Following a year of restoration, the Castello Sarriod de la Tour is due to reopen to the public on 5 August. 

Free guided tours on 5 and 6 August

Immersed in the orchards of Saint-Pierre, a small town in the Valle d’Aosta region some two hours north of Turin, this handsome old mansion is returned to the public with many new features, and will welcome visitors from 5 August, the date of its reopening.  On 5 and 6 August entrance is free for the guided tours that will leave every half hour. Visitors will be accompanied outside and inside on a tour that explores the 15th century in the Valle d'Aosta, a period of great artistic splendour between late Gothic and Renaissance days.

A rare 15th-century bas-relief 

Restoration, co-financed with regional and European resources thanks to cross-border cooperation, was carried out on the old walls while a new circular visitor route has been created with spaces for conferences and exhibitions. The symbol of this rebirth is a recent regional acquisition, which has found inside the castle: the Lamentation over the Dead Christ by Jean de Chetro, a Valdostan sculptor. This 15th-century bas-relief, which has revealed its original colours, is one of the rare testimonies to the work of an artist who probably trained in the workshop at the Sarriod residence. 

The castle was owned by the Sarriod de la Tour family for nine centuries

With the reopening of the castle visitors can also admire the exhibition Visions of the Middle Ages, an itinerary between the sacred and the profane that sheds light on the most curious aspects of medieval art, with a focus on the noble Sarriod de la Tour family, who owned the castle for over nine centuries.

MagicSplash, Rome’s new water park is a unique and exclusive Caribbean-themed environment in Valmontone, next to the MagicLand theme park, just 37 kilometres from Rome.

The new water park is as big as seven football pitches

MagicSplash is on a huge area of some 40,000 sqm, the equivalent of seven football pitches, has over 16,000 tropical plants and a real beach - Playa del Sol - of almost 10,000 sqm that required no less than 5,000 tonnes of sand. The area is equipped with natural straw umbrellas and comfortable sun loungers with lots of space between one umbrella and the next.   MagicSplash can be accessed either from a dedicated access, or from inside the MagicLand theme park by purchasing a combined ticket. 

“We work closely with our travel agency partners”

“MagicSplash, is a new and unrivalled destination for those seeking to chill out and relax during the hot summer months. It’s like spending a day in the Tropics,- says Guido Zucchi, managing director of MagicLand. - MagicSplash and MagicLand together are unparalleled entertainment, and they attract visitors chiefly from central and southern Italy. We work closely with our travel agency partners, and we would like to attract the MICE market which would allow us to lengthen the season, organizing congresses and other events that would bring us into November and December.” 

Children are catered for with slides and a spray park

For children there is Tiki Bay, an aquatic playground with six slides in the pool which has water that is just 20 cms high. Laguna Tiburon is  a spray park for the little ones, and Cala Tortuga has more water slides for the whole family. For anyone wanting want more privacy Playa Parais has reserved access, and day rentals of the six Cabanas each with its own private beach, refrigerator, private safe, sun beds and beach towels. Two Cabanas are also equipped with private Jacuzzis.

An over-16 wellness pool with a private sandy beach

In addition, for wellness lovers (access is for over-16s)  and those looking for peace and relaxation, from the end of July there will also be Bayahibe, a huge whirlpool and a splendid wellness pool of over 400 sqm with a private sandy beach. MagicSplash has quality food outlets with hamburgers, pizza, hot dogs, snacks, ice creams, cold drink, cocktails and more. MagicSplash is open every day to 10 September from 10am to 7pm and from 10am to 6pm in September. Tickets can be purchased at the ticket offices or on www.magicland.it from €14.90 for the whole day or from €9.90 for admission at 2 pm. For information: https://magicsplash.magicland.it/en

Mangia’s Brucoli Resort has reopened following a €27 million renovation, the third since the joint venture between the Mangia's Group and Hotel Investment Partners in 2021. 

Suites, swim-up suites and a raft of sporting amenities

The collaboration initially involved a total Capex investment of around €90 million for the six properties included in the joint venture. The Sicilian resort, now repositioned as a 5-star hotel will join the Marriott Autograph Collection soft brand by 2024.

There are 402 rooms, including 69 suites and 16 Swim-Up suites, and an array of new amenities, from a running track and tennis courts to padel and basketball courts, beach volleyball, and a five-a-side football pitch. Water sports enthusiasts can enjoy sailing, windsurfing, canoeing, and stand-up paddleboarding.And new additions to the pool area include beach huts, a natural sea pool, and a secluded bay.

