 041 7301 19 The cathedral is Venice’s oldest ByzantineRomanesque monument – its original foundations date to 639AD. It is famous for its 11th to 13th century mosaics, which are considered to be some of the best in northern Italy. The mosaics, the polychrome marble floors and the gilded iconostasis make this church a very spiritual place.

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ISOLA DI SAN LAZZARO DEGLI ARMENI 4 Isola di San Lazzaro degli Armeni % +39 041 526 0104 In 1717 a group of Armenian monks fleeing persecution in Constantinople occupied this island, restored the buildings, founded a printing press and created a library. Today’s monks are the custodians of a rich history of books, manuscripts and other treasures. In 1816 Lord Byron spent six months here studying Armenian; his classroom is now occupied by an Egyptian mummy. The library holds works by Palma il Giovane, Ricci and a stunning fresco by Tiepolo. Take vaporetto line 20 from San Marco-San Zaccaria; stop San Lazzaro degli Armeni. PANIFICIO PASTICCERIA PALMISANO CARMELINA (BURANO) 5 Piazza Baldassarre Galuppi, 355 % +39 041 730010 www.dolcipalmisano.it The Bussolà and the Esse are Burano’s typical biscuits. They are my favourites and every time I am in Burano I stop at Palmisano’s to buy lots of Bussolà with the hope that I will make them last longer than last time! This bakery/pastry shop has been run by the same family for almost a century now.

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The Locanda Zanella

DON’T MISS SPRITZ AT MALETI’S This bar is located in Gran Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta, the main street on Lido. This is where, especially in the summer, young Venetians meet after work to have a Spritz and to do some people watching. Spritz is the typical Venetian aperitif made with Aperol, white wine, soda water, a slice of orange and a green olive.

In the past, the many islands had several functions, from quarantine stations containing people with different illnesses (from mental problems to plague) to places welcoming religious communities, and monasteries. Over the centuries, some of the islands have vanished in the water of the Lagoon (Ammiana, Costanziaca, etc.), some have been abandoned but many, in recent years, have been culturally and touristically recovered (San Clemente, San Servolo,

of San Giorgio Maggiore, once a monastery, now the Giorgio Cini Foundation, with another one of Palladio’s greatest sacred works, with its intriguing maze and with the spectacular view over Venice from its campanile, which beats even the famous view you get from Saint Mark’s Tower. Alternatively, you could opt to visit the “minor” islands, which are called “minor” as they are generally far from the familiar itineraries,

Over the centuries, some of the islands have vanished in the water of the Lagoon l’Isola delle Rose, La Certosa, etc.). You will be spoilt for choice and, perhaps a bit overwhelmed, if you only have 48 hours. You could, for example, visit the island of La Giudecca, starting with a visit to the stunning Palladian Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, then indulging in the food of Harry’s Dolci and, finally, relaxing at the stunning Hotel Cipriani. Or you could visit the nearby island

more difficult to reach and less known – but certainly not less fascinating. Amongst these, there is the peaceful island of San Francesco del Deserto (Saint Francis in the Desert), inhabited only by half a dozen monks, with its old monastery surrounded by cypresses, olive groves, linden trees and rose bushes. Or the ‘haunted’ island of Poveglia… Originally a plague quarantine station, the island was then used by

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Santa Maria e San Donato

WHERE TO STAY HOTEL VILLA MABAPA (LIDO DI VENEZIA) 6 Riviera San Nicolò, 16 ☎ +39 041 526 0590 www.villamabapa.com A gracious villa, built as a private residence in the late Art Nouveau style at the end of the 1920s, is the main part of the Hotel Villa Mabapa, a 4-star hotel looking out over the Venetian Lagoon. The hotel also consists of two other buildings, Villa Morea and Casa Pradel, connected by a covered passageway and by a large pretty garden. It is set in a perfect and tranquil location and has been managed by the same family for four generations. Period antique furnishings and decorations, original furniture and antique paintings create an elegant and excellent hotel. You should come here also to dine as the restaurant is excellent – it offers fresh local seafood, exquisite presentation and impeccable service.

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Venice Lagoon

LOCANDA CIPRIANI TORCELLO (TORCELLO) 7 Piazza Santa Fosca, 29 ☎ +39 041 730150 www.locandacipriani.com The elegant Locanda Cipriani has five unique rooms with nice views overlooking the pretty garden, the canal or the small square. The rooms are decorated with Venetian mosaics and have high, vaulted ceilings and simple period furniture.

ISLANDS

On the Lido beach

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The famous Hotel des Bains

Napoleon to store weapons; later, in the 20th century, it became a mental hospital, but it is now abandoned. Or the island of La Certosa, just in front of San Pietro di Castello, which had been abandoned for many years, has been recently recovered and nowadays hosts the Vento di Venezia boatyard and yacht marina, a nautical school and a hotel. The choice of islands is vast. However, since I am advising for a weekend on the islands I will recommend only a few islands I love – easy to reach by public boats – and ones which I keep returning to every time I am in Venice. LIDO DI VENEZIA My list of favourites could not possibly start with any other island than Lido. It is here that I was born and have spent most of my life. This 11km-long sandbar, which shelters Venice from the Adriatic Sea, is generally famous only for the movie festival that takes place here every year from the end of August to the first week of September. However, the island offers so much more. It is the

House entrance on Burano

perfect spot for a relaxing holiday, away from the crowds, if you are visiting Venice during spring or summer and if you like cycling or sunbathing. Do not expect the crystal-clear blue sea that you find in Sicily or Sardinia, though the beaches are quite pleasant and ideal for families with children. Also, the architecture typical of Lido is fascinating – Liberty-style and Art Deco blend with Venetian tradition and with unusual decorations from completely different styles to create spectacular architectural features and magnificent houses. I love cycling the length of the island, starting at San Nicolò and finishing at Alberoni, passing what remains of the once prestigious Hotel Des Bains, the Lungomare Marconi, the Palazzo del Cinema and the Moorish Hotel Excelsior. Then, following a narrow path at the end of the Lungomare Marconi, I cycle along the Murazzi. Here it is just so peaceful – surrounded by water, with a view of the Adriatic and so close to the Lagoon, you can really sense the detachment from the hustle and bustle of the crowded St Mark’s Square.

DON’T MISS BREAKFAST AT PASTICCERIA DA GARBISA Also in Gran Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta on Lido, this is the best place for a macchiatone (a macchiato with lots of froth) and delicious pastries.

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VILLA LINA (MURANO) 8 Calle Dietro gli Orti, 12 ☎ +39 041 527 5358 www.villalinavenezia.com This delightful B&B is located in a peaceful location and has a great terrace. The home of glass designer Carlo Nason and his wife, the villa is adorned with his glass designs.

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HYATT CENTRIC MURANO 9 Riva Longa ☎ +39 041 273 1234 www.hyatt.com Perfect location, tucked away on this quiet island and with the vaporetto stop (Murano Museo) just outside the hotel. It is a beautiful, spacious modern hotel with a refined restaurant.

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VENISSA (MAZZORBO) 10 Fondamenta Santa Caterina, 3 ☎ +39 041 527 2281 www.venissa.it Tucked away from the centre, on the peaceful island of Mazzorbo (which is linked by a bridge to the island of Burano), this B&B is surrounded by its orchard and vineyards. It has a Michelin-starred restaurant and you can purchase the Dorona, a forgotten Venetian wine variety produced here.

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WHERE TO EAT RISTORANTE GRAN VIALE (LIDO DI VENEZIA) 11 Granviale S. Maria Elisabetta 10, Lido di Venezia ☎ +39 041 526 0322 www.ristorantegranviale.it Just a few minutes from the Lido boat stop and run by the two friendly Venetians, Claudio and Luciano, this restaurant is popular with locals for its excellent seafood and signature dish, the Gran Tecia – a big pot of linguini with lobster, spider crab, scampi, mussels. You get a bib with a printed bow tie in case things get messy!

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AL GATTO NERO (BURANO) 12 Fondamenta della Giudecca 88, Burano ☎ +39 041 730120 www.gattonero.com This restaurant has been run by the same family for over 50 years. Enjoy the exquisite dishes prepared for you by Ruggero and Lucia. Their son, Massimiliano, an expert sommelier, is the perfect host. The passion and dedication of this family business is reflected in the flavours of the dishes, the presentation and the service. It has been my favourite restaurant in Venice for years and I hope it will never change. Book ahead. €● €● € ●

OSTERIA AL PONTE DEL DIAVOLO (TORCELLO) 13 Fondamenta dei Borgognoni 10/11, Torcello ☎ +39 041 730401 www.osteriaalpontedeldiavolo.com Once a fishermen’s house, today it offers local sea food dishes, homemade pasta and desserts, and vegetables from the island’s gardens. Alberto, Roberto and Stefano have been running the restaurant since 2011.

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OSTERIA DA NICOLA (CHIOGGIA) 14 Fondamenta S. Domenico, 874, Chioggia ☎ +39 041 408029 www.sottomarina.net/osteriadanicola/ index.htm Located along the embankment of the canal San Domenico, this is a great place to enjoy authentic local dishes amongst real locals. €● € ●

Lido di Venezia

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DON’T MISS THE DEVIL’S BRIDGE AND ATTILA’S THRONE This stone bridge on Torcello is linked, as often happens in Venice, to a legend – a sad love story between a girl and an Austrian soldier and a pact between a witch and the devil… The throne, which is also linked to a legend, used to be the seat of the governor of the island.

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LOCANDA ZANELLA (TRE PORTI) 15 Piazza Santissima Trinità 5/6, Cavallino-Treporti ☎ +39 041 5301 773 www.locandazanella.com This restaurant is not on an island, but it is often a stop on our boat trips in the Venetian Lagoon, on the way to Punta Sabbioni. Renzo, Luca and Marco’s typical Venetian dishes have been re-interpreted using local fresh fish and local vegetables. €● € ●

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➤ KEY TO RESTAURANT PRICES (full meal per person, not including wine) € Up to €25 ● €● € €26-€50 ● €● €● € More than €50 ●

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This feeling becomes even stronger when I get closer to the end of the Murazzi, where my mobile signal always fails. I feel like there is just me, the sea, Venice and the rocks trying to shelter and preserve it, forever suspended between sky and water, in its fairytale atmosphere. On the way to Alberoni, a protected natural reserve the beauty of which was immortalised in the poems of Byron and Goethe, I always love to make a pit-stop in the tranquil Malamocco, where time seems to have stopped. Here you must pay a visit to Trattoria Al Ponte di Borgo, with fresh cicchetti (typical snacks) prepared every day and local wines galore – so be warned that it may be some time before you get back on your bike! A few times, with my friends and fiancé, I have ventured to cycle all the way to Faro Rocchetta, the western tip of Lido, and got on the public ferry to Santa Maria del Mare. From here, we have cycled for 11 more kilometres and followed the Murazzi until we reach Pellestrina. This characteristic island is something different. Just imagine going back in time. Here, they are all locals, mainly fishermen, with the boats moored in front

Map data © 2021 Google

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of their houses. The island seems suspended in time – in the summer people leave their doors open during the day (although nowadays, unfortunately, this is less common) and sit outside chatting to friends and neighbours. The calli, the small squares and the courtyards are the centre of the village activities which seem to have disappeared elsewhere. On occasions we have ventured even further and got a boat from Ca’ Roman to Chioggia. Chioggia is not an island but it still preserves the atmosphere typical of local villages. It is almost like a miniature version of Venice, starting from the first small square with a column with a very small lion on top that the Venetians like to ironically call “the cat”! Known for its fish market and pretty centre, Chioggia is definitely worth a visit. MURANO This island is famous the world over for its glass production. It is definitely worth visiting one of the famous factories to see the glass artists creating stunning works of art. They are so good at it that they make the process look so easy but, as you can imagine, it requires skills

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TORCELLO Very close to Burano is the pretty island of Torcello. Founded in the 5th century, Torcello was the first Venetian island to be inhabited. It once had a population of around 20,000 but today, after many centuries, there are fewer than ten people living on the island! In the Cathedral of Santa Maria dell’Assunta you can admire the stunning Byzantine mosaics from the 11th to 13th centuries. The most impressive is certainly the mosaic of the Last Judgement. The lower part of the mosaic is quite threatening and reminds us of Dante’s Inferno – the representation of the punishment for the seven capital sins, red flames, devils, hands, bones and countless skulls with big worms coming out from their eye sockets. The mosaic is there to look at you on your way out from the church, as reminder that you must behave! LI

The garden of Osteria Al Ponte del Diavolo

Venice Lagoon

BURANO You might have heard of Burano before and, surely, you must have come across photos of the many brightly coloured houses that confer to the island its distinctiveness and its nickname. The “Painters’ Island” with its rainbow of coloured houses, hanging laundry and reflections on the canals, is a paradise for painters and photographers. It is a great place to escape from the hordes of tourists that crowd Venice in the summer and to cheer you up from the grey sky in the winter. Burano is one of the main Venetian islands in the northern lagoon, not far from Murano, easily reachable with a public boat from the Fondamente Nuove. Here you can find a calm and intimate atmosphere. The main square, Campo Baldassarre Galuppi, takes its name from the famous local musician whose statue dominates in the centre. In the campo you will also find the Museum of Lace and the Church of San Martino, which is definitely worth a visit just to admire Tiepolo’s Crucifixion. In the past centuries Burano has been surviving mainly thanks

to fishing and to lace-making. This complicated art became so popular that in the 17th century the women of Burano who embroidered lace were called to work in France. The beginnings of this art go back centuries and its origin is linked to a fascinating legend. They say that one day a fisherman who was out sailing heard the singing of the mermaids but because he was so much in love with his fiancée he resisted their charm. The Queen of the Mermaids was so impressed with his loyalty to his fiancée that she created for him a gift with the movement of her tail – a beautiful nuptial veil made out of the sea foam. At the fisherman’s wedding, when the other women in Burano saw the veil his bride was wearing, they were so impressed with its beauty that they kept trying to reproduce it with their lace-making. What a romantic story!

