IL Magazine: Discover the World's Best Retirement Haven for 2022 + 24 more
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I realize that most folks don’t want the intimate village feel we’ve found, but the bulk of Italy really is populated by thousands of small towns that don’t come up short on amenities, services, or lifestyle. It’s easy to find appealing towns everywhere, but here are two that are especially high on allure and that tick a lot of boxes.
There is certainly no shortage of gorgeous coastline in Italy, being a boot-shaped peninsula surrounded by sea. While I certainly love a boat trip along the glittery Amalfi Coast, my favorite beaches are in towns that aren’t very well known.
Glamorous and gritty, beautiful and brash, there is nothing shy about Naples. Often maligned and misunderstood, this is a city of faded splendor and unbridled enthusiasm that gets in your face with its vivacious, and often audacious, culture. In short, there is no half-way with Naples: You either love or hate it...
We found a furnished apartment, just a few minutes from the main piazzas, in a 300-year old building on a quiet lane, with the best landlords we ever could have imagined. They invited us to partake of barbecues in their rustic taverna, to accompany them to their country property to pick fruit from their orchard, and helped us with the paperwork for residency.
The beauty, attractions, and history of Italy are all so alluring that visitors quickly get seduced and start dreaming of living here. What many don’t realize on those initial travels is that Italy can be an affordable place to live, too. Of course, it all comes down to lifestyle and what your overseas dream is...
From my earliest trips through my years of living here in Italy, I’ve never experienced a moment of feeling unsafe. I once rode the wrong bus in Rome to an outer, densely packed and squalid area; I have wandered country roads at night, and stumbled my way through a decidedly sketchy part of Naples, but never felt I was in danger.
I’m rooting around in one of my cantinas looking for my harvest clothes. We have three of these rock-built rooms that were essentially wine cellars. One we still use for that purpose, a just-the-right-temperature space with brick ceilings and bottle racks to hold our vino. Another, below the terrace, is our woodshed...
Italy has been hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, as everyone has seen on the news. It arrived silently and took the country by surprise—and by storm. The information on the virus was still scarce and leaders took a wait-and-see approach at first, convinced the few cases would be contained...
Back before the internet age, Nancy Hampton eagerly anticipated her print subscriptions from International Living, so she’d clearly fostered a dream to live overseas for a long time.
Italy offers endless sights and historical attractions; I could list a hundred just in Rome alone. There’s so much to see no matter where you go. But part of the pleasure of “la dolce vita” is combining sightseeing, with unique only-in-Italy experiences. Here’s my 10 things to do...