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

Tropea is a picture-postcard little town on Calabria’s Cast of the Gods perched on a high cliff overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The Coast of the Gods in the boot of Italy

Tropea, which is about an hour and a half from Reggio Calabria and its international airport, and it’s sandy beaches are on a stretch of coastline which is among the most beautiful in the boot of Italy and is known as the Coast of the Gods. Although Tropea has only 7,000 inhabitants, its historic centre is a rich jigsaw puzzle of historic buildings, noble palaces and handsome piazzas. The Co-Cathedral, founded by the Normans in 1163, houses the 14th-century icon of the Madonna of Romania and the tomb of the philosopher Pasquale Galluppi.  

Stunning views over the coast and marine exhibits

The view from the Raf Vallone Belvedere, one of the most beautiful vantage points in the Mediterranean, affords stunning vistas of the Gulf of Sant'Eufemia and the Aeolian Islands. The Diocesan Museum in the premises of the old Bishop's Palace, has a prestigious section of sacred art and an archaeological section. The Municipal Maritime Museum has an important paleontological section and exhibits of marine biodiversity as well as a whale specimen dating back 7 million years which is one of the best preserved and most complete examples in the world.

Tropea and its Coast of the Gods is a very popular summer beach destination with wonderful beaches like the Rotonda Beach which is sandy and located just a few steps from the historic center of the town. The Oasi Beach is further away, just over three kilometres west of the historic center, and it too has golden sand. The Contura Beach is very easily accessible on foot as it is only 850 metres from the port of Tropea, and so it is usually very crowded, especially in August. It is both a free beach and a lido with rental sunbeds and umbrellas. Tropea is particularly famous for its red onions which are particularly sweet and used to flavour summer salads and many local and Italian traditional dishes.  

Nocera Umbra is Umbria’s City of the Waters, a charming little medieval town perched on a hilltop, about two hours by car or train from Rome. 

A hilltop town famous for its natural spring waters

Nocera Umbra’s location, set amidst mountains, hills and valleys that have an abundance of natural springs, favoured human settlements since prehistoric times.   During the Renaissance news of the therapeutic virtues of Nocera’s waters began to spread. Although, as far back as ancient times, Nocera's water was appreciated and known for its purity, freshness and medicinal effects, both in Italy and throughout Europe. There are many springs, but the most important for their historical importance and commercial exploitation are the Angelica, the Flaminia and the Cacciatore.

St. Francis took the waters of Nocera Umbra

This part of Umbria has strong ties to St. Francis and the many legends that surround his life. La Romita is an area near the Angelica spring waters with remains of an apse in the hermitage that hosted Saint Francis in the summer of 1226. The saint was seriously ill and had come here for the waters of Nocera so the citizens of Assisi, made aware of his stay, sent a delegation of knights who carried the saint back to die in Assisi which was his hometown. 

An annual festival on horseback

On the way the townspeople of Assisi way stopped at the village of Satriano, and every year on 31 August and 1 September horses and riders from all over Umbria and its neighbouring regions participate in the festivities for the Cavalieri di Satriano, or Ride of the Chevaliers of Satriano. Departing Assisi, they travel along old mountain roads and shady paths through woods to Nocera Umbra where they present a parchment to the mayor who reciprocates with a similar parchment for the mayor or Assisi. In recent years the colourful procession has counted over a hundred horses and riders.

Nocera Umbra’s Palio dei Quartieri

Every summer Umbria’s City of the Waters’s two districts take part in the traditional Palio against a backdrop of processions in costume and medieval banquets.  The highlight is the uphill race along the town’s narrow cobblestone streets, with the athletes competing first in sprinting and speed. For the final endurance test they race for the finishing line carrying one of their teammates on a heavy wooden sedan chair on their shoulders. 

The bijoux Cottoni theatre and a local pastry delicacy 

CleanJoule, a startup based in the US that focuses on producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), has secured a $50 million investment. 

Aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050

The funding is led by Indigo Partners, a US private equity firm, and includes participation from GenZero, Cleanhill Partners, Frontier Airlines, Wizz Air and Volaris.  The investment is a significant milestone in reducing carbon emissions and taking meaningful action against climate change. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is used to power commercial aircraft with a lower carbon footprint and has the potential to reduce emissions in the aviation sector by up to 65% and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, as stated by IATA.   

Binding agreements from airlines

As part of this investment consortium, Frontier Airlines, Wizz Air, and Volaris have signed binding agreements to purchase up to 90 million gallons of SAF.  Mukund Karanjikar, co-founder and CEO of CleanJoule, commented, “There has never been a more critical time to drive change than by developing viable sustainable fuel alternatives. CleanJoule is well-positioned to bridge the gap in transitioning to a greener aviation industry.”

“We rely on readily available raw materials”

Frederick Teo, CEO of GenZero, added, “CleanJoule's technology relies on readily available raw materials, such as agricultural waste, to produce a sustainable biofuel that can be cost-effective at scale and improve fuel efficiency.”

Castel Gandolfo, the little hilltop Lazio town is known as The Vatican of the Roman Hills.

High above the metropolitan city of Rome, and not far from Ciampino Airport, Castel Gandolfo is home to the summer residence of the popes.  The Roman Hills are called the Castelli Romani for the many Roman villas built here in ancient times, and are a series of small towns that sit atop a volcano crater about half an hoir by car from Rome. Each little town has its own charm and is packed with history and traditions. 

A fountain designed by Bernini and Roman ruins

Castel Gandolfo overlooks Lake Albano and is worth a visit first and foremost to visit the papal residence as well as its gardens that preserve the remains of the Villa of Domitian. In the square in front of the Papal Palace there is the beautiful church of St Thomas of Villanova and the fountain, both designed by the great architect Bernini. A visit to the lake wedged in the former volcanic crater is a must. You can stroll along the promenade with its many restaurants and bathing establishments, take a boat tour, canoe or sailboat, and walk or cycle along the lake path. It is also possible to visit interesting Roman remains overlooking the lake such as the Doric Nymphaeum and the Bergantino Nymphaeum 

The Vatican of the Castelli Romani has beautiful gardens

The majesty of the Papal Palace that greets those arriving on the square, has also contributed to making this one of the most beautiful small towns in Italy. From Friday to Monday it is possible to visit the Papal residence and the Vatican Gardens with their many botanical rarities, and the archaeological remains of the Villa of Domitian which has an enormous cryptoporticus. Inside the residence there is a museum and in the courtyard some of the famous popemobile papal cars are on view, 

Visiting the papal bedroom and a monthly flea market

A visit to the 

Genoa Airport is enjoying an international tourist boom with new Ryanair routes from Belgium, Ireland, the UK, and Romania as well as Calabria, Campania, Puglia, Sardinia, and Sicily.

A 310% growth compared to pre-COVID levels

With a remarkable 46% growth in international tourist arrivals, and a 23% increase in arrivals from central and southern Italy during the first three months of the year, compared to the same period in 2019, the airport is booming. And the trend looks like remaining positive with the operation of 12 routes (seven domestic and five international), for a total of 80 weekly flights, and the introduction of new routes from Dublin and Cagliari compared to the summer of 2022.  This amounts to a 310% growth compared to pre-COVID levels. 

“47,411 more tourist arrivals thanks to the new Ryanair routes”

Piero Righi, general manager of Genoa airport, emphasised the significance of air connectivity for the region, stating, “More flights mean that Liguria can attract an increasing number of tourists. We are seeing the results like the final of the Ocean Race attracting thousands of spectators arriving in Genoa on flights from abroad. From the markets of the new Ryanair flights we are seeing three times higher growth in tourist arrivals. From January to March, there were 47,411 more tourist arrivals thanks to the new Ryanair routes. Considering an average cost per night of €136 this represents a direct economic impact of almost €6.5 million extra in just three months.”