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and many years of experience and different people working together just to create one piece. I was lucky enough to recently visit the Linea Mazzuccato factory. Even though I have observed the process of glassmaking numerous times I am always touched by the skills of the master glass-bower and the respect he commands from his apprentices. If you are in Murano you must pay a visit to the church of Santa Maria e San Donato to admire its exquisite 12th-century Byzantine mosaics. It also contains the relics of St Donato and the big bones of the dragon slain by the saint in Greece. Not far from the Venier boat stop you can see the exterior of another church, Santa Maria degli Angeli, which I have mentioned in my previous articles, as in the adjacent former convent is where the two nuns, Caterina Capretta and the noble woman M.M. stayed, with whom Casanova had his famous love affair. The Venetian seducer used to come here often for Sunday Mass just to spend some time with his lovers! The church is usually closed so if you want to visit the interior you need to ask for an appointment.

Red house on Burano

Santa Maria dell’Assunta

GETTING THERE ➤ BY PLANE You can fly to Venice from Birmingham, Dublin, Edinburgh, Leeds Bradford, Manchester and four London airports, with a range of carriers including easyJet. The Ryanair option takes you to nearby Treviso, from Bristol, Dublin, East Midlands, Leeds Bradford or Stansted.

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ISLANDS

Caltagirone, Sicily

PA S T I TA L I A !

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Caltagirone, Sicily

SANTA MARIA DEL MONTE La Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte climbs to the church of St Mary of the Mount in Caltagirone, Sicily

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he Church of Saint Mary of the Mount in Caltagirone dates back to the 12th-century; its staircase is early 17th-century; but the majolica tiles that have made the staircase famous today were only placed in the 1950s. Created by local craftsmen, the tiles tell the story, in chronological order, of the town and its connections with the ceramics industry, which predate even the church itself. A sight to behold on any day of the year, the staircase is properly put to use on St James’ Night (25 July), when the people of Caltagirone pay respect to their patron saint. LI

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Ventotene

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Clockwise, from top left: Local preserves; rock warehouses near the zig-zag ramp at Porto Romano; an exotic agave; Ventotene’s patron saint, Santa Candida; a Roman fish farm; prisoners’ drawings in the Roman cisterns; dine out on fresh local seafood

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Ventotene

48 HOURS IN…

Ventotene

A tiny island off Italy’s west coast hides in the shadows cast by its more popular neighbours, Ischia and Ponza. Sarah Lane finds out why Ventotene deserves a visit

Photography by Sarah Lane

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he island of Ventotene is one of Italy’s best-kept secrets. It is officially part of the Ponza archipelago off the coast of southern Lazio, but in reality it is very much apart. Measuring a mere 2.8km by 900m, and with a permanent population of around 300, the island is a treasure trove for archaeologists, birdwatchers, divers and just about anyone in search of a terrific holiday. Despite its role in numerous tragic and momentous historical events through the ages, and its current status as a protected natural and marine park, many Italians don’t even know of the island’s existence. The majority of today’s tourists come from the nearest areas on the mainland, around Rome and Naples. I first found out about Ventotene by chance. Beppe, the owner of our local Irish pub, originates from the island and told me about this very special place over few pints one night. I planned a trip with my partner Malaga as an out-of-season spring weekend. The easy and comfortable hydrofoil from Formia took about an hour. Nearing Ventotene I was struck by the whale-like shape of the island’s profile – the highest point is 139m above sea level at Punta dell’Arco, sloping gradually down to the sea at the village and port at the other end of the island. The proximity of tiny, uninhabited Santo Stefano is also noticeable – after so much open sea, these two islands seem to cling to one another for moral support. Ventotene, referred to by Homer as ‘Isle of the Sirens’, has changed names even more often than it has changed hands. The Romans used to call it Pandataria, from the Greek for ‘dispenser of all things’, owing to the ➤

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Villa Giulia

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AGAVE E GINESTRA 3 Via di Cala Battaglia 10/12, Ventotene ☎ +39 0771 85290 www.agaveginestra.com Hidden away among aromatic vegetation, in an attractive corner of Ventotene’s stunning coastline, this tastefully designed hotel run by the Trento family – accomplished marine biologists – is a real gem. The excellent restaurant is inside a cool cave, and there is also an amazing apartment available, set in a converted farmer’s cave dwelling built into the cliff.

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CALABATTAGLIA 4 Via Olivi 126, Ventotene ☎ +39 0771 700 710 www.calabattaglia.it Set in a secluded spot away from the bustle of the village centre, this is a spacious, airy and friendly place to stay, with spectacular views over to the island of Santo Stefano, and to Ischia beyond. There’s a good restaurant, a luggage service and transport to and from the beaches if you don’t feel like walking. VENTOTOUR – SELF-CATERING AGENCY Via Rampe Marine 10, Ventotene ☎ + 39 0771 85273 www.ventotene.it One of several agencies here, Ventotour has rooms, apartments and villas of all sizes available throughout the island. The agency will transport your luggage to and from the port and also provides guided tours, to discover the nature and history of the island, watersports instruction and travel reservations.

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HOTEL VILLA IULIA 2 Piazza XX Settembre 2, Ventotene ☎ +39 0771 854038 www.hotelvillaiulia.it Named after the island’s remarkable Roman site, Hotel Villa Iulia has a position in the centre of the village overlooking the sea. All rooms have ample terraces and fantastic sea views, and some are set on split levels, ideal for families.

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HOTEL BORGO CACCIATORI 1 Via Olivi, Ventotene ☎ +39 0776 158 0050 www.maresmeraldo.it Set in a lush garden with fabulous views over the sea, this is a comfortable place to stay with breakfast included in the price. Relax at the courtyard bar or take a dip in the pool. No restaurant but there are plenty of good eating paces nearby. The hotel is a great base for exploring the island and the Museo Archelogico isn’t far away if you want to find out more about the island’s history.

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DON’T MISS A TRIP AROUND THE ISLAND The only way to see the striking rock formations, caves and hidden lookout towers on Ventotene’s cliffs is to go on a boat trip around the island. Head to Porto Romano and hook up with one of the boatmen plying their services. Ciro Sub is one such company (☎ +39 0771 85122).

➤ island’s rich terrain, and over time of sand. The picturesque portside this has evolved into Ventotene, the reference to wind – vento – being no coincidence. When it blows, it really blows and sailing schools ply their trade teaching kids and adults how to rein in this noble element. Hotels, especially those situated further round the island from the town of Ventotene, generally offer lifts to guests arriving at the port, so contact your accommodation with your arrival details before you travel. At our hotel we received a warm

is bustling with fishing boats, dive centres, boat hire and bars, making good use of the ancient warehouses carved into the rock face. ROMAN INFLUENCES Strolling by the outer harbour wall to see the pock-marked rocks (saline) – shallow bowls created by the Romans for collecting sea salt – you get a fantastic view of the pastel-coloured backdrop. The village behind the port wasn’t built up until the mid-18th

This cleverly planned port was carved out of the porous tufa stone over 2,000 years ago welcome from the owner, and after accepting a bunch of aromatic herbs for our room from the hotel garden, we changed and went exploring. Breathing in the heady, uncontaminated sea air, and drawn by the pull of the clear blue water, we made our way straight back to Porto Romano. It’s amazing to think that this cleverly planned port was carved out of the porous tufa stone over 2,000 years ago, in 29BC. Around 60,000 sqm of rock were removed by the ancient Romans to create the port, as efficient nowadays as it ever was, with passages and canals to protect the boats from tides and deposits

century, when the Bourbons, based in Naples, were in charge. The harmony that architects Antonio Winspeare and Francesco Carpi managed to achieve between the lazy zig-zag ramp they made up the slope and the Roman port itself is extraordinary. A little further round, Il Pozzillo, a side channel created by the Romans for mooring and dry docks, is overlooked by tiered buildings that are strongly reminiscent of a bourgeois, 18thcentury theatre. Nowadays, a wonderful waterside restaurant, Da Benito, takes centre stage here. At the other end of a cavernous tunnel carved through the rock from

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WHERE TO EAT

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The ruins of Villa Giulia, the island’s 2,000-year-old ‘prison’

Saline, or Roman salt mining basins

Pozzillo, we reached Cala Nave, one of the island’s main beaches, with its black volcanic sand. Wide beaches are not in abundance on Ventotene as steep cliffs rise sheerly from the sea almost all around the island. This lack of easy access to the water explains why the islanders were traditionally farmers rather than fishermen and, still today, the majority of local specialities are vegetable-based rather than seafood, the local lentils being the main claim to fame food-wise. Strolling back round the headland, we came to another Roman marvel – the ancient fish farm (peschiera). A complex design of pools mixing salt and fresh water, with a system of gates and filters to ensure water flows but keeping the fish enclosed, meant the Romans had a constant supply of delicious fresh fish. We watched from above as a couple of divers explored the ancient underwater architecture. The island’s destiny during Roman times was to be a place of exile for a succession of women of imperial standing, banished here by their husbands, brothers or fathers for reasons such as infidelity, immorality and Christianity. The first of these women was Giulia, daughter of Emperor Augustus (63BC-AD14). The island’s main archaeological site is actually Villa Giulia, named in her honour. Ironically, Giulia had

Sail around the island to see all the sights

originally asked for the residence to be built as a holiday home, but she became the first victim of her father’s Lex Iulia, a law brought in to eradicate immorality, and found herself confined on the island for several years. The background to this exile is a complex saga of murders, revenge and ambition, initiated by Lidia, mother of Emperor Tiberius (AD14-AD37), and both step-mother and mother-in-law to Giulia herself. A LIFE IN EXILE Life at the villa couldn’t have been too harsh. The huge complex, built in a commanding position on Punto Eolo, was divided into sections centred around the imperial residence, of which little now remains, due to quarrying and natural landslides. You can see more of the slave and guard quarters and the steps down to the sea and the spa and relaxation area. After Giulia, it was the turn of her daughter, Agrippina the Elder, to face exile on Ventotene, once again for immoral behaviour. Next, a couple of other eminent Roman women were sent here for similar reasons, before the series culminated with Flavia Domitilla, granddaughter of Emperor Vespasian, being exiled for her religious beliefs. We visited the site of Villa Giulia with local guide Elena, who, along with her brother Salvatore, knows pretty much all ➤

DON’T MISS BACK TO NATURE Being less than 3km long, it’s easy to stroll from one end of the island to the other. Leaving the village behind, head to the wilder part around Punta degli Ulivi. Ventotene is a stopover for many birds on their migratory routes between Africa and northern Europe, and there’s an observatory and ringing centre here.

Ventotene

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LE GROTTE DI MAST’ANIELLO 7 Via Luigi Iacono 12, Ventotene www.mastaniello.it This fantastically atmospheric restaurant and pizzeria is set in caves in the tufa rock overlooking the Cala Nave beach. There are great views over the bay from the shady terrace tables. The restaurant is open only during the summertime and offers good value for money and it’s an ideal choice for a tasty pizza or some delicious seafood. € ● € Price range ●

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DA BENITO 6 Via Pozzillo, Ventotene % +39 0771 85267 A unique location plus terrific food makes this family-run restaurant an obligatory stop during any stay on Ventotene. Take a seat and eat on the long, low terrace set just above the water of the picturesque Pozzillo inlet. Enjoy watching the old chef – a really entertaining character – cook freshly caught fish on the outside grill. € ● € Price range ●

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IL BRIGANTINO 8 Via Cala Nave 1, Ventotene % +39 0771 854041 Laid-back and welcoming, this bar and restaurant is set against the rocks at the end of the island’s best sandy beach, Cala Nave. A cool shelter from the hot summer sun, it also makes an ideal spot for a romantic, candle-lit dinner. Don’t miss the restaurant’s own-label white wine and the tasty fresh tomato bruschetta. € ● € Price range ●

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L’ARAGOSTA 9 Via Porto Nuovo 1, Ventotene % +39 0771 85078 This welcoming bar and restaurant is the first place you come across when arriving on Ventotene. Tucked into the cliffs, right on the port-side, it’s a popular spot for farewell drinks. The restaurant serves delicious fish, straight from the boats, as well as other local specialities, such as lentil soup. € ● € Price range ●

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DA VERDE 10 Piazza Castello 19, Ventotene % +39 0771 85235 At the hub of village life, Da Verde is a modest, informal place and full of character. Sitting over a coffee at one of the outside tables is an ideal way to start the day. The small, wood-panelled restaurant section is cosy. Try some of the local vegetable dishes featuring lentils, broad beans or artichokes. € ● € Price range ●

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WHAT TO SEE AND DO

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Ventotene

PORTO ROMANO 11 Ventotene’s picturesque port, still busy and efficient today, was created over 2,000 years ago by the ancient Romans. On the seaward side look out for the saline (holes in the rock for collecting sea salt) and the ancient peschiera (fish farm).

Forno Aiello bakery, the best in town

EXPLORE Have a wander round the elegant Bourbonbuilt village, with theatrical features such as the zig-zag down to Porto Romano and the facades overlooking the Pozzillo inlet. Look out too for Raffaele in his tiny van and stop him to buy some delicious jars of local produce like herbs, fruit jams and aromatised vegetables.

