Our colleague Helen Glave, UnTours on-site staff in Florence, shared this update with us this week from Florence, where residents are under Red Zone restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Italy. It was really lovely to get your heart-warming message. For many people it is a period of great anxiety as regards both…
Category Archives: Italy
Carnevale 2020 in Venice
As I promised in the Eurozine newsletter last week, I am sharing my photos from Carnevale in Venice this year. These images were captured before local cases of COVID-19 triggered regional quarantines and Carnevale events were suspended. Venice is a magical place in the weeks leading up to Shrove Tuesday. Its Carnevale tradition dates back…
What’s on in Europe: 2020
Categories
So much to see and do in Europe already, but why not plan your trip around some of the season’s special events? Festivals and fairs are a window into a culture, a signifier of what is important to a community, and an excellent way to rub elbows with the locals. Here is your 2020 trip…
Truffle Hunt in Tuscany: A Wine & Food Untours Report
Categories
Tuscany is synonymous with wine and food tradition, an Epicurean streak running through the region’s history, economy, and daily life. Our Wine & Food UnTour is a natural in the region, and truffles are a given for a fall food (un)tour in the region. Truffles grow underground in certain zones within the Val d’Orcia, the…
Savvy Florence Alternatives
Categories
Florence still has her sweet spots, as any Florence UnTour guest knows well. Though the historic center can feel overrun with tourists and students on a busy day in June, there are plenty of back streets and hidden churches to lure you in. Here are a few of my favorite alternatives to the tried and…
The Best Gardens in Europe: 16 of Our Favorites
Categories
As spring merges into summer, gardens in much of Europe are at their most vibrant and colorful. Whether you seek out gardens as a main sight for your day or duck into them as a respite from sightseeing in built environments, it is hard not to fall in love with these lovingly cultivated spaces. They…
Trip Report: Tuscany Untour Reviews & Guest Tips
Categories
Our Tuscany UnTour is a perennial favorite, and ranks among our most popular UnTour destinations. It is hard to beat the views here in the Orcia Valley, south of Siena. With its stark rolling green hills, cypress trees, and vineyards, its landscape is so distinctive that the area was named a UNESCO World Heritage site…
Roman Market Guide: Rome’s Best Local Markets
Categories
Rome is a city of commerce and has been for millennia. Consider that as you walk through the ruins of the ancient Roman marketplaces. And then head to some of the city’s lively outdoor markets, where vendors sell produce, meats, cheeses, housewares, fast fashion, and antiques. Join the Romans and the lively, colorful continuum of…
Q & A with Tracy Hyde, Host of Our Tuscany Untour
Categories
Tracy Louis Hyde has led our Tuscany UnTour on the ground near Montalcino for a couple years now. She loves her work with us and is eager to share her region. She took some time to share some thoughts about her work and her love for Tuscany. Tell us a little bit about your professional…
Joanne’s Sfratti Cookie Recipe, an Italian Tradition
Categories
Our loyal and frequent UnTourist Joanne Choyka made a cool discovery last fall in Tuscany. This is a photo taken last fall in Pitigliano, in Tuscany. My grandparents immigrated from this town to the US in the early 1900’s. My grandfather took a job working at the Hershey Chocolate factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where my…