Four dining outlets including the buffet Perseo Restaurant

Guests can also indulge in the new wellness centre, explore the unprecedented retail offerings, and avail themselves of the kids club. Moreover, the resort now features new interior spaces, such as a coworking room and a meeting room with a capacity for 120 people. The culinary experience is divided among four outlets: three on-site à la carte menus crafted by the chefs at Donna Floriana Bistrot, Grano Pizzeria, Scausu Grill, and Kaigan Sushi Bar, along with a buffet offering Italian and international dishes at the Perseo Restaurant. For relaxation and refreshments, visitors can head to the Lime Pool Bar and the Donna Floriana Cocktail Lounge.

Jo&Joe, Accor's new-generation hostel brand will open in Rome this autumn, the first property in Italy. 

Private rooms and dormitories 

Located in the heart of Rome, near the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon, the hotel will open next autumn in a former 16th century monastery. With 49 rooms, it will have a total of 210 beds, including 15 private rooms for two with en-suite bathrooms and dormitory-type rooms for four to eight persons, which, thanks to modular solutions, offer relative intimacy. The designer beds will have sheets, safety lockers, electrical and USB sockets, and the en-suite bathroom is shared, as well as Out of Ordinary rooms for two to four persons, with a private terrace, bright colours and innovative furnishing solutions.

Rooms with heritage elements and large windows

The configuration of the rooms will integrate heritage elements, such as coffered wooden or frescoed ceilings, while linear and contemporary touches and street-art by local and international artists will play a prominent role. Everywhere, large windows will allow daylight to filter through and the inner courtyard will also provide a unique setting for enjoying a drink in a relaxed and festive atmosphere. 

A night club, restaurant, pizzeria and rooftop

The common areas, organized around the same central courtyard and spread over several levels, will include a bar, a night club, a restaurant and pizzeria, a meeting room, a lounge and a rooftop. And there will also be a dedicated space with a stage, to relax to the notes of the best DJs and enjoy concerts.

Rock, blues, chamber music and more are on the bill in August at San Leo Cashmere close to San Marino.

Each concert will end with a tasting of typical local products

San Leo Cashmere will be the venue for three musical events, offering excellent music and, for those who wish, the opportunity to visit and learn about the breeding of hircus goats and visit the San Leo Cashmere company. San Leo Cashmere is in the province of Rimini, on the border with San Marino (Montemaggio), and each concert will end with a tasting of typical local products. For this first edition of Musica e Cashmere the two August musical evenings on 3 and 18 August will feature two very different sounds and are organized by the San Leo Cashmere company and the Associazione Musicale Camerata del Titano di San Marino.

A concert with a vocal and electric guitar duo

On Thursday 3 August at 9 pm, the silence of the valleys between San Marino and San Leo will be shattered by I Grandi Classici with the vocal and electric guitar duo Thundern Brothers who will proposes elements linked to the term classical in its broadest sense. The Thundern Brothers’ repertoire goes from blues and soul to rock and pop with songs taken by Redding, Pickett, Prince, Mina and Brown among others.

Both concerts are free

On Friday 18 August at 9 pm the intriguing and original concert will feature the saxophone and the harp with the Alexander Duo of Alessandro Creola and Alessandra Zivieri who will reinterpret classics like Vivaldi, Piazzolla and Brumke. The concerts are free.

For information: San Marino Artist Communication: 337 1008856 - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The new Cape of Senses in Torri del Benaco on Lake Garda has opened its doors

The resort has 55 rooms and a spa with two swimming pools

The 15,000 sqm property is owned by the Margesin family,  the former owners of the Alto Adige-based Alpiana Green Luxury in Foiana, and offers 55 suites, a spa with two swimming pools, as well as 450 sqm of water environment. The two restaurants led by the emerging star of Italian cuisine, Francesco Pavan exploits what the lake shores have to offer, blending culinary traditions and innovative dishes.

A health food corner and a yoga room

The wellness area on two floors faces a 10,000 sqm garden with centuries-old olive trees. There is also a health & beauty area with a wide selection of holistic facial and body treatments, seven treatment rooms, and a health food corner curated by the chef.  In addition there is a 130 sqm gym with panoramic views and personal trainers, and both a yoga room and an outdoor platform. 

UVE Rooms & Wine Bar near Cuneo welcome guests with works of art in its rooms and suites.

The rooms and suites are named after the local wines

In La Morra, an enchanting village nestled in the hills of the Langhe, UVE Rooms & Wine Bar has eight rooms and suites named after some of its most famous and appreciated wines in this beautiful region of hills and vineyards, which is a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape.

La Morra

Quiet luxury and contemporary elegance

UVE Rooms & Wine Bar embodies the very essence of the territory, offering a quiet luxury which means having time to appreciate each moment, and celebrate it with a glass in hand. The Relais, located in the historic centre of the village of La Morra is an old building that has been redeveloped to create a refined, contemporary ambience. The furnishings are made by local craftsmen and there are interesting touches of modern art, while maintaining the warm and welcoming atmosphere of a residence of bygone days. 