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BEACHES & COVES 12 Ventotene’s most easily accessed beaches are clustered around the village at the eastern end of the island. With its black, volcanic sand and crystal waters, Cala Nave is the most popular, while Cala Rossano, beyond the port, is another good one. Hire a boat to reach some of the island’s most attractive, secluded coves.

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RUINS OF VILLA GIULIA 13 Built in the first century BC as a sumptuous holiday residence, Villa Giulia was soon made into a place of luxurious exile for a series of Imperial women such as Giulia herself, daughter of Emperor Augustus. Entry is with a guide – ask at the main museum for an English speaker. CISTERNA DEI DETENUTI (THE PRISONERS’ CISTERNS) 14 Part of the underground system of cisterns and aqueducts used by the ancient Romans to collect and channel rainwater, this is now named after the 18th-century convicts who slept here during their time building the village under Bourbon rule. The paintings and messages left on the walls by the convicts are quite moving.

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MARINE LIFE The sea around Ventotene – a marine reserve since 1997 – is incredibly rich in marine life and underwater relics. Several reputable diving schools operate on the island, such as the Ventotene Diving Academy (www.ventotenediving.com). The sea here is also ideal for budding sailors (www.circolovelicoventotene.com).

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SANTO STEFANO 15) Join a boat trip to visit the tiny island just over a mile from Ventotene. In the Middle Ages there was a monastery here, but nowadays it’s dominated by the abandoned horseshoe-shaped prison built to a carefully studied design in the late 18th century by architect Francesco Carpi, who became one of its first inmates.

The water is beautiful but beaches aren’t plentiful on Ventotene

DON’T MISS FESTIVAL TIME Ventotene really comes to life for the celebrations of the local patron saint, Santa Candida, on 20 September. Extra ferries are laid on and the island is a hive of activity. The statue of the saint is carried high during a religious procession, but the most colourful part of the festival is the papiermâché balloons.

➤ there is to know about the island’s history and culture. Walking towards the end of the island, between exotic hedgerows of agaves, prickly pears, bamboo, bougainvillaea and other such lush vegetation, we had our binoculars at the ready. Ventotene, gradually being discovered as a holiday destination by humans, is already a well-established and popular stopover for birds. FEATHERED FRIENDS The island is positioned in the flight path of many migratory species, and the sheer number of birds that you can see here during the spring or autumn migrations is amazing. There is an important ringing and observation centre here, with a small museum explaining the phenomenon. We saw too many varieties for amateurs like us to hope to identify, but they included colourful hoopoes and bee-eaters as well as falcons and vast numbers of resident sea birds. But times have changed. Birds that were once caught in nets on Ventotene for the dinner table, are now destined for the measuring and ringing room. Parata Grande, an attractive west-facing bay, with a long flight of steps down to the beach, was one of the major areas frequented by bird hunters. The practice is banned nowadays, as is unauthorised fishing in the waters around the island. We

Ventotene’s lighthouse welcomes visitors

stopped at Parata Grande to take in the fantastic sight of the sun setting over the water, lighting up the cliff with a rich red glow. Parched after all the day’s cultural and natural marvels, we were overjoyed to find a little bar overlooking the marina, on the way back to the village, and quenched our thirst while watching the lights on the handful of yachts moored below. The next morning we set out early to meet Ugo, a boatman, for a trip around the island. This is a must – from the sea you can see the beautiful patterns of rock around the island, as well as fascinating features such as hidden lookout towers and ancient tombs carved into the cliff face that you just wouldn’t see otherwise. Ugo told us where turtles, dolphins and even whales are sometimes seen, and he was genuinely excited when we saw the first gull chick of the season, and he pointed out another gull that had been nesting on an isolated rock for over a month with a fondness that was almost paternal. Back at the Roman port, after buying breakfast at the Forno Aiello bakery – a local institution – we stopped for a coffee in the main square. Piazza Castello is dominated by Forte Torre, a solid yellow fortress installed for defence purposes, now home to the local museum. Pirates, particularly Saracens, were unwelcome but active visitors to the Italian coasts

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D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

The streets of Ventotene are as yet not overrun with tourists

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for a long time, and the sight of a black cat would strike terror into the hearts of island or coast dwellers, as these feline companions were usually the first to disembark the ships. In Italy black cats are considered bad luck. Fortunately, most of the cats we met during our time on Ventotene were white or tabby. ROMAN WATERWORKS By now it was time to set off to discover yet another of ancient Rome’s incredible legacies on the

out cistern was the living quarters for the 100 prisoners drafted in to carry out the building work on the village, and there are some fascinating drawings and writings still to be seen on the walls dating from this time. In more recent history, during the fascist period, the island was again home to prisoners, this time confined for political beliefs. It was here that Altiero Spinelli and others drew up the Ventotene Manifesto, setting out the idea of a united Europe. The manifesto was smuggled out (in a bra

The sheer number of birds that you can see here during the migrations is amazing island – the Cisterna dei Detenuti. Elena came to guide us around the huge underground chambers and tunnels that were carved out of the rock a couple of thousand years ago. The cistern was part of an efficient system for collecting rainwater to render the island self-sufficient. As ever, the Romans were far ahead of us. Nowadays, water is delivered by boat, as the island lacks any sources of fresh water. The rainwater used to be collected in cisterns and delivered to the villas at the lower end of the island via underground aqueducts, making use of the land’s natural slope. During the 18th century, this dried

of all things) and taken round Europe to be signed by various heads of state – a precursor of the European Union. As Malaga and I sat over a cool beer at the port-side bar, waiting for the hydrofoil to take us back to the mainland, we pondered over the incredible atmosphere of the island. There are so many layers to Ventotene – the complex history, the archaeology and architecture, and the rich natural heritage both on the land and in the surrounding sea – but it seemed to both of us that it’s the great respect and pride the locals have in their island that makes it such a uniquely special place. LI

Ventotene

Ferries cross regularly from Formia to Ventotene

The small island still has plenty on sale for the tourist

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GETTING THERE

FORNO AIELLO Via Olivi, 35 www.antico fornoaiello. com The best bakery on the island since it was opened in 1953. The main speciality is an exquisite almond cake, first made by Signora Aiello in 1960. Her son, Antonio and family, are now in charge, selling pizzas, biscuits and bread. Stock up for a yummy picnic with home-baked treats.

➤ BY PLANE Book a flight to Naples or to Rome’s Fiumicino or Ciampino airports. Formia, where the boats to Ventotene leave from, is mid-way between the two cities, and easily reached by train. There are plenty of flights available from various UK airports to both Naples and Rome. ➤ BY TRAIN Getting the train to Formia is the easiest way to reach Ventotene – the port is an easy ten-minute walk from the railway station. Formia is on the well-served line between Rome (one and a half hours) and Naples (one hour). The trip from Florence to Formia is over three hours. ➤ BY BOAT There are links from mainland Italy to Ventotene several times a day – ferries and hydrofoils leave from Formia. The ferry journey takes two hours, while the hydrofoils cover the distance in 55 minutes. Journey details can be found at www.vetor.it and www.laziomar.it ➤ BY CAR To get to the ferry port in Formia, take the Cassino exit from the A1 motorway. You can take your car to Ventotene on the car ferry, but driving is practically banned on the tiny island, so it’s best to leave it in Formia and take your walking boots instead. There are large car parks near the port. ➤ KEY TO RESTAURANT PRICES (full meal per person, not including wine) € Up to €25 ● € ● € €26-€50 ● € ● € ● € More than €50 ● LAKES & ISLANDS 2021 97

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Photograph © iStock

Photograph © iStock

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Clockwise from top left: Fish is a staple in the Sicilian diet; Erice street view; Cala Azzurra on the island of Favignana; la Grotta Mangiapane; the Zingaro nature reserve museum; Castellammare del Golfo; signpost in the nature reserve; a simple yet hearty lunch, so typically Sicilian 98 LAKES & ISLANDS 2021

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Images by Sara Scarpa unless otherwise stated

Northwest Sicily

48 HOURS IN…

Northwest Sicily Sara Scarpa turns west out of Palermo to discover the northwestern tip of the Triangle…

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hen my family picked Sicily as our summer holiday destination the sense of excitement was immediate and I could not have agreed more with the choice of decision! My first experience of this beautiful island had been shared with friends as a 20-year-old and those memories are still vivid today. At that time, we were camping in Salina, a tiny Aeolian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily, spending the days lying on the beach and going around on our Vespas, and the evenings sitting at the bar with the locals and being part of the summer village fairs. As with most of Italy, the smells, colours and sounds really do stay with you. One of my fondest memories was staying out all night waiting until early morning for the bakery to open to eat some freshly made croissants. In my mind I have always associated Sicily with sunshine, invitingly cobalt blue sea, caponata, granita con brioche and village fairs. I had always dreamt of going back one day, and my second visit would only reinforce these beautiful images and the desire of returning once again. LAKES & ISLANDS 2021 99

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WHAT TO SEE AND DO

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PARCO ARCHEOLOGICO DI SELINUNTE 1 Marinella di Selinunte 91022, Trapani ☎ +39 0924 46277 Near Marzara del Vallo, overlooking the sea and flanked by beautiful beaches, Selinunte is one of the largest and most spectacular archaeological sites not only in the Mediterranean but in all Europe. Admire the Greek ruins, the remains of the acropolis that was once the heart of one of the most powerful cities in the world, the remains of the enormous temples and the necropolis. At the nearby beach of Marinella di Selinunte you can sunbathe, and eat fresh seafood by the sea at the restaurant La Pineta. RISERVA NATURALE ORIENTATA SALINE DI TRAPANI E PACECO 2 Via Garibaldi, 138, C.da Nubia 91027, Paceco ☎ +39 0923 867700 The saltpans are stunning and the small museum about the salt production here is very interesting. A beautiful experience surrounded by fauna and flora, canals and windmills (there are about 60). It is the favourite place of many migratory birds such as cavalieri d’Italia (black-winged stilt), herons, wild ducks and flamingos.

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CASTELLAMARE DEL GOLFO 3 Castellamare del Golfo is a picturesque seaside town between Palermo and Trapani. The castle, once an important fort, the pretty little fishing port, the beaches, the shops and the bars full of locals create a beautiful scene.

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MARSALA 4 Close to Trapani, Marsala is famous for being the landing place for Garibaldi and his ‘Thousand Men’ in 1860, an event which represents the start of Italy’s unification – and for its wine. The historical centre is a great place for a stroll and to do some shopping. Piazza della Repubblica, the Duomo, the Porta Garibaldi, the elegant palaces, the Museo Archeologico and the nearby archaeological island of Mozia are all worth visiting.

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GROTTA MANGIAPANE 5 Via Scurati, Custonaci www.turismo.trapani.it/en/1259/ grotta-mangiapane.html Time stands still in the tiny village of Custonaci. Here you can visit the rooms where different crafts are represented (pasta making, wood working, stone cutters, barber, etc.). We were lucky to visit the small rural farm and the cave, with an unforgettable local guide who, at the end of the tour, offered us wine and recited a poem with great passion.

Views of the sea are splendid and plentiful

DON’T MISS CAPONATA A fantastic Sicilian dish made with fresh vegetables such as aubergines, onions, celery and tomatoes. Olives, capers, basil and pine nuts complete the recipe. A good caponata requires many hours of slow cooking and fresh, local ingredients. It can be eaten as a vegetarian main dish, as a side dish or even spread on a bruschetta.

This time, the destination of our family trip was the main island itself. Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (it is bigger than Wales) and it comprises many little islands scattered around its coast – the Aeolians, Egadi, and Pelagie islands, Pantelleria and Ustica. The ‘Triangular Island’ (Sicily is known locally as la Trinacria, the Triangle) lies at the heart of the Mediterranean, off the toe of the boot of Italy. It is surrounded by the Ionian and

(such as the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, and Spaniards) have left a wonderfully varied heritage with a unique culture, architecture, language, tradition and cuisine. With her eclectic history Sicily is a cultural mix – a melting pot of culture from Europe, Africa and Asia. On friends’ recommendations we decided to explore the northwest of Sicily. We flew to Trapani and rented a car so we could explore. We chose to stay in Macari as we had

A breathtaking view over the sea from our terrace with amazing breakfasts Tyrrhenian Seas and is separated from the Italian region of Calabria only by the 3km of the Strait of Messina. Because of the size of the island, if you are only visiting for a weekend you will need to decide which area you want to visit. Every Italian region has its differences, whether it be cuisine, wine, culture, dialect – even their patron saints – but Sicily truly takes this to another level. Throughout the centuries its many conquerors

been told that this area is not overrun with tourists. Our B&B, Verdemare, was not fancy but offered exactly what I had envisaged – a smiling and welcoming host (the friendly Mimma), a breathtaking view over the sea from our terrace with amazing sunsets, and great breakfasts with homemade pastries and fresh figs from the owner’s garden. Nearby was a wild beach with crystal-clear sea which was not busy

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WHERE TO STAY

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Panorama from Erice

when we were there in mid-June. (For me there is nothing worse than trying to relax on the beach when you are surrounded by hoards of people. The beach of Macari offers the opposite, which was exactly what I was hoping for.) This unspoilt place looks a bit like a North African landscape, which shouldn’t be surprising as Africa is not too far away. Some parts of Sicily are on the same latitude as Africa and Tunisia is less than 100 miles away. After spending the first day exploring the beach of Macari – on the small free train that takes the visitors around – and lying on the stunning beach by Monte Cofano, on the second day we drove to Erice, a small medieval town located on top of a mountain (751m above sea level) overlooking the Tyrrhenian coast of western Sicily. Here, we loved wandering along the maze of cobbled streets, looking at the shops and visiting some of its many churches – there are 60 churches in this tiny town so we could only see a few! Finally, we stopped at the castle to take photos of the fantastic view over the port of Trapani. And of course, we could not miss out on

stopping by Maria Grammatico’s – one of the most famous cake shops in Sicily – where we ate some cannoli and bought some pretty marzipan fruits, which tasted delicious! On the third day we drove to Scopello. After a quick coffee at the local bar of this tiny village, we started our descent to one of the most stunning beaches I have ever seen. Walking down we could catch glimpses of the scene that was about to open up. When we finally saw it in its entirety, it was just glorious! There it was, a small bay enclosed by rocky walls, fronted by blue water, imposing sea stacks and, to complete this picturesque image, on the left hand side, an old tonnara (tuna fishery). This place is the perfect spot to sunbathe while admiring the view, or to snorkel amongst the fish! After a couple of hours of tanning, we headed back up to the village for lunch. We sat in the shade of the fig trees of a small garden belonging to a tiny, family-run bakery selling typical local bread such as pane cunzatu and sfincione (Sicilian pizza). This place is an absolute must if you go to

La Grotta Mangiapane

DON’T MISS SCOPELLO Sunbathe in the small, rocky bay at Scopello, snorkel in the transparent sea and eat pane cunzatu (seasoned bread) in the small garden of the Panificio (bakery) di Stabile e Anselmo.

