Attractions in Italy

If you are looking forward to lakes, beaches, mountains, cladded slopes, medieval towns, architecture, castles, museums and skiing, all at one place, Le Marche is the perfect place to be this vacation. This travel destination is mostly the agricultural area that is covered with greenery. Situated in the very heart of Italy, this place is truly a wonder. A large number of people from various parts of the globe visit this destination in order to spend quality time with their friends and family. The top five things to do in Le Marches include visiting the beaches, walking through the brilliant parks, talking pleasure in the Le Marches events, enjoying the sports and visiting the historical sites.

This area of Italy divided into five regions make it such a popular area for renting holiday accommodation. There are rentals in the mountains or villas overlooking the beautiful sea. The Le Marches area provides a brilliant range of activities and sports for the travelers so that they can have an excellent vacation time. The sports that can be enjoyed by the adventure enthusiasts include horseback riding, biking and hiking. The travelers can easily explore the entire Monte Conero while riding on the horse back.

There are clubs that offer daily riding and hiking for the interested, keeping aside their level of capability. Also, discovering the hiking paths and tracks in Le Marche regional parks is a great activity to perform. Even biking is among the favorite sports for a large number of tourists as well as the local Italians. The gentle and sloping hills serve as the ideal setting to carry on the hiking activity. Taking pleasure in the Le Marches beaches is the next best thing to do. There are various options of Itlian beaches in the Le Marche area. These beaches range from the vibrant Senigallia to the family oriented San Benedetto to the secluded ones of the Monte Conero Coast. The month of august is the time when many travelers gather on the Le Marche beaches.

If you are one of those who desire to spend relaxing, private moments, warm seas and pleasant weather with your loved ones, the months of June, July and September are best to visit the Le Marches. This travel destination is also known for being the home to various Blue Flag Beaches, the quality seal that is provided on the basis of water quality, safety, environmental management and cleanliness. Among the other things to do in Le Marche, a visit to events and food festivals is a brilliant way to know the culture and history of this region. Each and every village and town of Italy proudly conducts its own celebrations and events in order to characterize the local culture and traditions. Most of these festivals take place in the summer season. Every festival celebrated at this destination is highlighted by different renaissance or medieval costumes.

Visiting the historical sites and attractions of Le Marches is the fourth important thing to do. Some of these sites include Raphael's Birth House, Villa Imperiale, Museo Villa Colloredo Mels, Church of Santa Maria and Santa Casa and Basilica. Also, walking or cycling on the footpaths of Sibillini National Park and other regional parks like Parco Regionale della Gola and di Frasassi is a fantastic thing to do in Le Marches. These footpaths are specially designed for all those who wish to go nearer to the nature. So, plan your next rental holiday to Le Marches and experience a truly wonderful time.

There is such a lot of places to go and see in the Le Marche region making it a sort after choice when renting holiday homes or villas. The choice of food and wines make catering a very easy and pleasurable experience for the whole family, keeping everybody relaxed and ready to explore this beautiful region of Italy.

You're off to Italy on a cooking school tour you've been dreaming of for years, perhaps in the magnificent Barolo wine country in Piedmont or on the east coast in Sicily with views of the Mediterranean and snow capped Mount Etna. You want to enjoy your sensual experiences in Italy to the maximum: the beauty, the countryside, food, cooking lessons, wine tastings, sightseeing excursions and visits with local people. 

Here are four detailed tips on getting all the joy possible out of your Italian cooking school tour, gleaned from my 12 years of experience creating and leading cooking tours in Italy.

1. Many cooking school tour members tell me, "I've eaten too much! There's too much food. I'm a food lover so how can I discipline myself when everything is SO delicious."

Find out what is on your lunch or dinner menu so you can pace yourself. That way you avoid eating a lot of one course only to find three more courses are coming and you don't have room for all the wonderful food. Most Italian meals for special occasions (all cooking school tour meals are special occasions) have five courses: one to five appetizers, pasta or rice, meat or fish, vegetable side dish and dessert, so pacing yourself makes a big difference in your enjoyment of your meal.

A good cooking school tour guide will list all the dishes on the menu to the group before a meal. If she doesn't, ask her to do so. Sample a little bit of everything so you experience as many flavours and dishes as possible. That's one reason you go on a cooking school tour, isn't it? Trying a bit of everything will also avoid offending your hospitable cooking teachers or chefs. Then you can smile and say, "It was absolutely wonderful, but I just don't have the space." I'm on the petite side, so this line makes perfect sense to my Italian hosts.

2. Some cooking school tour participants say, "The cooking classes were hands-on but I didn't get enough time to cook hands-on during the lesson. The chef did too much of the cooking in the class." If you want to participate more hands-on in the class, get beside the chef and jump right in. If you hang back, waiting to get asked to do something, you may wait awhile and go away feeling disappointed you didn't get a real hands-on class. Some tour guides and chefs notice who is shy and hanging back in the kitchen and encourage them to "step up to the plate", but others don't. You have to be assertive and volunteer.

3. Some cooking school students wonder, "Will I gain weight during my cooking tour with the vast quantities of irresistible food?" One woman told me she lost 10 pounds during her cooking lesson trip in Italy. No fried chicken or hamburgers, just healthy, natural, less fatty foods. Italians eat less junk food and more fresh, local foods than many North Americans. She drank water and no pop. She did much more walking than she ever does at home.

