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A trip in spring is the best choice to enjoy the favourable climate and see the charming Italian villages bloom

In Spring, we witness the awakening of nature capable of transforming places and landscapes. One of the simplest pleasures is to explore the area and capture the surrounding sights and sounds. When you choose where to go in spring in Italy, get ready to be amazed by the incredible colours, scents and scenes, fully experience the fresh season of rebirth.
  • Lakes
  • Countryside and Hills
  • Wellness
  • Bike Tours
  • Outdoor sports
Museums and monuments
Villa Reale in Marlia

Villa Reale in Marlia

Seasons
The gardens of Villa Reale in Marlia, an enchantment between art and nature The park of the Villa Reale in Marlia, near Lucca, is among the most beautiful in Tuscany and Italy, an enchanting place, once exclusive to the aristocracy, for a day of art and nature, strolling through the greenery among fascinating architecture, or organising a pleasant picnic in the open air. It covers 16 hectares. The gardens are partly of 17th-century design, on a terrace, with hedges, flower beds and tall trees, partly with "English-style" landscape, famous for its "living collection" of camellias. Inside the Park, you will find: the luxurious Villa Reale, used as a fortress by the Duke of Tuscia, with its majestic Water Theatre; the Villa del Vescovo, built in the 16th century on the ruins of an ancient medieval castle, and the 19th-century Orthodox Chapel of San Biagio; the Palazzine Gemelle by architect Giovanni Lazzarini, at the Park’s entrance; the characteristic 18th-century Palazzina dell'Orologio with six-hour clock; and the Chapel of San Francesco Saverio. The story of a camellia-scented "Napoleonic dream" The history of this wonderful villa dates back to the early Middle Ages, it prospered as a stately residence during the Renaissance and was significantly transformed during the Napoleonic period. The complex was purchased in 1806 by Napoleon's sister, Princess Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, who had the park enlarged and redesigned according to English-style, one of the few in Italy, enriching it with new plant species, such as the famous camellias. Testifying to the lively court life at that time is the passage of the great musician Niccolò Paganini, who presented the premiere of Racine's "Phaedra" here in the Verzura theatre. When the Principality of Lucca became a Duchy, the villa passed to the Bourbon dynasty, and continued to be used as a summer residence. In the Italian Kingdom, it belonged to King Vittorio Emanuele II and, after some troubles, was bought by the Pecci Blunt Counts, in 1923, who restored it by adding new elements in an eclectic style, assigning the renovation of the park to an established French architect, Jacques Greber, who created streams, woods, a lake and other landscape elements that we can still appreciate today. Among the innovations presented by Greber is the Spanish Art Deco garden, distinguished by its geometric shapes, water fountains and the flowering of hibiscus, rose creepers, hypericum. Over the past few years, the complex of the Villa Reale in Marlia has been the subject of an extensive restoration project by its current owners, allowing it to reopen to the public in 2019. Pan's grotto In the oldest part of the garden is Pan's grotto, a nymphaeum constructed between 1570 and 1580, dedicated to the deity of shepherds and the countryside. Its exterior is characterised by wide arches, beyond which one enters a cave-like environment decorated with masks and niches. The work is credited to Bernardo Buontalenti, the same artist who created the grotto in Florence’s Boboli Gardens. The Gardens, with the old Verzura Theatre, the avenue of camellias, the lake, the heated pool Built between 1666 and 1670, Verzura Theatre at the Villa Reale in Marlia is the oldest in Europe, an extraordinary testimony to the style of the time to provide gardens with natural open-air theatres carved into the vegetation. The stage is a meadow, the wings are tall yew hedges embellished with terracotta statues representing characters from the commedia dell'arte. In this place of pleasure, maestro Niccolò Paganini played his violin for Élisa Bonaparte, and plays and concerts are still held here today. The first camellias at the Villa Reale in Marlia, considered exotic plants at the time, were brought from the Royal Palace of Caserta on the orders of Elisa Bonaparte for her brother Joseph, then on the throne of Naples. Thanks to the princess, today camellias are a characteristic feature of this magnificent place and welcome visitors as if in a "dream". To the architect Greber, on the other hand, we owe the 1920s lake, which today is one of the most important landscape elements of the park, as well as a valuable structure for proper irrigation. In the heated Pool, very modern for its time, early 20th century AD, along with the tennis, bocce and croquet courts, many excellent guests of the Pecci Blunt family, such as the artist Salvador Dali and the writer Alberto Moravia, have spent time here. The olfactory trail, for a sensory journey through time and the seasons Guests at the Villa Reale in Marlia are greeted in a unique and extraordinary experience of an "immersive" connection with nature and art. Visits include a wonderful olfactory trail, providing an unmissable sensory experience of the park's exceptional botanical biodiversity. Many different essences accompany guests on a journey through time in every season, scents of camellias, magnolias and mimosas, wisteria and hibiscus, linden, sycamore and weeping willow, to experience the emotions that Princess Elisa Bonaparte and the park's many notable guests also experienced.
Lakes
Lake Bolsena

