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Cheap Flights To Italy Cheap Flights to Rome, Italy There is a steady stream of spectacular festivals, exhibits and events for the whole family. Guided walking tours and bus tours for every energy level and budget provide great assistance in becoming acquainted with the past and present of this amazing city. Rome is a city in which it is recommended that driving and walking anywhere near areas of traffic be avoided if possible. The streets are extremely congested, and drivers are not considered to be responsible for watching out for pedestrians. The public transportation is excellent and offers the convenience of buses and subways at a nominal cost. Whether the visitor is seeking a quiet, romantic café on the Campo de’ Fiori; a fast food McDonald’s with air conditioning on the Piazza della Repubblica or a cozy and intimate family operated restaurant with one or two exquisitely prepared selections of the day on the Piazza Santa Maria, there is great food for every taste. The city boasts a wide variety of shopping opportunities. Spanish Square presents high fashion selections while the more modestly priced clothing is to be found on the Via del Corso and Via Tritone. North of Spanish Square are areas famous for their antique shops and art galleries. Porta Portese hosts a huge flea market every Sunday morning. Rome does not go to sleep at sunset. Open air symphonic concerts, ballet and opera performances, live rock and jazz are all available. The city’s 300 fountains, its sculpture, its glorious panorama of ancient, medieval, Renaissance, baroque and modern art, music and architecture are all part of the reason that Pope Gregory XIVs remark in the 16th century is still true today. Pope Gregory said of the joys of exploring and discovering the city, “a lifetime is not enough.” Cheap Flights to Florence, Italy The center is encircled by a traffic ring of wide boulevards, known as the Viali, that were created in the late 1800s by tearing down the city's medieval walls. Since the 14th century the cultural heart of the city has been the Piazza della Signoria with the Palazzo Vecchio (Town Hall), the Uffizi Gallery and a large number of publicly displayed world famous sculptures. In the Renaissance period, Florence was one of the most powerful and influential of the city states. The wealthy and powerful de' Medici family ruled the city almost continuously from 1434 to 1743 and had a great influence on the architecture and arts. They built many palaces and commissioned such artists as Michelangelo to design and decorate them. In fact, Florence is called the capital of the arts. From the 13th to the 16th century it was a seemingly endless source of creative masterpieces and Italian genius. Both Dante and Michelangelo were born there. Boccaccio wrote his 'Decameron' in Florence. The Italian Renaissance (Europe's richest cultural period ) began in Florence when the artist Brunelleschi finished the Duomo, the cathedral, with the huge dome. Florence is a walking city. Visitors can take a leisurely stroll between the two most often visited sights, the Duomo and the Uffizi, in less than five minutes. The walk from the most northerly point, San Marco with its Fra' Angelico frescoes and the Accademia with Michelangelo's David, to the most southerly, the Pitti Palace across the Arno, should take no more than 30 minutes. From Santa Maria Novella rail station across town to Santa Croce is an easy 20 to 30 minute walk. Most of the streets were designed to handle the moderate pedestrian traffic and occasional horse-drawn cart of a medieval city. Sidewalks, where they exist, are narrow; often less than two feet wide. Though much of the centro storico is supposedly closed to traffic, taxis, residents with parking permits, people without permits who drive there anyway, and the endless stream of noisy motorini (mopeds) still enter, drive and park. Planning is extremely important when visiting Florence. Most visitors come to the city with a common purpose: to spend hours viewing and absorbing the beauty and wonder of Florentine works of art and architecture. However, trying to pack too much into a single, brief visit can result in cultural overload. Florence is not the choice of those seeking a seaside resort or a holiday with small children. Older children, well disciplined, and well prepared, can benefit from accompanying their parents on a tour of the museums, palaces, and churches, but interest for most youngsters will rapidly wane in the crush of crowds and intense heat of the small city. Adult tempers will fray as well. Boboli Gardens can provide a respite from the heat and activity, but the landscaped grounds of the Pitti Palace are designed to rest the eyes and delight the imagination. It is not primarily a playground. Festivals, shopping, feasts for the senses along every street, in every square, and in every museum: these are the gifts Florence offers to the visitor. Tuscany is known for its fine culinary traditions - in particular, its olive oil, meat dishes and classic Chianti. Restaurants of every type, offering bills of fare ranging from fast food to world-class cuisine abound, and there are clusters of little cafés in every neighborhood. Tuscan food is simple and excellent with a variety of bean dishes, soups, pork dishes, grilled meats and vegetables. Fine Tuscan wines accompany the meal. When planning a visit to Tuscany, put its small geographical size and its many opportunities for exploration in perspective, and allow time to savor its infinite possibilities. Cheap Flights to Naples, Italy Naples stretches