An inner courtyard with a romantic well

The eight rooms and suites, each one different from the other, are intimate and cozy and the inner courtyard, the heart of UVE Rooms & Wine Bar, has a romantic old well and is overlooked by the internal terraces of the rooms.  Choosing to sleep in Barolo, Barbaresco, Nebbiolo, Arneis, Barbera or Dolcetto is a declaration of love for the excellence of the territory, as these are fine wines that are the protagonists of the sumptuous tastings at the UVE Wine Bar and Restaurant. 

Local specialties and a sparkling, white and red wines

Diners can enjoy a wide variety of artisanal cheeses, hams and cold cuts as well as traditional local dishes, and there is an extensive wine list including sparkling, white and red wines that represent some of the best products of the Langhe, and of other regions. Owner Maria Grazia Ansaldi, who has personally taken care of the Relais since 2015, conveys an authentic passion for hospitality, enhanced by a style that conquers the palate and the heart.  

Castrocaro Terme is a perfect balance of wellbeing, nature and history and, together with the nearby historical walled town of Terra del Sole, forms a single municipality. 

Spa waters in a medieval town 

This is an extraordinary historical and cultural destination in the heart of Italy’s central Romagna region, and visiting the historical centre of Castrocaro Terme, still enclosed within its three circles of ancient walls, you will discover a perfectly preserved medieval town with many Renaissance buildings. The fortress that dominates the town from on high has notable architectural and historical value and is among the most important fortress models in the entire region.

Terra del Sole is a stunning fortress-city

Terra del Sole, which is just a kilometre from Castrocaro Terme along a tree-lined avenue, was built in the 16th-century as a fortress-city and has all the features of the ideal Renaissance urban-planning model. In fact it is protected by a wall that is over two kilometres long and 13 metres high and reinforced at the corners by four bastions. Inside the town was designed on a human scale, with beautiful buildings and palatial hones, many of which are still perfectly preserved.

Wellbeing facilities in a world-class spa

Castrocaro Terne’s spa facilities, in the same park as the 5-star Grand Hotel Castrocaro, is a state-of-the-art multifunctional complex with therapeutic paths, medical, aesthetic and thermal treatments. The area’s prodigious salso-bromo-iodine and sulphurous waters and its famous velvety mud make each treatment unforgettable. 

 

Crossing the mountains on two wheelsIn the area there are many bicycle itineraries through valleys and up and down hills, or talking the more difficult and steeper climbs to conquer the passes and peaks of the Apennine mountain range. Motorcyclists can easily reach Tuscany by crossing the Apennine ridges through the territory of Romagna Toscana, on the border between Tuscany and Romagna. No fewer than 126 kilometres of cycle paths link the thermal towns of Castrocaro and Bagno di Romagna.

The home of wellbeing and good living is not far from theme parks

Whatever route you take, there will be no lack of opportunities to enjoy the lush nature, traces of ancient history the excellent food and wines that have made Romagna the home of good living. From Castrocaro Terme it is also easy to reach the many theme parks on the coast and inland: Indiana Park in Bertinoro and the spectacular attractions of Mirabilandia, Atlantica, Fiabilandia, Italia in Miniatura, Oltremare and Aquafan.

A historical Dante experience on e-bikes

Anyone who wants to mix an active holiday with history and art can enjoy a weekend in the footsteps of Italy’s great poet Dante Alighieri, starting from Castrocaro Terme and Terra del Sole. On the way they can take in a guided tour of Ravenna, where Dante lived in exile, cycling along trails in the area's beautiful hills, and end with a guided tour of Castrocaro Terme’s fortress and enjoy an oil and wine tasting in a local winery. 

With over 80% of tourists focussing on just 20% of the country, France is urging visitors to stay away from its top tourist spots this summer, and measures such as daily quotas, scheduled ticketing and higher prices are being considered. 

Thìngs are different across the English channel, where VisitBritain has joined forces with The National Lottery to boost domestic tourism. To get more Brits and foreign tourists to visit attractions this summer, anyone playing the National Lottery can redeem a free £25 voucher against entry tickets to hundreds of top attractions across the UK.

Italy, like France, is grappling with over-tourism but uncertain about the best course of action. While tourism bosses are in raptures over the sold-out summer, some destinations are resorting to strict measures. Portofino has implemented fines of up to €275 for tourists who linger for selfies, and wearing flip-flops or sandals when walking the Cinque Terre can set you back €2,500. In Florence you cannot eat snacks outside on certain streets, and sitting on Rome’s Spanish Steps can lead to a fine of €250. 

But Venice is the real cause celèbre, as the latest number of available beds for tourists is 48,000 while the city’s resident population is down to just over 49.000, and continues to dwindle.

Pamela McCourt Francescone
Executive Editor