Lake Bolsena

Seasons
The vast expanse of water in the Tuscia Viterbese area and its two islands are prime tourist destinations in their own right. Added to them is the small and lively Bolsena itself, with its medieval village wrapped in a basin and the modern part towards the tourist harbour and the restaurants on the promenade. It is no coincidence that Bolsena is an Orange Flag resort certified by the Italian Touring Club for the quality of its environment, its artistic heritage and its capacity for hospitality. Here, history goes far back in time, even further than the 13th century when the Monaldeschi Castle began to rise: the territorial museum that can be visited in the castle recounts and bears witness to these long events, starting with the prehistoric settlement and the Etruscan and Roman civilisations. Once outside, one stops on the square to enjoy the view, and then heads towards the Renaissance Palazzo del Drago, which used to be the seat of the papal legates, and the thousand-year-old Collegiate Church of St. Christine, with its late 15th-century façade and wide Romanesque nave. In the church, a 13th century fresco on the arch leading to the Grotto of the Saint is the first historical representation of the famous Eucharistic miracle of Bolsena, the origin of the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi. A gate gives access to the room with the tomb of the martyr, portrayed lying on her sarcophagus in a moving 15th-century terracotta statue. In the Lake, the pair of islands is located closer to the other village ofCapodimonte, along the opposite shore from Bolsena. On the Martana Island it is said that Amalasunta, the daughter of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric, was imprisoned and then murdered in the 5th century; whether true or not, ruins of a castle and an original 9th century church remain. Less ancient is the church on the Island Bisentina: an architecture possibly by Giuliano da Sangallo the Younger, where the captain of the papal army Ranuccio Farnese the Elder has been resting since the mid-15th century. The Bisentina is municipal property, and you can eventually disembark there.
Cycling tourism
giro d italia 13 hero

Following the footsteps of the Giro d'Italia 2022: Sanremo - Cuneo

Seasons
To pedal along this itinerary is to experience a duel between your head and your heart. The former requires you to keep your eyes on the tarmac, the latter to lift your gaze; towards the hills, the fortifications and the terraces that will enchant you. Three sceneries in one Wide and sandy beaches, interspersed with cliffs and long stretches of rock: we are on the Riviera dei Fiori, in western Liguria, where the hills covered by Mediterranean scrub run down to the sea. The scenery changes radically in the Alte Langhe, the Piedmont hills on the border with Liguria devoted to viticulture. Here the slopes are harsher, but always enchanting in their changing dress each season: green in spring-summer, snow-white in winter, yellow-orange with the autumn foliage. Lastly, the province of Cuneo, lying in the Upper Tanaro Valley, a natural environment that is still uncontaminated, with dense forests of oak, chestnut, beech and pine trees, where the lines on the horizon become more vertical. These are the walls of the Ligurian Alps and, further in the distance, those of the Alpine Arc. Riding your bike from Western Liguria to Piedmont The Riviera dei Fiori and the Piedmont hills. The Tyrrhenian Sea and the Alpine Arc that enraptures the eye and soothes the mind. It is hard to imagine a richer itinerary than this, winding along the roads of the 13th stage of the Giro d’Italia 2022. In addition to the natural heritage, there are historical, artistic and spiritual highlights; as well as an invitation to all cyclists: look up. Don’t limit yourself to the climbs (one actually) on your bike, but also take advantage of the towers, aerostats and domes. From above, this area will appear even more marvellous.
Cycling tourism
giro d italia 18

Following the footsteps of the Giro d'Italia 2022: Borgo Valsugana - Treviso

Seasons
Along this route from Trentino to Veneto everything is shaped by nature: the landscape, art, trades, and city planning; even the pace of your pedal strokes – brisk but easy– is dictated by it, so as to let you feel the breeze from the hills and the scent of wine cellars All the shades of green Enclosed between the Lagorai chain to the north and the Vicentine Pre-Alps to the south, Valsugana is a paradise of centuries-old forests, thermal springs, hills planted with vineyards and meadows dotted with farmsteads. Here, eco-sustainability is the first commandment: at the centre of the tourism model are the health of the environment and the wellbeing of the people inhabiting the area. It is a philosophy that extends to the Prosecco Hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, a Unesco World Heritage Site: impervious hills, embroidered with parallel rows of vines, a symbol of the perfect symbiosis between man – with his wealth of knowledge – and nature with its resources. Finally, the lower Veneto plain, an area rich in water resources, including the Piave, Sile and Livenza rivers. A cycling route through Valdobbiadene From Valsugana, a valley-model of eco-sustainability, to Treviso, rolling through the hills of Valdobbiadene with its fine vineyards. Here we tell you about an easy-to-ride wavy itinerary, inspired by stage 18 of the Giro d’Italia 2022. What can you expect? A land in which the climbs are not impressive, but other special effects are. It turns into works of art, leaves room to man and his agricultural tools, and heat puffs from its belly. In short, it becomes a friend, even for you who are about to ride across it
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