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TONNARA DI SCOPELLO – COMUNIONE TONNARE SCOPELLO & GUZZO 7 Largo Tonnara Scopello, 91014 Castellammare del Golfo ☎ +39 0924 529301 www.tonnaradiscopello.it A few metres from the sea, in the houses where the fishermen used to live. This is not a hotel nor a B&B but an historic estate offering independent houses without the normal hotel services (daily cleaning, reception, breakfast, etc). There is no TV, no phone line and no air conditioning. But the view is magnificent.

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Scopello

VERDE MARE BED & BREAKFAST 6 Via Timpone, 117 Macari, San Vito Lo Capo ☎ +39 0923 975464 www.bbverdemare.eu Set in the beautiful Golfo di Cofano, only 3km from San Vito lo Capo, utterly peaceful and completely surrounded by nature. The terrace offers a superb view with amazing sunsets. The owners, the friendly Mimma and her husband, are the perfect hosts for your holiday.

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AI LUMI 8 Corso Vittorio Emanuele, 71-74 – Trapani ☎ +39 0923 540922 www.ailumi.it/en/ Located in the very heart of Trapani, near the port and therefore very handy for ferries to the Egadi islands, this B&B is simple yet elegant. The rooms, in an historical palace, are located around a pretty courtyard filled with plants. La Tavernetta ai Lumi, the B&B attached restaurant, offers great local dishes and special prices for the B&B guests.

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BAGLIO LA PORTA 9 Riserva dello Zingaro, 91010 San Vito Lo Capo ☎ +39 0923 974216 www.bagliolaporta.it/en/ A 17th-century fortified farmhouse surrounded by the fantastic view of the Zingaro nature reserve, offering rooms with antique and vintage furnishings. There is a large courtyard and terrace where you can enjoy breakfast or an aperitif. Large gardens, pool and spa.

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DIMORA DELL’OLIVASTRO 10 Via Seppi Torrente, 3, Contrada Strusceri, Favignana ☎ +39 338 435 4484 www.dimoradellolivastro.it/en/ A stunning boutique hotel on the beautiful island of Favignana at the foot of Monte Santa Caterina. The beautiful bedrooms are decorated in typical Sicilian style and offer a great view facing either the sea or the beautiful gardens.

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AZZURRA MAKARI Via Timpone, 112 – Macari ☎ +39 388 622 7270 www.facebook.com/azzurramakari Enjoy a magical dinner in front of a breathtaking sunset. The food here is great and Mario and his staff very friendly. I recommend the fish couscous, the grigliata mista di pesce (mixed fish grill) and sarde a beccafico (stuffed sardines).

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RISTORANTE ANTICO BORGO 12 Via Timpone, 13 – Macari ☎ +39 388 483 2605 www.anticoborgo.eu A trendy restaurant in a lovely garden setting with a fantastic view. The menu is full of classic Sicilian dishes with a modern twist and presentation. € ● € ●

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GARTEN 13 Via Erice, 141 – Valderice ☎ +39 388 873 2961 This restaurant is a must try. Fantastic atmosphere, a great host and one of the best dinners I have ever had. The owner could not have suggested a better menu for us; the assortment of antipasti – with a caponata so good that I have tried (unsuccessfully) to recreate it at home a hundred times – followed by a selection of pasta, secondi and desserts I keep dreaming of in England! € ● € ●

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RISTORANTE GIARDINO CORALLO 14 Via G. Amico, 7 – San Vito Lo Capo ☎ +39 0923 972827 www.ristorantegiardinocorallo.it This restaurant is hidden away a few steps from the main busy street in the centre of San Vito and the Piazza Santuario. It is set in a pretty, colourful courtyard with great atmosphere. Music, plants and ceramic dishes have been chosen with care by the owners, Giovanna and Piero. There is not a menu here but three options of local specialities to choose from, which vary every day. Less choice means the menu is based on the produce bought daily and therefore the food is fresher! € ● € ●

Map data © 2021 Google

DON’T MISS GRANITA CON BRIOCHE Sicilian granita is a frozen mixture of simple ingredients: water, sugar and a flavouring – it can be lemon, coffee, pistachio, almond, etc. The consistency is just perfect and you won’t find it the same anywhere else in the world.

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PANIFICIO DI STABILE E ANSELMO 15 Via Galluppi, 5 – Scopello This bakery’s wooden oven was born more than 50 years ago. The pane cunzatu was made from the ingredients poor people had at home – homemade cheese, oil, tomato and anchovies. Originally, this bread was made at home and sold to local families. Today, people stop to eat it in the small garden next to the bakery. € ●

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➤ KEY TO RESTAURANT PRICES (full meal per person, not including wine) € Up to €25 ● € ● € €26-€50 ● € ● € ● € More than €50 ●

Scopello. You must try their pane cunzatu – rustic tomato, cheese and anchovies on toasted bread, generously seasoned with oil, oregano, salt and pepper. A mere €2.50 for a delicious homemade lunch! After a rest at the B&B, we headed to San Vito Lo Capo for dinner. This is the trendiest place in the area and the most popular with young people for its nightlife. The beach in San Vito is often compared to the Caribbean because of the whiteness of its sand. In the last week of September, each year since 1998, the Couscous Fest takes place in the centre of the town. Chefs from all over the world come here to cook original recipes of couscous in front of the public while a technical jury and a popular jury both enjoy the food and vote for the best chef. Every night, in the main square, live music and free shows entertain the locals and the tourists. Unfortunately, we were not there for the Couscous Fest but we were lucky enough to experience a preview and savour many tasty recipes. The next day the weather was a bit cloudy, so we opted to visit Trapani and then get the ferry to the island of Favignana. We spent a couple of hours walking around Trapani’s pretty historical centre, along the elegant Corso Vittorio Emanuele and then to the beautiful Via Garibaldi with its baroque palazzi, magnificent ville and churches. The piazza has an imposing statue dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi, a man considered to be one of the fathers of Italy. The pretty town of Marsala, not too far from here, is where the famous Italian general

Photograph © iStock

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chose to land with his Thousand Men to begin his unification of Italy. After an aperitif in the square, we headed to the fish market, a great place to meet lively locals busy bartering for fish. The market, the boats in the harbour, the vendors cleaning the fish and the seagulls flying around trying to grab some fish create a very vivid picture. We then took the ferry to Favignana. The best way to explore the island is by bike, so as soon as we got off the ferry we rented them and cycled to the different bays. The further we cycled the quieter the beaches were, as the tourists tend to stop at Cala Rossa, the first one! Here, there were many sailboats docked not far from the beach, taking advantage of the clear water. The further bays, Cala Azzurra and Cala Rotonda, are equally stunning. I highly recommend stopping at the ristoro at Cala Azzurra for lunch – Dario, the owner, prepares delicious salads with fresh tuna and is super friendly. He runs his business truly out of love for the place and the people. After saying goodbye to Dario, we cycled further and got to the centre of the island where there are a few local shops and a small harbour which is home to one of the few surviving tonnare (tuna fisheries). On the fifth day we decided to do some exercise and walk along one of the paths of the Zingaro Nature Reserve. Famous worldwide for its beautiful sea and coastline, the reserve offers seven miles of protected nature stretching along the coast between Scopello and San Vito Lo Capo with

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many small bays where you can swim and sunbathe. This area of some 4,076 acres presents a rich variety of flora and fauna and has several paths with varying levels of difficulty for the walker or, in some cases, hiker. We opted, of course, for the easiest one – though I must confess it was not as easy as I thought it would be! This was partly because of my not-so-sporty nature, coupled with all the eating we had enjoyed... But actually it was mainly due to the heat, as the sun was so bright and there is not much shade. Despite this it was definitely worth doing and I would do it again a million times over for the gorgeous views and peaceful pebbly beaches. The last two days of our holiday were spent just relaxing – having perfect breakfasts on the terrace of our B&B, lying on the beach in Macari and going for dinner in the nearby restaurant Azzurra Makari where, while admiring the sunset, we enjoyed some of the freshest fish served by the friendly Mario and his team. After this dream week I have even more fantastic memories and an even bigger desire to go back to this sunny island with its beautiful beaches, great food and the very friendly Sicilian people I met along the way. LI

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Overlooking the port of Trapani

The beach at the Zingaro nature reserve

Flora in the nature reserve

San Vito Lo Capo

La Riserva Naturale dello Zingaro

GETTING THERE ➤ BY PLANE The best airport to get to is Trapani, right up in the northwest tip of the island. Unfortunately, however, there are no longer any direct flights to Trapani from the UK. If you fly to Palermo it will take you a couple of hours at most to drive to the northwest coast.

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North Sardinia

From beautiful bays and stunning beaches to the wilds of the inland reaches, there’s more to the north of Sardinia than the glitz of Costa Smeralda. Amanda Robinson travels away from the tourist hotspots…

Image © Antonio Saba

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Get away from it all in

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These three images © Antonio Saba

Images by Amanda Robinson uunless otherwise stated

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THE COAST WITH THE MOST Relais Villa del Golfo and Spa 2 is our base, a tranquil hotel about ten minutes outside the vibrant coastal town of Cannigione. Built into the

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Clockwise from left: View across Cannigione to yachts in the bay; entrance to Relais Villa del Golfo and Spa; the cool interior of the hotel lobby; room with a view; the hotel’s outdoor pool

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hh, Costa Smeralda – the glitzy millionaires’ playground in north Sardinia where the jetset have gone to kick up their heels since the 1960s. It was brought into the international spotlight when the Aga Khan decided to make it his own development project – and, as word spread, it became a bolthole for the rich and famous. A-listers from Audrey Hepburn to Madonna have soaked up the sun here, and it is still a destination for the glitterati. But what was it about the crystal blue waters, white sands and Mediterranean climate that attracted the Aga Khan here in the first place? Pretty much the same reasons I am making my first trip here too… Yes, faux fishing village Porto Cervo 1 is a curious construct, looking for all the world like a terracotta Portmeirion with meticulously tended flower beds and designer couture shops wherever you turn. And let’s not forget the immaculate harbour where super yachts jostle for space along the state-of-the-art quay. But away from all the high-end material distractions of this mere 10km strip of bling, the stunning coastline verdant with myrtle, wild thyme and prickly pear continues to wind its way up the northeastern edge of Sardinia to the splendid National Park of the Maddalena Archipelago and beyond, which is where we are heading.

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gentle hillside overlooking the azure waters of the Gulf of Arzachena, the hotel is an elegant sprawl of wellappointed rooms and suites, many with private balconies – a front row seat for the most spectacular sunrises. But if nature isn’t enough, there’s the hotel’s Harmony Wellness

The stunning coastline continues to wind its way up the northeastern edge Centre to help you unwind, offering treatments harnessing the power of deliciously-scented native Sardinian plants and herbs including myrtle, juniper and rose oil. The hotel is proud of the food it serves, and with good reason: the al fresco Miraluna restaurant uses fresh local produce to create a menu of innovative Mediterranean dishes, accompanied by a fine curation of local Galluran wines. A dish of seared seabass with a fresh sea urchin and pea purée captured the flavours of the gulf, while the Jerusalem artichoke ice cream and chocolate fondant dessert was an LAKES & ISLANDS 2021 105

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unexpected revelation! If more rustic fare is your preference, the hotel also owns the organic La Colti farm and agriturismo a couple of miles away. The traditional Gallura farmhouse restaurant offers an ever-changing seasonal menu using ingredients from this family-run farm. Relax outside at the bench tables and feast on bowls of soup, sharing platters of antipasti, spit-roasted pork fragrant with rosemary, homemade pastas, gnocchi with sausage and sebadas – the rib-sticking sweet ravioli dessert (see right). The farmhouse will also reveal the secrets of these local dishes with private cooking lessons. Not surprisingly, our joyful consumption of this delicious food is crying out for a counterbalance

of exercise – which we take in the form of a day on the hotel’s private yacht, Bon Aria, riding the waves out with our skipper, Andrew, to La Maddalena National Park 3 .

