Helping travelers to Italy since 2008

Explore Italian Culture: Cities, Food, and Hidden Corners of Italy

Explore Italian culture with us, whether you’re planning your very first trip or you’ve been before and want to go deeper. We share practical, insider-style guidance on places like Rome, Venice, and Milan, plus quieter villages and countryside, how to get around, and (of course) the food that makes Italy unforgettable. Pick a topic below to start exploring.

Just look at the menu on the right-hand side of any page on this website - or at the top of the page if you're on a cellphone / mobile phone, and click on the links that interest you!

Whether it's Rome, Venice, Milan, Florence, or the less well-known rural areas of Le Marche and Puglia you want to know about, you've come to the right place.

Because, what we want most is to utilize our knowledge of these stunning places and their culture to help you plan your perfect trip.

And, if you want to take a part of Italy home with you - or if you can't visit but love the country and want to add bits of its culture into your life - well, we will help you do that, too!

Explore Italian Culture

A hilltop village in Italy

You're looking for information
about Italy...

...But where to start?

The Facts.

You may want to start with the essential facts about Italy. We tell you all about the important things to see, the places to visit, how to get around, plus basic information on currency, weather, and things to buy.

• Find out which of the well-known sights is worth seeing - and when's best to visit them. 
• The main attractions in the big cities such as Rome, Venice or Milan.
• What to do in Tuscany, in places like Florence, Siena, and Pisa.   
• Discover the northern Italian lakes, between Milan and the Alps.
• Explore the coastal areas of the Adriatic, the Amalfi Coast and Sicily, the biggest island in the Mediterranean!
• Where to go that won't be crowded with tourists.
• Shops where you can find authentic, locally produced goods. 
• How to get around using local transport.
    

The Food.

Italy is world-famous for its food. We look at how to make authentic pasta dishes, pizzas, and Italian-style bread at our page all about easy-to-cook Italian recipes.

• How to find places to stay that allow you to meet Italian people in their own local communities.
• Places to eat that locals in Italy like to keep a well-guarded secret.  
  
  

More food.

We take a look at the Mediterranean diet in detail and explain why it is healthy and promotes a longer life.

• The Mediterranean diet pyramid 
• The benefits of olive oil - but it must be one particular type if you want to get all the potential benefits!
  
  

Rome.

Next, we focus on Rome - the Eternal City! We tell you all about the things to do in Rome:

• Find out how to get there and how to get around.
• Discover the places to see and visit.
• Find out about the weather through the four seasons.
• The best way to see the Colosseum and the Pantheon.
• Accommodation options.
  
  

Celebrations.

Italians love to have a good time, and enjoy celebrating holidays and other special days throughout the year! We cover:

• Easter in Italy, including Lent and Mardi Gras/Carnevale
• Mother's Day
• May Day in Italy
• Valentine's Day
• And Christmas, of course!
  
  

Animals.

In our animal fact file, we look at many important issues to do with animals in Italy, including:

• Italian dog breeds
• How to travel to Italy with a pet
• Pet passports
• Keeping your dog cool in the Italian summer heat
• The best beaches in Italy for dogs
  
  

What to buy.

Italy is famed for producing many high-quality attractive products; in our guide about what to buy in Italy, we take a look at

• Clothing, including leather goods
• Foodstuffs, including wines, cheeses, and coffee
• Masquerade masks, and where to find them
• Authentic Murano glass from Venice
• Musical instruments
• Top-end sports cars
  
  

News from Italy

We try to maintain a page dedicated to recent news and stories about Italy that you may find interesting or useful. Check it out to see what's happening!

Photo competition.

We run a monthly photo competition for photographs that were taken anywhere in Italy. Read more about this at the competition page!

We also have two 'cheat sheets' to help guide you through some of the lesser-known areas of Italian etiquette, and to help you get the maximum from your trip to Rome:

• Unwritten Italian etiquette - Stop guessing and stressing. Handle cafés, restaurants, greetings, churches, and trains in Italy with calm confidence, using quick Do/Don’t rules and copy-paste mini-scripts you can use on the spot. Our downloadable .pdf text.
• An insiders guide to Rome, to see parts of Rome other tourists miss.
  
  

Explore Italian Culture
- we know you want to see this...

Rome's Colosseum - one of Italy's iconic monuments

Maybe you're not sure when's the best time to go, or whether a guided tour is really necessary, or whether there are parts that other tourists may not know about.

Or, maybe you'd like to know which part of Rome to look to find a market like this...

A market in central Rome - but where can you find it?

Or maybe you're thinking of visiting Milan, but as well as seeing the obvious attractions like the Duomo (cathedral), you'd be interested in the delightful Brera district, or spend a few lazy hours in Sempione Park?

The charming Brera district in Milan

And you know that when you're visiting Venice, you'll be seeing beautiful 'palazzos' on the edge of canals like this...

Venice's Grand Canal.

...but do you know where you would go to find a quiet little village perched on a cliff with water as clear as this?

The stunning Gargano peninsula - one of our favourite places to visit.

...and where can you travel to find pretty medieval villages perched on hilltops like this? (No, it's not Tuscany!).

Pretty medieval villages dot the rolling hills of Le Marche.

Explore Italian Culture

Who are we, to be able to talk to you about Italy and help you explore Italian culture?

This website was originally written by Cath and Mike, an English couple who lived and worked in Italy for 15 years. They got to know the country and its people extremely well (as only 'locals' can), and they could find tiny, stunning, traditional out of the way villages that are "off the beaten track".

How could they do this? Because they lived in one of those villages!

Cath and Mike pictured below on their wedding day - in Rome! They chose to have their pictures taken by the Trevi Fountain.

Cath and Mike, the original authors of this website, at the Trevi Fountain.

They lived their Italian dream. We (Mogsy and Richard) are the new owners of the website, and we want to continue sharing Cath and Mike's passion for, and knowledge of, this amazing country with you.

You can find out more about us at our About Us page!

We will help you find your Italian dream.

So, come on in. Pour yourself a nice glass of cold 'vino bianco' - white wine - or a cup of cappuccino, or a hot black 'espresso'. Sit back, relax, and enjoy reading through our pages here!

"Piacere" - we're pleased to meet you!