This week I couldn’t resist choosing another Italian treasure to tell you all about. After reviewing Talk Dirty Italian and Speak Italian I wanted to explore more of my love for Italy. This time swapping a language book for a travel guide, my second passion!
One Hundred & One Beautiful Small Towns in Italy
As the name suggests, it is a guide to those little towns in Italy that you should visit given the chance. One problem I find when trying to plan a trip to a new country is to find those places off the beaten track. If you search on Google “Where to visit in Italy” you will be confronted by all the big places. Rome, Florence, Venice… the list goes on. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with visiting the popular cities in a country. I have been to Rome and Venice and they are fantastic but aren’t always as “authentic” as I would like. Filled with tourists, all the menus in English and getting chased around the tourist attractions by touts… not really what I dreamt of when I first went to visit Italy. There is nothing better than going to a small town, where no one speaks English, and mingling in with the locals. Truly experiencing the culture and it’s people. That is exactly what we did in Germany earlier this year and it was magical!
Each town comes with some beautiful pictures to entice you in and then a short history of the place to make you want to stay… forever! From the first moment I opened this book my travel bucket list ballooned to extraordinary heights. Even if I went to Italy for every holiday I had I don’t think I would see everywhere on the list. Worth a try though right?
Over the years I have spent lots of time researching places in Italy to visit and only heard of a few places. It is like another world of Italian treasure is now open to me. Like I needed any more excuses to love the place. Are you already visiting Italy and want to find some extra day trips or destinations? No problem, just skip to the section about the region you will be visiting and you are ready to go.
This book is the perfect form of inspiration if you are planning a trip to Italy. It won’t replace your lonely planet guide, but will expand your horizons and show you what else you could be seeing on your trip. And if you are like me, and can’t make time for a trip in the near future, you can look through it and daydream about visiting one day.
If this is right up your street, and let’s be honest why wouldn’t it, then head over to Amazon (UK) to pick up a copy.
I am constantly looking for more inspiration for books to read and review so please get in touch if there is something specific you want me to try or you have seen that looks interesting.
Ciao for now!
