Off The Beaten Track Italy

Italy’s Sacri Monti: fourteen sacred walks for clearer thinking.

Italy’s Sacri Monti are some of the country’s most uplifting places to walk, pause, and reset…
Winter Gold in Tuscany: Chasing Lemon Light in February

Discover Tuscany in February, when lemon trees glow gold in quiet villa gardens and traditional limonaie.…
Sarzana in January: Café Hours, Quirky Shops, and a Perfect Base for Liguria and Upper Tuscany

Sarzana has that rare, old-time Italian feel that makes you slow down without even trying. I…
A Step at a Time: Finding Quiet Joy on Sardinia’s Cammino Francescano

There’s a particular kind of calm that only shows up when you start walking early, before…
Castles, River Paths and Quiet Towns: The Via Francigena around Aulla

I walked the Via Francigena through Lunigiana with Aulla as my hinge point, and I keep…
A January Stroll Through Fosdinovo: Castle Paths and Mountain Air

Fosdinovo is a hilltop village in Lunigiana made for slow travel, especially in January when the…
Winter in Lunigiana

Tuscany’s Hidden Villages in January The winter mist clings to the valleys of Lunigiana like a…
A Joyfully Crooked Wander Through Basilicata

There are cities that welcome you, cities that impress you, and then there is Matera, which…
Finding Autumn’s Heart: My Wandering, Eating and Wondering Through Abruzzo

I should have known that any journey beginning in Abruzzo in mid November would involve two…
Finding the Soul of the Piedmont Lakes

Morning. Orta San GiulioBegin in Orta San Giulio, a lakeside village that feels almost suspended in…