The water is teeming with shoals of tiny sea bream which glide around us Threading our way past the islands of the archipelago, and with Corsica almost in touching distance, we drop anchor in the crystal blue

waters just off the white sands of Budelli island, and slip into the warm sea to swim. The water is teeming with shoals of tiny silver sea bream which glide around us like the ebb and flow of murmuration of swallows, as time stands still. Back on dry land, a visit inland to the nearby archaeological sites of the Giants’ Tomb di Coddu Vecchiu and the prehistoric village of La Prisgiona 4 gives us just a glimpse of the extraordinarily sophisticated culture of Sardinia’s very first inhabitants. So little is known of these ancient people but with the site still only partially excavated, new discoveries are being made all the time to slowly piece their extraordinary story together.

Clockwise from abobe: Giants’ Tomb of Coddu Vecchiu; these ancient tombs lie quietly in the countryside; nuragic settlement at La Prisgiona; La Siddura vineyard in Gallura; fresh bread at La Bottega del Gusto in Cannigione

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SWEETS AND DESSERTS Sardinia offers plenty to satisfy a sweet tooth. You’ll find small biscuits and pastries rich with honey and nuts, known as dolci sardi, in bakeries all over the island. Among the most popular sweets are the delectable papassini, raisin and nut biscuits covered in white icing traditionally eaten over the Christmas period but now easily available any time of the year. Coriccheddus, or little hearts, are a popular shape particularly for special occasions. You’ll often see delicate piped icing on little pastries which imitates traditional island filigree jewellery, and these little treats are served at weddings and christenings. Sebadas (or seadas) are filled with a combination of pecorino or ricotta, citrus zest and herbs, deep-fried and drizzled with a honey glaze. Another honey-based favourite is torrone (nougat), made with the addition of walnuts or hazelnuts and egg white – the most famous is from the town of Tonara.

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NATURE’S BOUNTIFUL LARDER The waters around this Mediterranean island are teeming with a bountiful seafood harvest. You’ll find fresh fish on the menu right around the coastline. Lobster, octopus, sea urchins, bottarga, the list goes on… If you get the chance, try the seafood stews made with fregola (which is a giant toasted couscous). Inland, local food is a heartier affair with tender suckling pig (porcheddu) grilled over open fires scented with wild juniper and myrtle. Malloreddus is a typical Sardinian pasta: yellow with saffron and looking a bit like small gnocchi, it is often served with a fennel sausage sauce alla campidanese. Look out for culurgiones too – pasta parcels stuffed with ricotta, potato and mint.

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A LAND OF CHEESE AND WINE With more than three and a half million sheep, cows and goats scattered across its verdant hills and plains, the choice of cheeses from this beautiful island is many and varied. From hard cheeses like the savoury Pecorino Sardo, traditionally made from ewe’s milk, and crumbly Axridda, to Casu Marzu – not for the fainthearted as it is literally crawling with maggots… Sardinia is produces excellent red and white wines, with the majestic Cannonau, the star in the firmament of Sardinian reds, produced in the centre of the island, and elegant Carignano coming a worthy second. As for whites, the crisp Vermentino di Gallura from the granite-rich soils around Olbia in the northeastern corner is the only island wine to hold a DOCG classification.

Sea bass, sea urchin and fresh pea sauce

Freshly caught fish served simply

Piped honey and nut gattò

Blue filigree icing on wedding favours

Sweet sebadas drizzled in honey

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RELAIS VILLA DEL GOLFO & SPA 2 Località La Conia, 07021 Cannigione % +39 0789 892091 www.hotelvilladelgolfo.com This four-star resort is in a peaceful spot close to the beaches of Costa Smeralda. It has 59 rooms, a spa, and indoor and outdoor swimming pools. Enjoy traditional Italian dishes in the Sardinian restaurant MiraLuna with superb views of the bay. The organic La Colti farmhouse restaurant is set in the Cannigione countryside, with seasonal menus, wine and cheese tastings as well as cookery classes. There are indoor and outdoor pools at the hotel as well as the relaxing Armonia spa on the premises. You can book the hotel’s yacht or motor boat to explore the nearby Maddalena archipelago or hire one of the hotel’s electric cars to get out and about. SU GOLOGONE 6 Località Su Gologone, 08025 Oliena % +39 0784 287512 www.sugologone.it This secluded four-star hotel lies to the east of Oliena in the rugged, unspoilt landscape of inland Sardinia. It has 68 unique rooms, all furnished in traditional style, with touches of vibrant colour throughout. Craft workshops and cookery demos take place throughout the season. A spring-fed swimming pool, outdoor whirlpool, an 18hole mini-golf course and tennis court are set in the grounds. The hotel is well-placed for trips into the Barbagia mountains where a great variety of wildlife can be seen – book a four-wheel drive excursion to take you there.

Image © Antonio Saba

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North Sardinia

WHERE TO STAY

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su filindeu is a revelation. Cookery lessons and demonstrations are available – we marvelled at the dexterity of the nonna who made pane carasau, the ultra-fine flatbread, in a traditional brick oven. Sprinkled with flakes of salt and still warm, it’s a food memory I’ll treasure. The landscape here is wild and wonderful. The spring from which the hotel takes its name is not far away (Sorgenti Su Gologone) and its waters have carved out awe-inspiring caves and canyons like Grotta Sa O’he and Su Bentu in the nearby Supramonte 6 mountain range. Corbeddu cave, named after outlaw Giovanni Corbeddu Salis (Sardinia’s Robin Hood!) actually has far more more ancient credentials than that, with fragments from the Paleolithic era found in its musty darkness, making it the oldest site of human habitation in Sardinia. So far removed from the fresh breezes of Costa Smeralda, but a mere two hours’ drive apart. What an island… LI

North Sardinia

THE WIDE BLUE YONDER Food is hearty and delicious, with an ethos of zero food miles. Supplied by the abundance of excellent wines, olive oil and cheeses from the Oliena region, this is a place where Sardinian food traditions are celebrated on a daily basis. Lamb and boar grilled over hot coals are the stars of the culinary show, while a modest bowl of cheesy lamb broth and the world’s most intricate pasta,

How to make pane carasau

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Clockwise from top left: Porto Cervo harbour; Ido the dog; colourful décor at Su Gologone; local embroidery; Su Gologone; view from Monte Corrasi in Supramonte; Land Rover tour to the mountains; La Colti farmhouse restaurant; a day out exploring La Maddalena archipelago; lunch on the yacht; patio with jacuzzi at Su Gologone

Turning away from the coastline, our next destination is inland to the rugged wilds near Oliena. We are staying at the remote Hotel Su Gologone 5 , east of Oliena. Originally a restaurant in the 1960s, it turned into a rather hip hotel, but the focus on good food remains. The owner, Signora Pasqua, is still overseeing the kitchens, although the running of the hotel has devolved to her daughter, Giovanna. An artist by profession, Giovanna’s colourful influence can be seen everywhere in the hotel, where whitewashed walls are a cool counterpoint to vivid accents of colour schemes in the uniquely kitted out guest rooms and communal spaces. Add to this a backdrop of searing blue sky and it creates a subtle sensory overload, or chromatherapy, and whichever you prefer, it is good for the soul.

FIND OUT MORE ➤ Citalia (www.citalia.com) the leading Italian specialist, have been helping travellers discover the very best of Italy for 90 years. They handpick their hotels and have the expertise of local Italian experts to call on. Get in touch with their Italy experts on ☎ 01293 832522 to discuss your requirements and they can calculate a quote based on your personal requirements.

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ISLANDS

Taormina

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

Photography by Amanda Robinson. Amanda travelled to Sicily and stayed at Grand Hotel Timeo and Villa Sant’Andrea with Belmond

ETNA

above all Mount Etna casts a long shadow as Amanda Robinson discovers when she visits Taormina in Sicily

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of Santa Lucia whose bells had just chimed the hour for us, where the wedding of Apollonia and Michael Corleone was filmed. Whatever they said about mad dogs and Englishmen was entirely correct as winding up and down the cobbled streets of the village required serious refreshment, so we stopped in the village square to admire the statue of Coppola overlooking the valley he came to know so well, and on to Bar Vitelli (one of his favourite spots), where we slaked our thirst with a tangy lemon granita – a scoop of crushed ice liberally doused in fresh lemon juice. This is one of the very few places in Savoca where you can indulge in film nostalgia as the bar’s cool interior houses a wealth of extraordinary memorabilia from the film shoots and the cast. Refreshed and ready, we rejoined our drivers for the return journey to Taormina. As our fleet of classic Fiat 500s bounced around the hairpin bends on our descent to the

coast, bright as buttons, we were a rainbow motorcade rattling through the streets, enjoying attention from enthusiastic locals as if in a screenplay ourselves. To complete our Godfather pilgrimage, we pulled up in another well-kept village en route, Forza d’Agrò, basking in the hot sun. The piazza was deserted as our guide Anna took us to Antichi Muri – the restaurant with the best pizzas around. Baked in a wood oven, genial chef and Neapolitan owner Giuseppe Caruso rustled up pizza after pizza topped with savoury flavours from garlic and a light dusting of Parmesan, to artichokes, mushrooms and a revelation, chopped pistachio nuts. Not only did the vibrant green shards look stunning against their backcloth of rich red tomato, they amazed with an unexpected and unforgettable piquancy. I was staying in Taormina on the east coast of Sicily for a while to sample as much of its life as I could pack into three days. Spilling down on the hillside of Monte Tauro, Taormina overlooks two broad, sweeping bays – Giardini Naxos and Mazzarò – and presiding over it all, the brooding bulk of Mount Etna, Europe’s highest active volcano. With 400 craters scattered across ➤

Clockwise from top left: Juicy Sicilian cherries; Taormina’s ancient amphitheatre with Etna in the background; spaghetti vongole; Antichi Muri at Forza d’Agrò, the best pizzeria in the area; lunch al fresco; view over Taormina; giant Sicilian lemons; Etna’s lava trail; ceramics in the local style; poolside at Hotel Sant’Andrea, Taormina

Taormina

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he sun was suspended in the hot still air, as the tiny lizards dodged from one cool shadow to another. The midday campanile rang out from the tiny baroque church on the hillside, followed by the plangent strains of Ave Maria. Incongruous yet strangely moving, the music echoed around the steep valley, stopping everyone in their tracks, for there were many visitors to this little hamlet in the hills as it was Savoca – location for the seminal movie The Godfather. We had driven in the suffocating heat of high noon to visit this place of pilgrimage for so many avid fans of the Corleone dynasty, as portrayed in the iconic films directed by Francis Ford Coppola. One of the most popular films ever made, with the pretty village of Savoca at its heart, just 20 minutes away from the town of Taormina. Despite being immortalised in the film, the village retains its culture and heart, with a pleasing absence of souvenir shops and other trappings of the tourist trail. Instead you are free to follow in Al Pacino’s footsteps and take in some of the key locations of the movie – including the church

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As our fleet of Fiat 500s bounced around the hairpin bends, bright as buttons, we were a rainbow motorcade rattling through the streets as if in a screenplay

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Taormina

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

There’s something incredibly moving about looking at such artistic wealth stacked up around the house – the spirit of genius wafts through the villa Clockwise from top left: Vibrant geraniums tumble from terracotta pots; the constant plume of smoke rises from Mt Etna; Amanda catches some rays; the terrace at Grand Hotel Timeo; seafood heaven – cozze gratinate; busy streets of Taormina; azure waters of the Med; artichokes in Catania market; colourful Fiat 500s; window shopping in Taormina

➤ the upper slopes, a plume of smoke rises constantly from its snubnosed peak: a continual reminder of its potential explosive power. In fact, only the previous month, locals had been treated to a night time light show as lava brimmed over the volcano’s mouth and ran down its flank. We drove to the lower slopes of the volcano and saw for ourselves the breathtaking views across the volcanic slopes, the fertile ground covered with lemon trees, olive groves and grapevines – and the detritus of lava-covered landscapes. Only 30 minutes from Taormina, and rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693, Catania is Sicily’s second city. Remarkable for its magnificent, lava-built baroque buildings and black volcanic flagstones, the city’s newly pedestrianised centre makes it the ideal place to stroll around and feel the ambience and bustle of Sicilian life. Unmissable highlights include the Norman Duomo with a façade by Vaccarini, the Piazza del Duomo with its giant lava elephant statue and, of course, dramatic vistas of Mount Etna. You must also see the famous and chaotic fish market, La Pescheria, where you can enjoy crisp hot arancini and delectable grilled seafood, bought

that morning from the fishmonger stalls just alongside the restaurants. A favourite of writers and artists through the ages, Taormina’s beauty has been appreciated and immortalised by such luminaries as Goethe, DH Lawrence and Guy de Maupassant, and at the very top of the town is a villa that became a sanctuary for 20th-century literati. Villa Cuseni was designed and built by the Scottish painter Robert Hawthorn Kitson in 1905 – the house and gardens teeter on terraces stacked upon each other on the Etnafacing slope – a delightful fusion of Art Nouveau and Sicilian style. When Robert Kitson died in 1948, his niece, Daphne Phelps, went out to Taormina to sell the house. She fell in love with the place, the country and the people. She stayed on for another 50 years until her death and welcomed many notables to the villa, including philosopher Bertrand Russell, Greta Garbo, writers DH Lawrence, Tennessee

Williams, and painters Henry Faulkner and Pablo Picasso. Kitson was a great collector, and the friends who enjoyed his hospitality brought gifts and the resulting archive of memorabilia, original writing and art from these legendary talents is to be found at the villa. There’s something incredibly moving about looking at such artistic wealth literally stacked up around the rooms of the house. The spirit of genius wafts through the villa like the soft breezes stirring the leaves on the stone patio outside. And finally, through the throngs of visitors pushing ever upwards through the pedestrianised streets of the town, we came to the ancient amphitheatre in the natural curve of the hillside beside the Grand Hotel Timeo. The largest theatre of its kind in Sicily, its setting is incomparable with the soaring slopes of Mount Etna framed through the brick-built arches. So we sat a while – taking in the sublime views, the excellent natural acoustics trapping snippets of conversation around the theatre, as if the ancient stones were imbued with the very presence of long-passed audiences. And in the background – Etna presides over all. LI

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HOTEL FACTS ➤ BELMOND GRAND HOTEL TIMEO

☎ 0845 077 2222 www.belmond.com

➤ ANTICHI MURI PIZZA RESTAURANT Vincenzo Piazza Cammareri, Forza d’Agro, Messina ☎ +39 0942 721 024 www.antichimuri.com

➤ OSTERIA ANTICA MARINA Via Pardo 29, Catania ☎ + 39 0953 48197

www.anticamarina.it Situated in front of Catania’s bustling fish market, this is the place to come for the freshest, most delicious fish and seafood dishes. Booking advisable.

