This guest post is by Angela Pearse. Angela is an Auckland-based travel writer who loves Italian travel destinations.
Ravello is a medieval hill-top town situated 1,500 feet above the Amalfi Coast in the region of Campania, Italy. It has a history of celebrity and artistic visitors: Wagner, Greta Garbo, Virginia Woolf, E.M Forster, Winston Churchill, to name a few.
Apart from the breath-taking views across the Gulf of Salerno, one of the main attractions is 13th century Villa Rufolo, whose terraced gardens inspired Wagner to write his final opera. Each July a classical music festival is held there in his honour. Villa Cimbrone is the other draw card, renowned for its six hectare gardens and the stunning Terrace of Infinity, a balcony with alabaster statues suspended over the ocean.
Positano is situated on the Amalfi Coast between Sorrento and Amalfi and has a population of around 4,000. This post has been authored by Angela Pearse. Angela is an Auckland-based travel writer who loves Italy.
Positano is renowned for its picturesque houses set impossibly high up into the cliff face, spiraling roads, superb cuisine, antique shops and art galleries. When Coco Chanel pronounced tans fashionable in the 1930’s, large numbers of trend setters flocked to the town in search of sun and romance. Today Positano still attracts the rich and famous due to the large number of luxury accommodations; it has four 5 star hotels, and fourteen 4 star hotels.
Though the most popular pastime is sunbathing, many hiking trails exist in the hills behind Positano. The most notable is the ‘Sentiero degli Dei’ (Path of the Gods) which starts in the small hamlet of Nocelle 1,500 feet above the coastline and descends by way of 1,700 steps to the township below.
Sam Chandler of Collett’s Mountain Holidays has provided a guest Press Release to coincide with the recent UNESCO Listing of The Dolomites.Two weeks ago, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee named some new localities to the list of sites. One mountain range named by the committee is The Italian Dolomites in northern Italy.
Walking in The Dolomites
“The site of The Italian Dolomites comprises a mountain range in the northern Italian Alps, numbering 18 peaks which rise to above 3,000 metres and cover 141,903 ha. It features some of the most beautiful mountain landscapes anywhere, with vertical walls, sheer cliffs and a high density of narrow, deep and long valleys. A serial property of nine areas that present a diversity of spectacular landscapes of international significance for geomorphology marked by steeples, pinnacles and rock walls, the site also contains glacial landforms and karst systems. It is characterized by dynamic processes with frequent landslides, floods and avalanches. The property also features one of the best examples of the preservation of Mesozoic carbonate platform systems, with fossil records.The Dolomites are named for the rock dolomite, which in turn was named for a geologist, Déodat de Dolomieu.” UNESCO
This is great news for The Italian Dolomites and all the National Parks that form it. To further the protection and interest in the mountains, Italy has set up a Dolomites UNESCO Foundation which swung into action when The Dolomites were named as a World Heritage Site on 30 June 2009. The Dolomites UNESCO Foundation has been created as an overarching organization to pursue the aims ensuring the long-term conservation of the Dolomites while allowing its earth science potential and tourism-boosting assets to be used to the full.
Collett’s Mountain Holidays is the UK’s holiday specialist for the breathtaking Italian Dolomites & South Tyrol, a paradise of idyllic valleys and mesmerising mountains that lie between Innsbruck and Venice. Set up in 1998 Collett’s has been offering tailored walking holidays, Via Ferrata, Skiing and Snowshoeing for 11 years.
In summer Collett’s offer Walking Holidays, Via Ferrata & Wildflower Walks that allow you to explore this natural splendour just as you wish – however ambitious or fit. In winter, we offer the perfect catered chalet skiing holiday and for anyone with an interest in snowshoeing and winter walking.
We offer six hosted alpine chalets, an exquisite hotel and self catering in three enchanting alpine villages, each with spectacular mountain backdrops, offering superb access to the walks and more.
Stay with us as long as you like, arriving and departing on whichever days suit you. Fly-Drive, Self-Drive or use our daily transfer service to and from Venice and Treviso.
In Italy, local prices are up to 50% less than in France & Austria – Many items including eating out is still inexpensive even with a strong Euro. Collett’s Mountain Holidays is bonded through ABTA & AITO, guaranteeing the protection of all payments.
Montefalco is a medieval town found upon an outcrop north of Rome in the region of Umbria. The town is surrounded by ancient stone walls and found within a maze of cobbled laneways, medieval towers, historic buildings and churches from a number of periods, including romanesque, gothic and renaissance.
Sagrantino, is the local wine and is famous in Italy and abroad. It can be tasted in the town’s numerous wine bars or by visiting the outlying wineries around Montefalco. The extra virgin olive oil, too, is renowned.
Montefalco is an excellent base to explore the wider Umbrian region. It’s close to Perugia, Assisi, Spello, Spoleto, Norcia and Castelluccio. A little further away, but no more than 2 hours, you can reach Siena, Rome and Florence.
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Collett’s Mountain Holidays is the UK’s holiday specialist for the breathtaking Italian Dolomites & South Tyrol, a paradise of idyllic valleys and mesmerising mountains that lie between Innsbruck and Venice. Set up in 1998 Collett’s has been offering tailored walking holidays, Via Ferrata, Skiing and Snowshoeing for 11 years.
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