If you can find time on your cooking school tour to go for walks or hikes, you'll go home weighing the same or less, and feel much more energetic while on your cooking tour. Better still, choose cooking school tours that include some good walks perhaps along paths in the Tuscan or Piedmont wine country or along coasts in Cinque Terre, the Amalfi Coast or Sicily.

4. Communicate in a direct, friendly way with your tour guide about what you want. Once you're in Italy in the middle of experiencing your cooking school tour, you may want to change the tour itinerary slightly. For example, you discover many tempting leather shops in a Tuscan hill town and want to spend more time shopping and forego your spa treatments on the itinerary.

Ask your tour guide how you can change activities. Most tour guides try to be as flexible as possible. After all, their job is making sure you enjoy yourself! If there's anything you're not enjoying on your tour, take your tour guide aside, give constructive, friendly feedback and work together to make changes. Don't be like some people who say nothing about their disappointments until they fill out the tour evaluation form at the end of the tour when it's too late to help them.

If you're enjoying an activity tremendously, ask your guide how you can do more of it. "I loved that boat ride! Is there any way we can do more boat rides?" Tour guides love seeing you happy and will do all they can to delight you. In conclusion, if you pace yourself at the table, try a small amount of everything, assert yourself in the kitchen, enjoy the healthy cuisine, get some exercise and communicate well with your tour guide, your Italian cooking school tour will give you all you dreamed of and more.

There are some little facts that tourists and holiday makers to Tuscany need to know about the reputed food and wine that have made the Italian city a must-visit destination. It is well known among visitors and tourists to Italy that Tuscany has some of the Continent’s finest cuisines and wines which are mostly used to entertain first-time visitors. Wine adds a special touch to any occasion that is worth celebrating. This explains why people from all over the world choose to travel all the way to Italy and specifically Tuscany, to celebrate special moments. As for Tuscany, it is not in any way different from other favorite tourist destinations in terms of relaxation spots but what makes it stand out is the unique taste of its dishes; making it an attraction to all comers.

Tuscany wine has an unrivalled reputation among all others in the region with a distinct flavor that makes it a favorite to many wine lovers all over Europe and globally too. Since wine is known to add color to all events being celebrated, it is only wise for one to make Tuscany a preferred holiday destination. There are multiple wine zones in Tuscany. Some of the most important of these wine zones include Chianti Classico, Bolgheri and Montalcino.

It is arguably true that Tuscany is a major center of Italy’s wine producing cities because it is also widely said that Italy is the highest wine producing country in the world. Thus, Tuscany boasts of some of Italy’s finest with a wide variety of such wines. For many decades, wine has been a major attraction to Tuscany; what with the number of visitors and tourists flocking into the city regularly for their fair share of wine-dine sessions. In recent years, Tuscany’s wine makers have been putting in extra effort to enhance the quality of their wines which results in the high class products that make their way out of Tuscany’s vineyards.

The excellence of Tuscany’s wines are better tried and tasted for the above facts to be agreed. Whether it’s for domestic consumption or for the world’s markets, Tuscany can’t simply be ignored on a list of the best towns producing the best wines. As the saying goes, “the taste of the pudding is in the eating,” so does the taste of Tuscany’s foods and wines. Within the town itself, it is very easy to locate any restaurant, eatery or bar for a quick go at any of the city’s numerous foods and wines. For those who choose to take away the exotic wines, there are lots of stores where they can be found.

Tuscany’s wines have come a long way that the best among the different wines have earned the term “Super Tuscan Wines.” These are the types that are made using several blends of exotic varieties of fruits like grape, strawberry, cherry, etc. The west of Tuscany where the Bolgheri wine zone has its base is known as the birthplace of Tignanello and Sassacaia; both of which are Super Tuscan Wines. The wines from Bolgheri have lately been receiving more attention than ever before. Most especially in recent decades and this is largely because of their high quality among other Italian wines. Red Tuscany wine is one of the favored drinks among both locals and visitors to the Italian city.

This may be because of its unique mode of preparation whereby several different grapes like Syrah, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc are blended together to give the finished product. The above grapes are also used to produce different types of wines. Although much has been highlighted about Tuscan wines, the city’s food also enjoys the same attention as its beverage counterpart with the comments and feedback of many visitors and tourists to Tuscany.

Holiday makers to Italy always love to stop over in Tuscany to have a taste of what they often read about on the pages of travel magazines and journals. For many visitors to Italy, there are more than enough varieties of cuisines to try for an entire month for those who may be visiting the country as first timers. There is equally a wide array of mouth-watering delicatessens to try for those who are regular comers to Tuscany.

As a good way of enjoying your stay in Tuscany, you can decide to take down the list of the most popular dishes that are common among locals. Along with this list, you may also copy the recipes of the dishes that are easy to prepare or that belong to your list of favorites; with love from Tuscany. In the absence of something new to take home as souvenir from Tuscany, one can take this simple but important list of cuisines back home so as to make something out of the Italy trip. Really, foods and wines in Italy and to be specific, Tuscany, are cheap, affordable and readily available too. Depending on your preferences, you just can't run out of what to eat or drink while you are out in the Tuscan home of Italy. See you there.