➤ CASA CUSENI

Via Leonardo da Vinci 5, Taormina ☎ +39 0942 558111

www.casacuseni.com If you’d like to learn more about Daphne Phelps, you can read her book A House in Sicily, published by Virago.

Taormina

➤ BELMOND HOTELS

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FIND OUT MORE

Via Teatro Greco, 59, Taormina www.grandhoteltimeo.com Set high in the rocky hills on the east coast of Sicily, Grand Hotel Timeo has long been known as one of Italy’s most glamorous retreats. The first hotel to be built in Taormina, it sits in the most perfect location, directly in front of the Greek Theatre with sweeping views of the coastline and the majestic Mount Etna stretching out beyond. All 70 rooms and suites at Grand Hotel Timeo are stylishly decorated with Italian flair and most have beautiful terraces or balconies. The suites evoke the opulent Italian baroque style, while the Presidential Suite enjoys the added attraction of an expansive terrace with a summerhouse, a lounge, dining room and small hydromassage swimming pool. Guests can stay in the Timeo Building or in Villa Flora, a beautiful annex building just 50m from the Timeo.

➤ BELMOND VILLA SANT’ANDREA Via Nazionale 137, Taormina www.hotelvillasantandrea.com Set on its own exclusive beach, beside one of the most beautiful coastlines in all of Italy, Villa Sant’Andrea overlooks the aquamarine sea. Built by an aristocratic family in 1830 among lush, subtropical gardens, this Orient-Express secluded retreat retains all the charm of a private residence. Settle into a sun-dappled seat and relax. Then, when action calls, a cable car whisks you in just three minutes to the centre of Taormina, with its many cultural attractions and sophisticated shopping scene. Villa Sant’Andrea enjoys an exceptional location on the beautiful private beach of Mazzarò, an enchanting bay with crystalline waters. The promontory around the bay is dotted with magical caves, including the Grotta Azzurra, which can be visited by boat. Divers, snorkelers and water sport enthusiasts will find much to explore in the quiet waters of the cove, including the caves’ abundant marine life. Hotel guests can enjoy exclusive use of the tranquil beach, with sun loungers, umbrellas and beach towels provided. There is also a summer Beach Bar serving refreshing cocktails, fruit smoothies and snacks – just what you need to lap up the ocean views.

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Photograph © iStock

ISLANDS

Cefalu & Aeolian Islands

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

Clockwise from top left: Cefalù beach; locals enjoying the surf on Panarea; the view over Cefalù from La Rocca; tourists seeing life as it used to be; Monte Vulcano, Stromboli; Cefalù Cathedral; the Lido Apollo in Cefalù; catching rays on the boat to Panarea

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Cefalu & Aeolian Islands

Cefalù

and the Aeolian Islands With nothing particular to do except enjoy the sun, sea and scenery, James Miller spent the weekend ambling around Cefalù and venturing out to the neighbouring islands…

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here are countless reasons why visiting Sicily is a good idea: natural beauty, historical and cultural interest, food, even romance. As a regular visitor I’m no stranger to any of these. However, in this instance, I’d decided to immerse myself in the island’s charms to seek inspiration, clarity and peace from the hectic lifestyle and confusion that goes hand in hand with British living these days. During my time as a correspondent for Italia! I’d never embarked upon a trip without a focused itinerary. This time, however, my plan was literally to have no plan, other than to be spontaneous and go with the flow, see where my adventure took me and let this ancient and unpredictable land work its magic! Following the northwest coastal route, my first stop was the medieval beach town Cefalù. The town is nestled beneath an enormous rocky promontory. The Cathedral’s twin peaks poke through the terracotta

Photograph © iStock

Images by James Miller unless otherwise stated

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48 HOURS IN…

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D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

WHAT TO SEE AND DO

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Cefalù & Aeolian Islands

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LIDO APOLLO 1 Cefalù Beach ☎ +39 320 7422265 Enjoy the Cefalù beach lifestyle and relax on the clean and sandy beach. Grab some lunch and maybe a cocktail at the Lido Apollo, which is only two minutes from the town centre. The Lido Apollo has to be experienced if you are here in the summer months, when it is quite the centre of the town’s night life. But whenever you visit you will find that the staff are friendly and will service your every need. CEFALÙ CATHEDRAL – DUOMO DI CEFALÙ 2 Piazza del Duomo, Cefalù ☎ +39 39 0921 922021 Cefalu Cathedral is an absolute must-see if you are in town. Indeed, many people came from far and wide just to visit il Duomo di Cefalù and see the worldfamous Christ Pantocrator. As well as its mosaics and other art, the Cathedral has impressive Norman architecture and beautiful stained glass windows. Take a rest in one the many bars and gelaterias surrounding the Cathedral’s piazza. In the evening the atmosphere in the piazza is tranquil and a perfect way to while away the evening with friends.

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LA ROCCA 3 East of Cefalù If you’re feeling energetic, a hike up Cefalu’s mountain, La Rocca, is well worth the climb. With breath-taking views and interesting archaeological sites along the way it leads to a a jaw-dropping viewpoint and is not to be missed.

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STROLL AROUND THE SHOPS 4 Cefalù Take a stroll around the speciality giftshops and browse amongst the exquisite hand crafted ceramics. Cefalù has a multitude of quaint shops to enjoy, from antique emporiums to typical Sicilian hat shops, stocking the traditional Sicilian coppolla, or flat cap.

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TAKE A BOAT EXCURSION 5 Visit Sicily Tours Via Vittorio Emanuele, 22 Cefalù ☎ +39 0921 424332 www.visitsicilytours.com Take a boat excursion to explore the Aeolian islands of Panarea and Stromboli. VST Boat Excursions is the best company in the area and they deliver a fantastic experience. A quick tour of the islands of Panarea and Stromboli like the one I took will cost you €80. The crew are extremely friendly and make the trip fun for everyone.

The view out to sea from Panarea

DON’T MISS HOLY SAVIOUR FESTIVAL Events begin on 2 August with the flying of a flag on the cathedral depicting an image of Christ. Later in the day there is the exciting and humorous challenge of retrieving another flag from the sea. The day concludes with fireworks.

rooftops, enticing would-be visitors to stop and explore this ancient and picturesque little Sicilian town. I checked into the hotel closest to the beach, the Riva del Sole. And without wasting any of the glorious Sicilian sunshine I went straight to the beach. I ventured into the lively beach bar the Lido Apollo. I ordered an Italian beer and got chatting to the bar staff and lifeguards. In no time at all we were getting on like old friends and I’d been invited to join

the glorious but intense Sicilian sun. Amongst the art and antique shops there was plenty to look at. I arrived at the main piazza, it was a site to behold, the Norman cathedral at the top dominating the beautiful square lined with cafés and restaurants. The exotic appearance of the cathedral is part of Cefalù’s legacy as a Norman stronghold. Roger II, so the story goes, survived a storm and landed on Cefalù’s beach. So grateful was he for his

I decided to enjoy the typically Sicilian way of eating ice cream, gelato in a brioche! them in the evening. They explained how much they loved the lifestyle in Cefalù. Toto, the lifeguard, had lived in Miami for a while but to him and his friends there was nowhere that offered the simplicity and sincere friendships that were all in Cefalù. After enjoying the beach with the Lido Apollo bunch, I decided to take a stroll through Cefalù’s quaint streets. The cool shade of the medieval streets offered a respite from

salvation, Roger commissioned the cathedral’s construction. The piazza and cathedral are the pride of the town and in the evening, when the cathedral is illuminated, the scene is quite magnificent. I decided to cool down and enjoy the serenity of the piazza, with a typically Sicilian way of eating ice cream, gelato in a brioche! I met some locals in the gelateria who were organising a sailing excursion

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Panarea harbour

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HOTEL RIVA DEL SOLE 6 Lungomare Giardina, 25 – Cefalù ☎ +39 0921 421 230 [email protected] www.rivadelsole.com The Riva del Sole occupies a prime location on the beachfront. The staff are friendly and the hotel is a stone’s throw away from the town centre. Breakfast is a pleasant experience in the bright and airy courtyard. The rooms have great sea views. The Riva del Sole offers good value for money and comes recommended.

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OLAS DEL MAR – B&B CEFALU 7 Via Bellini, 7 – Cefalù ☎ +39 380 285921 ☎ +39 338 285 8372 [email protected] www.olasdelmarcefalu.com This family-run B&B offers outstanding value for money. The rooms are minimalistic, stylish and impeccably maintained. The rooftop terrace offers amazing views to the sea and the owners are on hand to help at all times. The B&B is run with a real sense of professionalism and pride. Highly recommended. Tourists enjoying ice cream in the shade

around the nearby Aeolian Islands. I jumped at the chance to island hop around Sicily’s famous volcanic archipelago and agreed to meet with them the following day. After an exhilarating morning’s sailing we arrived at the island of Panarea. The experience was like stepping into a timeless paradise. The shimmering blue water and view of the volcano in the distance were breath-taking. I stopped to get some lunch before exploring the island further. The little harbourside restaurant was frozen in a time where romance and la vita bella were the order of the day. The charming waitress seemed to genuinely enjoy the sight of another spellbound customer at one of her tables. I sat outside and enjoyed a delicious bowl of local seafood pasta and white wine. This is a place where romantically intertwined couples can allow vero amore to blossom whilst isolating themselves from the rest of the world. I allowed myself to drift into the ambience and natural beauty of the island. The restaurant owners were playing slow, smooth melodies from the 1940s and ‘50s on their

radio. The moment had something of a dreamlike quality. I looked out at the harbour, the volcanic island in the distance billowed out wispy puffs of smoke into the cloudless blue sky. Fishing boats bobbed lazily in the harbour. It was serene, unspoilt, and beautiful. It was as though the rest of the world didn’t exist, or at least for this moment didn’t matter. I walked slowly upward through the narrow, flower-lined streets. The midday heat was becoming intense and a brief respite was in order. I found a small church at the top of a hill with spectacular views over the island and blue horizon. A breeze brushed the back of my neck and the only sounds were that of birdsong and children playing in the distance. It was the perfect location for a moment of calm reflection. I took in a few more sights before departing for the next island. Sun-kissed locals were leaping off volcanic rock into the sea. Later I lay by the harbour listening to the waves gently lap the stones, watching Mount Vulcano puff white wispy plumes into the air. This is a place that seems to exist outside

DON’T MISS FESTIVAL OF FIRE The volcanic island of Stromboli has been hosting the annual festival of fire since 2008. This flame-filled event sets tourists’ and locals’ worlds ablaze for two weeks every summer from the last Saturday of August.

Cefalù & Aeolian Islands

Embarking at Panarea

WHERE TO STAY

ISLANDS

Photograph © iStock

The church at Panarea

MY SUN HOUSE – HOLIDAY APARTMENTS AND VILLAS 8 Various addresses within Cefalù depending upon selection ☎ +39 333 228 3626 www.housesicily.com Run by Cefalù local Francesco Termini, this company offers a range or accommodation from studios to apartments to villas. The service is excellent and there is something to suit all budgets. Francesco is always happy to help and ensures his guests have the best stay possible.

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ALBERI DEL PARADISO 9 Via dei Mulini, 18/20 – Cefalù ☎ +39 0921 423900 ☎ +39 0921 440596 www.alberidelparadiso.it This hotel is situated on the outskirts of town. Nestled in amongst olive trees and orange groves, it is an idyllic location for a holiday in Cefalù. Away from the hustle bustle of town it is a real sanctuary after a day exploring the ancient streets of the town centre. Definitely worth a visit.

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ARTEMIS HOTEL 10 Via Roma, 101 – Cefalù ☎ +39 0921 421330 Artemis is a renovated convent, it has a distinctive style that acknowledges it historic roots whilst offering up to date service and facilities. Customer satisfaction is observed at all times in the Artemis. Artemis is an economical option that doesn’t concede on service standards. Well worth considering when visiting Cefalù.

