Image credit: Chris Ford
Joanna Booth discovers the charms of Italy’s smaller cities
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Florence, Venice, Rome; each with enough to explore to fill a fortnight and enduring charm to warrant repeated visits. But when it comes to Italian city break options, they’re just the tip of the iceberg – or should that be ice cream, in the land of gelato?
Italy has a host of smaller cities perfect for short visits, offering quieter, more laid-back weekends experiencing la dolce vita. Here are five for clients to try, with sample prices based on travel this September.
Siena
Siena is now 10 times smaller than Florence, but in the 14th century it rivaled the nearby city not only in size but also as a hotbed of culture and trade. Then the plague hit, decimating the population and sending it into decline. This slump saved the medieval centre from development and is the key to Siena’s extraordinary historic preservation today.
Wandering through the narrow, winding streets of the pedestrianised centre is like taking a step back in time, and it’s not just the buildings – the city’s tribal division into clans means you can stumble over parades in period dress at the drop of a hat. The 17 contrade each have a district, and visitors can spot the symbols of their mascots, which range from panthers to porcupines, in the streets. Don’t miss the grand gothic cathedral, the 87-metre-high Torre de Mangia for views, and the main square, Il Campo, where the famous Palio horse race takes place. Outside the city, the Tuscan countryside lies waiting for a day trip.
Expert tip: Classic Collection Holidays’ Andrew Farr says: “It is difficult to find accommodation in Siena during the two days of the Palio – July 2 and August 16. However in the week leading up to the Palio there are practice horse races, the town is decked in the colours of each of the city neighbourhoods, and there are outdoor meals in each neighbourhood – some with up to 1,000 guests.”
Book it: Classic Collection Holidays offers three nights with breakfast at Grand Hotel Continental from £1,329 including flights from London City to Florence and private transfers.
Verona
Verona has twin attractions that tend to attract tourists: Rome and Romeo. Shakespeare set his most famous love story in Verona and it’s a hard-hearted tourist who can avoid even taking a quick peek at Casa di Giulietta. The connection is spurious; merely that the house was originally owned by the dell Capello family, which sounds a little like Capulet, but that hasn’t stopped thousands of visitors scrawling their love letters as graffiti on the walls.
Much of the rest of Verona is genuinely historic, however – it’s claimed that the city has more Roman ruins that any Italian city other than Rome itself. Most notable is the huge amphitheatre, built in AD30 to accommodate 30,000 spectators and still used – schedule clients’ visit during the summer opera season for a real spectacle.
Other highlights include the bustling main square Piazza delle Erbe, the gothic Castelvecchio, which houses an art museum, and the peaceful Giardino Giusti.
Expert tip: Osprey Holidays’ Sarah Black says: “Don’t forget your opera tickets! Early September is still opera season in Verona, and we can pre-book seats for clients. Tickets for Carmen at the Verona Arena on September 3 start from £25.”
Book it: Osprey Holidays offers three nights with breakfast at Hotel Armando from £440 including flights on September 2.
Palermo
Sicily’s gateway city has an exotic flavour to go hand-in-hand with its southern heat – Norman palaces and baroque churches sit alongside Arabic cupolas and souk-like markets. It’s always been a centre of trade, and the combination of glitz and grime this tends to bring remains to this day.
The shopping district can be found in the 19th-century new town, to the north of the historic centre. The latter is home to most of the sights, including the cathedral and nearby Palazzo dei Normanni, museums of art and archeology, and a host of significant churches from the Norman San Giovanni degli Eremiti to the baroque San Giuseppe dei Teatini.
Most visited of all is the Palatine Chapel, where Byzantine mosaics and wooden Arabic ceilings decorate the Norman architecture – typical of Palermo’s multi-layered past.
Make sure to sample traditional Sicilian food, from arancini, fried balls of rice, and aubergine-rich caponata to spaghetti with sea urchins. Pane e panelle, or chickpea fritters in a sandwich, is a favourite street food of Palermo in particular.