out along the scenic Bay of Naples from Piazza Garibaldi in the east to Mergellina in the west. At its back is lofty Vomero Hill. From Stazione Centrale, on Piazza Garibaldi, Corso Umberto I (known as the "Rettifilo"), a walking tour would head southwest to the monumental city center, around the piazzas Bovio, Municipio, and Trieste e Trento to the Palazzo Reale, Teatro San Carlo, and Galleria Umberto Primo. Central Naples is best explored on foot, as traffic jams of all sorts are commonplace. It is wise to take a bus or cable car (funicular) to a general area and then proceed on foot. To the north are the historic districts of old Naples, to the south lies the port. Farther west along the bay are the fashionable neighborhoods of Santa Lucia and Chiaia, and finally the waterfront district of Mergellina. The residential area of Vomero sits on the steep hills rising above Chiaia and downtown. At the center is the picturesque quarter of Spaccanapoli, the heart of the historic center. The area surrounding Naples has a Greco-Roman history. The Greeks set out to Hellenize Italy's southern regions in the 6th and 7th centuries BCE by settling at Cumae. Later, the Romans inhabited the area. Both groups left ruins of archeological significance. The area west of Naples is known as the Campi Flegrei: literally, the fields of fire. These were described by the ancient Greeks as the entrance to Hades and were immortalized in literature as the “Elysian Fields”, a paradise for the deserving dead. Italy's two major seismic faults intersect at that point, and the whole area floats freely on a mass of molten lava very close to the surface. From Naples, visitors can travel down the coast to Pompei and the Sorrento Peninsula, both of which can be reached by train. A boat trip to Sorrento gives the opportunity for a spectacular view of Naples from the sea. Other side trips that should not be missed are to the slopes of Vesuvius where once flourished the upscale, first century city of Pompeii; the archeological site at Herculaneum, and the lovely islands of Capri and Ischia. These tiny islands with their scenic beauty, picturesque villages, and crystal clear waters welcome more than two million visitors annually. Neapolitan cuisine is famous worldwide, and ranks among the best in Italy. There is a strong emphasis on the freshest fish and seafood and local fruits and vegetables form the fertile volcanic soil of the region. Local wines of note are Lacryma Christi and Greco di Tufo. Limoncello is a delicately flavored lemon liqueur that is made all along the neighboring coast. Dining in a Neapolitan restaurant is traditionally a festive occasion accompanied by a wide variety of savory pasta and thin crusted, tasty pizza dishes baked in wood-fired ovens. Although pizza, pasta, and seafood dishes are the symbols of Neapolitan cuisine, Naples is also known for its fine cheeses (including mozzarella), and its delicious ice cream and superb pastries. Numerous salamis and excellent locally produced prosciutto round out the wide array of culinary possibilities. The finest shopping area lies around Piazza dei Martiri and along Via dei Mille, Via Calabritto, Via Toledo, and Via Chiaia. Along these streets can be found outlets fo Italy’s top designers, as well as local stores selling fine leather goods. There is more commercial shopping between Piazza Trieste e Trento and Piazza Dante. Jewelers abound near Via San Biagio as do the crafters of traditional nativity figurines. Coral is much sought after by collectors. Much of the coral is now sent to Naples from Thailand, but it's still shaped into fine jewelry at the workrooms at Torre del Greco, on the outskirts of Naples, off the Naples-Pompeii highway. Cameos are also made there. In recent years, Naples has made world headlines for its cultural renaissance and its proactive stance against crime. The mayor received a national government grant of $30 million to make Naples safer and more to enhance its appearance, and has been aided by a group of concerned citizens who since 1984 have consistently collected funds for the upkeep of the city's treasures and monuments. The result of this widespread project has been a resurgence of cultural activity among the city's musicians, writers, moviemakers, artists, and playwrights. The Neapolitan art scene has been revitalized. Film companies, following in the footsteps of Neapolitan directors such as Francesco Rossi and Gabriele Salvatore, are choosing to shoot in Naples once again. Neapolitan writers are gaining increasing recognition, especially Ermanno Rea for Mistero Napolitano and Gabriele Frasca for his poems. Naples is now becoming popular with a younger generation, especially those from countries to the north. They flood into the city and lend it a new vitality. Naples, the birthplace of both Sophia Loren and Enrico Caruso, is host to the entire spectrum of entertainment offerings. Restaurants traditionally have musicians serenading their patrons, classical music and opera are high on the list at Teatro San Carlo with performances from October through May. Rock groups are born in Naples on a regular basis, yet at the same time, interest in traditional Neapolitan music is increasing. Founded by a group of young Neapolitans, the Falso Movimento troupe has brought new life to the city's theatrical scene. The hippest night life is said to be at the bars and cafes on Piazza Bellini, near Piazza Dante. In a word, Naples is a friendly place. It has the feel of coming home to a place of beauty and timelessness that is at the same time in a perpetual state of excitement and celebration of life. |