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WHERE TO EAT

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Cefalù & Aeolian Islands

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MASQUENADA 11 Via Discesa Paramuro, 5/7 – Cefalù ☎ +39 320 813 8208 Masquenada is known to be one of the best spots for nightlife in the area, it has a lively clientele in the evenings and the atmosphere is fantastic. To really enter into the spirit of Cefalù partying in the summer, Masquenada has to be experienced. Pop in for something to eat and a mojito and you won’t be disappointed. € ● € ● € ●

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LA BRACE 12 Via XXV Novembre, 10 – Cefalù ☎ +39 0921 423570 www.ristorantelabrace.com This restaurant has tasteful décor with a tantalising menu that doesn’t disappoint its clientele. Popular both with locals and tourists. There is a relaxed and welcoming ambience and the staff aim to please at all times. The Chef takes great pride in producing great food and using quality ingredients. A little gem. € ● € ●

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KENTIA AL TRAPPITU 13 Via C.O. di Bordonaro, 96 – Cefalù ☎ +39 0921 423801 [email protected] www.kentiaaltrappitu.it This popular restaurant has a terrace by the sea that is a real hit for romantic evening meals enjoying the sounds of the waves whilst eating the delicious food the restaurant is famous for. The price is very reasonable and the interior is very stylish and elegant. € ● € ●

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MANDRALISCA 16 14 Via Mandralisca, 16 – Cefalù ☎ +39 0921 992245 www.labottecefalu.com Tucked away in one fo Cefalù’s sidestreets, this restaurant offers great value for money. Offering excellent Italian dishes with the freshest of ingredients, it has excellent seafood and does a great risotto. Sit in or outside, but you willl need to book yourself a table. € ● € ●

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DON’T MISS CASTELBUONO Within easy reach of Cefalù is the delightful town of Castelbuono. The town is named after its beautiful ArabNorman castle that sits atop a rocky outcrop dominating the town’s skyline. To fully appreciate the island’s varied history during the age of empires this must be experienced.

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CARDILE GIOVANNI 15 Via Lani, 1 – Panarea ☎ +39 090 98055 This amazing little eatery has pride of place on the island of Panarea’s harbour. The atmosphere is sublimely relaxed. Enjoying a bowl of seafood pasta and wine here whilst watching the puffs of smoke from a nearby volcanic island is the way to enjoy island life and the food is delicious.

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➤ KEY TO RESTAURANT PRICES (full meal per person, not including wine) € Up to €25 ● € ● € €26-€50 ● € ● € ● € More than €50 ●

of time, and for a while I was happy to forget about the past and the present and exist purely in the here and now. Later that afternoon our boat moored at Stromboli harbour. The first thing that struck me was the hotchpotch of colourful fishing boats strewn across the black pumice and volcanic sand. Families enjoyed the sun with a dip into the surf. Stromboli received international fame through the film of the same name, directed by Roberto Rossellini and starring Ingrid Bergman. Released in 1950, it is now considered a masterpiece in Italian neo-realism. Bergman plays a foreigner living on the island and experiencing extreme isolation and claustrophobia. Her anxieties accentuated by the looming threat of a volcanic eruption. I sat down and contemplated the reality of the remote but far from claustrophobic lifestyle of these islanders. I walked up the narrow, winding street towards the main piazza. Boutique shopkeepers, dressed in linen, were leaning barefoot on their stoops. It had a free-spirited, bohemian feel to it. At the top of the hill was a piazza and a pizzeria with views out to the

sea. I indulged in another bowl of local pasta and a glass of white wine. This was a place like no other I’d experienced in Italy. Not fashionable or glamorous but it didn’t need to be. It felt like the sort of place you could find yourself visiting and never returning from. The island had a slow and soothing rhythm dictated by the gentle metronome of the waves lapping against the shore. I walked back down and lay on the jetty waiting for the boat to return. The experience of visiting the Aeolian Islands had been almost surreal, intoxicating. Unlike Karin, Ingrid Bergman’s character in the film Stromboli, I didn’t want to leave this entrancing corner of the Mediterranean. I knew one day I would return. Later that evening our boat dropped anchor just off the shore of an active volcano. The light was subdued and atmospheric, and our boat rocked gently in the shadow of this brooding giant as we waited for a glimpse of its elemental power. It was now the middle of the night and my new friend Toto had offered to pick me up in Cefalù. I was expecting a car but, true to the vita libera the locals enjoy,

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I ended up whizzing through the streets, helmetless in the dead of night, on his Vespa scooter – just the adrenaline jolt I needed after the tranquilizing combination of sun, sea, beautiful Mediterranean islands, volcanoes and drinks on the boat. THE GODDESS DIANA The ancient inhabitants of Sicily built a temple on La Rocca and dedicated it to a beautiful goddess from antiquity. The Romans called her Diana, she was known as Artemis to the Greeks. I’d heard that the mountain here was said to be a place of inspiration and ancient magic. I was intrigued. It was the start of a new day and before leaving Sicily I couldn’t resist a trip up to the summit to find some answers. After an energetic scramble, I sat on the ruined battlements at the peak. The refreshing, cool wind blew across my face. I could hear the waves rhythmically rolling into the shore beneath. I pondered upon the powerful allure they must have felt towards their feminine deity – enough to have created a sacred place to honour her. I felt an affinity to their passions. I wondered how this goddess must have appeared in their furtive imaginations. In my mind’s eye, I saw large, shimmering, blue eyes, crystalline and mesmerising, much like the endless blue sea – graceful, with a beauty matched by none. Although, despite her feminine beauty and elegance, her character was fiercely strong and independent. This female deity had a particular relevance for woman wanting to bear

children, as she was the patron goddess for conceiving and childbirth. As the classical story goes, there was a man who fell upon her gaze. Bewitched, he thought she was his perfect lover. But he is tragically thwarted by her absolute unattainability. True to the spirit of the classical myths of antiquity, where there is beauty there is also suffering… I mused upon this ancient drama as I made my descent back into the town. The views were spectacular all the way down and I savoured them knowing that my time in Sicily was coming to an end. I came to Sicily with no real plans other than to go with the flow and let the island work its magic. After experiencing the staggering beauty of those tiny Aeolian Islands, hanging out with vivacious locals and experiencing the mystique of La Rocca, I can honestly say that I am truly spellbound. LI

Cefalù & Aeolian Islands

A secluded sunbathing spot

The beach at Stromboli

Fishing boats and Vespas – the transport of choice!

GETTING THERE ➤ BY PLANE Cefalù lies on the northern coast of Sicily, to the east of Palermo. You could fly in to Catania or Comiso and drive across the island but you will be doing yourself a huge favour if you can get a flight to Palermo. Easyjet flies there from Gatwick, while Ryanair has services from Stansted and Dublin. ➤ BY TRAIN OR BUS Get the shuttle bus from the airport into Palermo and take a train or a bus to Cefalù from there. If you are travelling with friends, or you simply don’t want the hassle of public transport, a taxi might cost about €100.

Sunset over the sea on my excursion to the Aeolian Islands

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Southern Sardinia

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

Sardinia’s

Song of the South Many people seek the northernmost reaches of Sardinia for their holiday destination. Mary Novakovich went the other way, southwest of Cagliari to a corner of the island where the pace of life is slower…

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Southern Sardinia

Images by Adam Batterbee

T

he name of the house was a good omen. Casetta Maria – Mary’s Little House – had two small bedrooms and three big terraces. Yes, three. I could flit from the top terrace, where the swing seat was by an olive tree, to the rear terrace, with its handy brick barbecue and huge, private outdoor shower, before relaxing on the sheltered front terrace surrounded by bougainvillea, palms and luxuriant shrubs. It was just the place to savour Sardinian life in the balmy late-summer air that was heavy with the scent of juniper, pine and wild herbs. I was in Sardinia’s deep south, where the coast road west of Cagliari wound alongside mountains covered in macchia – a scrubby, fragrant landscape of myrtle, heather, gorse, stunted juniper bushes and prickly pear hanging with ripe fruit. The jagged coast hid countless little coves and much bigger sandy beaches – some of the loveliest on the island. From Casetta Maria I walked two minutes through a pine forest to what felt like a little private beach for the residents of Sa Pinnetta, our small hamlet of mainly holiday cottages and second homes. This intimate spot became our favourite for a late-afternoon swim after a day’s exploring.

Sardinia’s Costa del Sud, as I was discovering, was full of surprises. To the east towards the capital, Cagliari, is Pula, a pleasant inland village with a lively Tuesday morning market and an attractive main square filled with busy restaurants and cafés. About two kilometres away is the town beach, which happens to be next to one of Sardinia’s most important ancient sites, Nora Archaeological Park. BOTTARGA AND CLAMS In Pula, on the little terrace of Mr Jingles in the main square, I had my first taste of one of Sardinia’s most distinctive flavours: bottarga. This cured, dried mullet roe is usually grated onto pasta and was – as I discovered over a bowl of spaghetti with bottarga and clams – instantly addictive. Over the course of a week, I was chasing this heavenly taste of the sea all over the southern coast, from seafood restaurant to seafood restaurant. Happily for me, that’s one thing the Costa del Sud didn’t lack. One day, heading west on the winding coast road, I had noticed signs advertising Trattoria da Gianni. In my experience, I’ve found that the more signs you see

Clockwise from top left: View over Sa Pinnetta, our home for the holiday; the top terrace at Casetta Maria; spaghetti with bottarga and clams; our outdoor shower; cheese at Pula market; fresh sardines for sale; joining the locals in the acquisition of fruit and vegetables; sea view from the top of Sa Pinnetta

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TRATTORIA DA GIANNI Località Porto Budello, 09019 Teulada % +39 070 928 3015 Seafood-heavy menu including spaghetti with clams, bottarga, sardines or scampi, plus grilled tuna, squid and langoustines.

for a restaurant, the less satisfying the food is when you get there. Gianni’s was a happy exception to this rule. In a peaceful garden, with views of the sea and one of the many medieval towers guarding the coast, I devoured a plate of spaghetti that needed nothing more than garlic, olive oil and a generous amount of bottarga. It’s known as the poor man’s caviar, though it’s not particularly cheap. Usually it’s used sparingly, but not at Gianni’s. From the restaurant, it was only a few kilometres to Porto Tramatzu. Backed by low, pine-covered cliffs, this beautiful sandy beach had the sort of laid-back atmosphere that was ideal for a post-prandial swim. Rather than rent sunloungers and parasols, we brought the beach chairs and umbrellas thoughtfully left for guests at Casetta Maria. In this sheltered bay, the shallow water was impossibly clear and inviting – just the spot for a lazy afternoon of lotus-eating.

The game of “which beaches shall we visit today?” was never dull, even if it sometimes took an unexpected turn. The closest full-service beach to Casetta Maria – complete with bars, watersports and car park – was Spiaggia di Tuerredda, which we could catch glimpses of from various viewpoints in our hamlet. Every time we looked over, it seemed to be just a shade too busy for a relaxing afternoon. Purely by accident, we found a nearby path twisting from the road down a macchiastrewn hill to a tiny rocky cove. Here, our only company was one other couple and a basking cormorant.

Clockwise from top left: Spaghetti alle vongole Da Gianni – Da Gianni’s spaghetti with clams; the beach at Sa Pinnetta; Chia beach in the rain; bottarga in a Cagliari shop; Porto Tramatzu beach

COVES AND BEACHES A month along this coast might have been enough for me to discover all of the little coves and beaches, each with its own distinct personality. One of the best-known series of beaches was just to the east, along the coast near the village of Chia. On one side of a headland is adorable Cala Cipolla (yes, Onion Bay), but hike through the scrub and you reach the wide expanse of Su Giudeu. Its soft sands are just beyond a protected lagoon that is home to pink flamingos, and the scrubby sand dunes have been fenced off to protect their delicate ecosystem.

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Nora Archaeological Park ISLANDS

Founded by the Phoenicians in the 9th century BC and then ruled from Carthage, Nora became Sardinia’s principal city when the Romans took over in 238BC. Nora’s precarious position on a spit of land made it vulnerable both to Saracen raids and flooding, which eventually drove the population away in the 3rd century AD. We joined the guided tour around the site, which is now the only way to visit the park, thanks to previous visitors’ propensity to help themselves to the ancient mosaics that cover parts of the floor. The sea formed an enchanting backdrop to dignified columns, remains of bathhouses and an atmospheric amphitheatre that is used nowadays for concerts and plays. As the ticket also included entry to the Torre del Coltellazzo watchtower built by the Spanish in the 16th century, I could take in the views of the rugged coast from the top of the tower.

Southern Sardinia

Clockwise from right: The mosaic floor is largely intact; the city was abandoned to its fate in the 3rd century AD; the tower commands an impressive view over the sea; view of the tower from below

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Southern Sardinia

S’Acqua Salia agriturismo Magnetic though the coast was, eventually we headed into the hills – specifically to Paola and Antonello’s agriturismo, S’Acqua Salia, outside the town of Teulada. The reward for our rather hair-raising drive up an exceptionally bumpy track was serene views of the mountains and the family farmland. When Antonello wasn’t tending his enormous herd of goats, he was spit-roasting suckling pig (another Sardinian favourite). As we sat in the dappled shade of the terrace, Paola came out with antipasti of prosciutto, goats’ cheese, salume and thin slices of grilled aubergines and courgettes. Her homemade ravioli of ricotta and tomato sauce followed, along with malloreddus alla campidanese – both simply, perfectly done. The star was Antonello’s suckling pig – meltingly succulent, delicately flavoured with herbs and utterly gorgeous. After a palatecleansing chunk of melon, we could just about fit in Paola’s raviolini di ricotta, little pastries that were gratifyingly less sweet than expected. It was one of those lunches you wish could go on for ever. AGRITURISMO S’ACQUA SALIA Località S’Acqua Salia, 09019 Teulada ☎ +39 340 053 7712 It’s vital to book ahead for dinner at this friendly agriturismo. Lunch is served usually only for groups, so call to see if you can be included.

