142. the curiosities of venice

SLOW TRIPS THROUGH ITALY ARE AS VARIED AS ITS LANDSCAPES — AND ALLOW YOU TO IMMERSE YOURSELF IN LOCAL CULTURE. WHETHER YOU’RE EXPLORING THE VENETIAN LAGOON BY BOAT, HIKING TO ROME LIKE AN ANCIENT PILGRIM OR ROAD-TRIPPING ALONG THE BACKSTREETS OF SOUTHERN PUGLIA, HERE’S HOW TO CAPTURE THE ART OF LA DOLCE VITA

There are many highs to cruising around the Adriatic in high summer and getting paid for the pleasure but somehow it’s the shuddering lows that stick in the mind. Given that it is a very human trait t

Catherine Fairweather finds a dream-like world of old-school glamour aboard the new Orient Express journey from Rome to Venice, where ancient ruins melt into rolling Italian landscapes steeped in Renaissance romance

It was as if we had been ‘magicked’ from cool alpine grandeur, via the Gotthard Pass, into Mediterranean scenery and climate. Just a few miles south of the Swiss Alps we enjoyed views of forested moun

Hokusai imagined a massive breaker about to crash on tiny fishing boats. Sandro Botticelli had his Venus float in her shell on a mere sea ripple. Large or small, soothing or frightening, waves have long captivated artists, finds Michael Prodger

Venetian fortresses, Ottoman mosques and historic family bakeries combine in this ancient city on Crete’s northwestern coast