Expert tip: Cox & Kings’ Michael Fleetwood says: “Recommend film buffs visit Teatro Massimo, which is where the final scenes of the third Godfather film were shot, and the village of Corleone, birthplace of the principal family in Mario Puzo’s novels.”
Book it: Cox & Kings offers three nights with breakfast at the Hotel Palazzo Sitano from £450 including flights and transfers.
Bologna
Fat, red, and clever: Bologna’s three nicknames – la grassa, la rossa and la dotta – don’t sound that flattering, but this foodie city, home to many historic red brick buildings and Europe’s oldest university, has much to recommend it.
Pisa has one leaning tower; Bologna has two, the Due Torri. One tilting 10ft from perpendicular is closed to visitors, but if you’re up for climbing 498 steps, Asinelli Tower leans 7.5ft and is open to the public. Off the main Piazza Maggiore is the Basilica of San Petronio, which houses the largest sundial in the world, and the stalls of the Quadrilatero market help to justify Bologna’s ‘fat’ nickname. The city is considered culinary even by the rest of Italy – it’s here that mortadella, tortellini and Bolognese sauce were born – so clients will eat well.
Expert tip: Kirker Concierge’s Charlie Dyson says: “Suggest restaurant Drogheria della Rosa, a former pharmacy in one of Bologna’s colonnaded arcades close to the city centre. Go with owner Emanuele Addone’s recommendations, before trying the ice cream at Gelateria Gianni in nearby Via Montegrappa.”
Book it: Kirker Holidays offers three nights with breakfast at Art Hotel Novecento from £698 including flights, transfers and the Kirker concierge service.
Lucca
Lucca has no airport, but luckily it’s just 20 miles from Pisa airport, and – whisper it – it makes the city with the leaning tower look rather lacking. Unlike Pisa, which had its historic heart hollowed out by Allied bombs, Lucca has a host of historic sights, including the remains of a Roman forum in Piazza dell’Anfiteatro and a handsome 12th-century cathedral with a bell tower and baptistery. Lucky Lucca has all the charm of larger Tuscan towns, but fewer crowds.
Lucca’s city walls date back to the 16th and 17th century, and though originally intended to repel invaders, they now merely keep out cars, and form a long pedestrian promenade giving beautiful views over the city. The Torre Guinigi is another worthwhile climb, and not just for the panoramas you get from being 45 metres up in the air. At the top, visitors find a tiny forest: a handful of oak trees planted in the 14th century by the rich merchant owners.
Expert tip: Inghams Holidays’ Fiona Attrell says: “Explore the tree-lined, 16th-century ramparts that encircle the city by bicycle for fantastic views – we can organize bike hire for clients.”
Book it: Inghams offers three nights with breakfast at Hotel San Luca Palace from £599 including flights and transfers.
City breaks: Product update
Solo travel specialist Just You has launched city breaks to Hong Kong and Boston. The five-day trips start from £1,699 and £1,299, including flights, three nights’ accommodation with breakfast and transfers.
Osprey Holidays has introduced packages using the new twice-daily CityJet flights to Dublin and Amsterdam from Cambridge airport. A two-night break to Amsterdam staying in the three-star Mercure Arthur Frommer Hotel starts from £389 departing August 8. A three-night break to Dublin staying in the four-star Mont Clare Hotel starts from £393, departing September 9.
Taber Holidays has added a fourth night to its Stockholm short-break package, which now includes a full-day trip to the island of Sandhamn. Prices lead in at £735 including accommodation with breakfast and flights from Heathrow.
Fred has added new city break destinations for summer: Aachen, Baden-Baden and Passau in Germany; Rome, Venice and Florence in Italy; Warsaw and Krakow in Poland, and Dubrovnik in Croatia.
Door-to-door luggage delivery company First Luggage has launched a super-express same day service between London and Paris, with rates starting at £159 for one piece.
Norwegian is launching flights from Gatwick to Warsaw and Berlin from September 15, with six weekly flights on each route, flying every day except Saturday.