You can follow Bed & Breakfast e Agriturismo S’acqua Salia di Teulada on Facebook

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FIND OUT MORE ➤ Mary Novakovich travelled to southern Sardinia with Sardinian Places (www.sardinianplaces.co.uk). With their expert local knowledge of beautiful hotels and villas right across the island, they can help you plan your perfect getaway.

Southern Sardinia

LIZARDS AND MOTHS Evenings were flying by in Casetta Maria, where we barbecued pork sausages perfumed with fennel and sat on the front terrace idly watching the resident lizard catch moths. It was easy to replicate the most famous pasta dish from Sardinia’s south-west: malloreddus alla campidanese. Made with ridged, narrow, shell-like pasta, the dish involves cooking tomatoes and pork flavoured with fennel – that wonderful taste again, which was

just as addictive as bottarga. In a vague attempt to work off the pasta, we would take moonlight walks through the woods to the beach, where the velvety sky was heavily studded with stars. After a week in the slow lane Cagliari almost came as a shock. But the medieval lanes in the Castello and the sweeping views of the city from the Bastione de Saint Remy soon won me over. A wander through the Giardini Pubblici was enlivened by a wedding party handing out drinks. Another wedding in the Palazzo Civico near the Marina was overrun with scrubbed-up and beribboned dogs, who, we were told, were there on special invitation by the bridge and groom. Sardinia’s south had me thoroughly bewitched – its flavours, its scents, its light and its landscapes cast a spell that will take a long time to lose its grip. LI

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Further east are the beaches of Santa Margherita di Pula, which is classic holiday resort territory. Hidden within the pine forests are everything from campsites and holiday villas to the luxurious Forte Village resort. Even this late in the season, it was still bustling, its shops, pizzerias and roadside fruit stalls kept busy. But it was the western, wilder side of the coast that was putting me under its spell. Driving along the serpentine and madly scenic coast road, I was constantly distracted by enchanting little beaches – Malfatano Beach just before the dangling Capo Malfatano, Spiaggia di Piscinni – where things were rougher and readier than in the more manicured resorts.

Clockwise from right: Sunloungers on Su Giudeu beach; a brief taste of city life in Cagliari; the sun sets slowly over Sa Pinnetta

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Springtime on Elba

Photo by Roberto Ridi

ISLANDS

Elba

D I S C O V E R I TA L I A !

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All photos by Fleur Kinson unless otherwise stated

Tuscany’s largest island is a paradise of white beaches and clear waters, with some fabulous walking routes thrown in. It can be packed-out in summer, so Fleur Kinson nips over nice and early

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Elba

island in 1814, of course. (Never one to sit still, the diminutive French emperor did an awful lot for Elba in the ten months he was confined here – building roads, streamlining the economy, and improving law and education.) Elba was sometimes referred to by the Romans as ‘the island of good wines’. But from ancient times until the 20th century’s start of package tourism, Elba was above all just a place to be mined for its minerals. The name of the island’s main town, Portoferraio – ‘ironworker port’ – tells you everything about Elba’s chief usefulness to the outside world. It might have been a do-nothing backwater for most of its life, but Elba unexpectedly helped create some of Italy’s greatest cultural masterpieces. Ochre pigment from the island’s super-rich soil went into the paintings of Michelangelo. And high up in Elba’s mountains you can still see the holes where the columns for Rome’s Pantheon were quarried. Indeed, some half-hewn old columns are still lying about up there. Today, the island’s mining industry has been vigorously supplanted by tourism. Crystalline seawater, pale sandy beaches, charming little towns – its visitor appeal can make Elba crowded in the summertime. Which is why I’m coming here at the comparatively empty start of the year. Plus I want to relish the island’s hiking routes in spring’s floral glory.

ISLANDS

Clockwise from top left: A lone rower explores a quiet bit of coast; a group of walkers hike in the springtime hills; local people enjoying the sunshine in Marciana Marina; farmhouse with vineyards gazing west towards distant Corsica

n travel as in life, journeys should be as interesting as destinations. And my long, convoluted voyage to Elba – a plane, three trains and a ship – is never short on stimulation. That’s the thing with islands. They require commitment to reach, and make you see so much else on the way. Then when at last you find yourself on their private sea-girt world, nowhere else seems to matter. As my plane comes in to land, the leaning tower of Pisa pokes its cheeky white diagonal over surrounding buildings to welcome me to Tuscany. It’s April, the very start of the visitor season, and I shall be among the first foreign guests of the year on Elba. A train carries me toward the port town of Piombino through a rolling Arcadian landscape dressed in bright spring greens and fizzing with pink blossom. Piombino arrives as an arresting tangle of steelworks and hellfire, with chimneys belching smoke over a landscape of gantries, pylons and rusting iron. It’s so extreme it’s beautiful. I step from the tiny ferry-port station into dazzling sea-light and all the typical colours of ships – white, orange, dark blue. Cars and snarling packs of mopeds wait to board the next ferry to Elba. It’s Italy’s usual ordered chaos. Elderly men stand chatting between the vehicles, and excited children run rings around buses. In the front seat of one of the cars, a man has impossibly squeezed a gigantic Newfoundland dog onto his lap. And then we’re all crossing the sun-dazzled sea. Elba slowly rises its tall, mountainous silhouette higher and higher in front of us. And suddenly a castle swings past, and harbour walls, and fruitcoloured townhouses. And we’re here.

LOCAL LIFE On my first day, I set out for the seaside town of Marciana Marina.

High up in Elba’s mountains are the holes where columns for Rome’s Pantheon were quarried

BACKWATER TO BEACH RETREAT The third largest island in Italy, Elba lies less than ten miles off the coast of Tuscany, but it has always been very far removed from the mainstream of Italian history. Essentially, nothing has ever happened here. Except for Napoleon’s brief banishment to the

A charming taxi driver named Angelo takes me there, and we chat away in his weak English and my weak Italian. “You are from Elba?” I ask him brightly. “Si, sono Elbano,” he tells me with obvious pride. Welldressed and dignified, Angelo tells me of his deep love for the island, especially its quiet villages. “Troppo tourists sulla spiaggia in July and ➤ LAKES & ISLANDS 2021 127

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Elba

➤ August,” he laments as we swing round a steep headland with a view across umbrella pines down to the cobalt sea. “I do not like Firenze. I do not like big cities,” he confesses with a smile, and admits he rarely visits the mainland unless he has to. I grin and nod, surveying the pretty homes and trees passing by and understanding why one might never feel the need to leave this place. Suddenly Angelo slows the car and points eagerly to the woods at the side of the road. “Look! See! Is… mufloni! Come si dice in inglese? Moufflon!” I can’t believe I’ve just heard him say the word moufflon. I’ve always wanted to see one of these rare wild antelope-like sheep

spring away in magnificent leaps. I am overcome. Angelo and I drive onward in joyous silence, then he tells me that on early morning journeys he often sees small groups of wild boar grazing at the side of the road. “Sempre I drive zlowly in the morning,” he says. And then quietly and with feeling, “I love the animal.” “Oh, I love them all too!” I say emphatically. Marciana Marina is a radiant seaside resort, but also a real town with thriving local life – especially at this point in the year before the summer hordes arrive. A pretty marina bobs with tidy boats and yachts, water slapping their sides and wind pinging ropes against their masts. I wander the seafront, soaking up the sun and the affluent calm all around. Prams are pushed through a leafy park, elderly people sit chatting on the harbour wall. It is a vision of ideal community. What a perfect life can be lived in Marciana Marina.

It is a vision of ideal community – what a perfect life can be lived in Marciana Marina

WALK IN THE WOODS I travel inland to see the hill village of Poggio, famed for its mineral water and its pretty streets. In the ➤ main piazza, two teenage boys

Photo by Roberto Ridi

with their magnificent curling horns. They only live in very few places in Europe, and I didn’t know that Elba – like its neighbour Corsica – was one of them. I peer excitedly between the trees and indeed there are the robust haunches of several large ginger-brown beasts, who hesitate for a moment then

Clockwise from above: the terracotta rooftops of Portoferraio; fishing boats at Marciana Marina; a quiet Elban garden; a peaceful woodland path winds down to the lovely beach

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THE TUSCAN ARCHIPELAGO

WHERE TO STAY AND EAT

➤ Elba is the largest of a chain of seven islands which together form the Tuscan Archipelago. Aware of the beauty of these isles, fanciful locals long ago explained their origin thus: as the goddess Venus was passing high over Tuscany’s coast, her bejewelled necklace broke, and several gems slipped off the string and dropped into the sea. Each of those jewels became an island. Who couldn’t love that story? The islands – Elba, Giglio, Capraia, Montecristo, Pianosa, Giannutri and Gorgona – are remarkably different from each other. Geologically, some of them are granite, others sedimentary rock, and little Capraia presents a volcanic landscape. Most of the islands are visitable, but some are essentially uninhabited or serve as strict nature reserves. Gorgona used to be a prison, rather like Alcatraz. As well as being by far the largest of the seven islands, Elba has the largest population, with about 32,000 residents. Others have a few hundred. Little Giannutri and Pianosa have only about ten people on them, and Montecristo apparently has just two – each guarding its nature sanctuary. The archipelago’s seven islands – plus ten minor islets, some rocky outcrops and all the surrounding sea – are protected together as the Tuscan Archipelago National Park. It’s the single largest marine park in Europe, covering nearly 45,000 acres of ground and 140,000 surface acres of sea. Various rare species of flora and fauna inhabit the archipelago and its waters, so the protection that comes from National Park status is much appreciated.

➤ PARK HOTEL NAPOLEON San Martino di Portoferraio

➤ CAMPING

➤ HOTEL ILIO

Elba

www.infoelba.com/where-to-sleep Portoferraio’s surrounding area is pretty good for campsites, as is much of the coast on the southern side of the island, too. Often there are also bungalows and apartments available on these sites.

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www.elbaparkhotelnapoleone.it If you want to stay in the vicinity of Elba’s main town Portoferraio, the finest hotel is probably the Park Hotel Napoleon – a 19th-century mansion. There’s also the luxury beachside Hermitage. For eating in Portoferraio itself, try the Trattoria La Barca at 60 via Guerrazzi or La Stella Marina at 1 via Vittorio Emanuele II.

Via Sant’ Andrea 5

www.hotelilio.com If you’re staying in western Elba, seek out the stylish and eco-friendly Hotel Ilio in Sant’ Andrea, with its super-helpful owner Maurizio and its superb restaurant. High in the hills, you could stay in the village of Poggio at the Monte Capanne restaurant and hotel at 1 via Pini.

➤ PUBLIUS RESTAURANT Piazza del Castagneto 11, Poggio

www.ristorantepublius.it The wonderful family-run Publius restaurant is worth a visit for classic Tuscan cuisine with a modern twist. Excellent service, too.

➤ OSTERIA DEL NOCE Via della Madonna 19, Marciana

www.osteriadelnoce.it Visit this great locale to enjoy awardwinning food and good prices in one of the oldest villages on the island.

➤ HOTEL MARISTELLA Lungomare Kennedy 3, Cavo www.hotelmaristella.com Elba’s east has perhaps fewer really interesting hotels and restaurants. But if you’re at this end of the island, try here.

➤ HOTEL BELMARE Banchina IV Novembre, Porto Azzurro www.elba-hotelbelmare.it Close to the docks in Porto Azzurro, with sea views and easy access for cyclists. In fact, you can get involved with the organised mountain bike tours that they offer, or go scuba diving in the bay.

➤ VILLA MIRAMARE Località Pareti, Capoliveri www.villamiramareelba.it In the southern part of the island, you can enjoy beach access from this comfortable hotel. Apartments also available.

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Elba

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Clockwise from above: Fishing boats at rest in sunshine; Marciana Marina and the castle

➤ are playing football, alternately cheered and chided by a trio of plump matriarchs watching from a sunlit bench. There are colourful flowers tumbling from every corner. I have a superb lunch at Poggio’s swanky Publius restaurant, with vertiginous views down to the sea,

stout peninsulas or plunge off into the mountains. I climb a footway to a hillside where spring flowers smile shyly and giant granite boulders lie weathered by the winds into smooth, eerie sculptures. The views down to the coast and across the island are breathtaking. As I stand there, I realise that the black, magnetic lump of land lining the western horizon is Corsica, and happily trace the island’s silhouetted geography. Evening sees me in the chic coastal village of Sant’ Andrea, just in time to hear the nightingales tuning up for the coming twilight performance. I take a pre-dinner stroll along the lanes, past lemon groves and pines all glowing in the hot orange light of sundown. I turn down a footpath and emerge at a deserted crescent of sand hugged by two sculpted stone headlands. It is one of the most perfect beaches I’ve ever seen. More a stage set than a piece of real geography. No wonder so many people are drawn to Elba, I sigh with a smile. LI

It is a vision of ideal community – what a perfect life can be lived in Marciana Marina then travel onward to the little village of Marciana, which claims to be the oldest settlement on Elba. It’s a charming place, a delirium of stepped alleys and belvederes, but it’s the village’s easy access to hiking trails that I’ve really come for. Elba’s walking routes are among the island’s best features. But they’re often overlooked by visitors, who can’t bear to tear themselves away – quite understandably – from the beautiful beaches. The walks range from hearty treks to piece-of-cake strolls, all on well-marked paths that snake around the coast, wriggle across 130 LAKES & ISLANDS 2021

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