Welcome to Italy a land celebrated for the arts
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Italy is a land celebrated for the arts, and not the least among the arts that have attained their highest expression in Italy is the art of hospitality. The Italian welcome is as warm and traditional as a glass of fine wine. This comparison is apt, for travelers in ancient times gave the country its first name: Land of Wines. Italians are such good hosts because they get so much practice welcoming visitors from all over the world.
Italy is one of the most popular vacation countries in Europe, all seasons being good for a visit. In summer, Italy is an international playground, with visitors from all continents mingling with vacationing Italians at the famous resorts. Spring comes early to Italy and autumn lingers - and so will the wise traveler who wants to enjoy at a more leisurely pace the art centers, the large cities and the holiday resorts such as those in the Lombardian lake region where spring and fall are ideal seasons.
In winter, the Italian Alps are unequaled for scenery and skiing. In northern Italy are some of the world's most renowned winter sports resorts, easily reached from such centers as Torino, chief city of the westernmost Piemonte region; from Milano, hub of the central mountain and lake district; and from Venezia, leading city of the eastern region. Skiing is also a summer sport in the Torino Alps and the lofty mountains surrounding the Valle d
General Information
Area: 116,303 square miles
Population: 56,778,000
Population density: 487/sq. mile
Capital: Rome (2,775,000 inhabitants)
Other important cities:
Milan (1,369,000); Naples (1,067,000); Torino (963,000); Palermo (699,000); Genova (679,000); Bologna (404,000); Florence (403,000); Bari (342,000); Catania (333,000); Venice (309,000); Verona (256,000); Taranto (232,000); Messina (231,000); Trieste (231,000); Padova (215,000); Cagliari (204,000; Brescia (195,000); Perugia (153,000).
Geographical Profile
Situated in Mediterranean Europe, Italy has land frontiers with France in the north-west, Switzerland and Austria in the north and Slovenia in the north-east. The peninsula is surrounded by the Ligurian Sea, the Sardinian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west, the Sicilian Sea and the Ionian Sea in the south and the Adriatic Sea in the east. Italian is the language of the majority of the population but there are minorities speaking German, French, Slovene and Ladino.
There is a great deal of variety in the landscape in Italy, although it is characterized predominantly by two mountain chains: the Alps and the Apennines. The former extends over 600 miles from east to west. It consists of great massifs in the western sector, with peaks rising to over 14,000 feet, including Monte Bianco (Mont Blanc), Monte Rosa and Cervino (the Matterhorn). The the chain is lower in the eastern sector, although the mountains, the Dolomites, are still of extraordinary beauty. At the foot of the Alpine arc stretches the vast Po Valley plain, cut down the middle by the course of the river Po, the longest in Italy (390 miles), which has its source in the Pian de Re (Monviso) and flows into the Adriatic through a magnificent delta. The Alpine foothills are characterized by large lakes: Lake Maggiore and the lakes of Como, Iseo and Garda. The Apennines form the backbone of the peninsula, stretching in a wide arc concave to the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Corno Grande (Gran Sasso d'Italia) is the highest peak. A large part of central Italy is characterized by a green hilly landscape, through which the rivers Arno and Tevere (Tiber) run. The southern section of the chain pushes out to the east forming the Gargano promontory and, sloping down further south, the Salentine peninsula. It then proceeds to the west with the Calabrian and Peloritano massif stretching across the Strait of Messina into Sicilia. The principal islands are Sicilia, rising up to the great volcanic cone of Etna (10,860 feet) and Sardegna. The main archipelagos are the Tremiti Islands in the Adriatic Sea, the Tuscan Archipelago, the Pontine Islands, the Aeolian Islands and the Egadi Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Sicilia.
Special interest
The miracle of Italy is that all its treasures come packaged in a gorgeous country of majestic mountains, placid lakes, idyllic islands, splendid cities and wonderful walled villages. An ideal climate plus warm and gracious people make Italy a perfect destination for an active vacation, the art lover, the gourmand, the hedonist combined, why not, with business.
Active Holidays
Doing nothing is not easy! For active holidaymakers Italy features a wide variety of distraction to choose from, when you want to gain new strength and energy from your adventures and activities
The great artistic legacy of Italy, unequalled anywhere in the world, is not only distributed throughout the major cities and their famous museums; one can say in truth that there is no Italian city, however modest, which does not contain and cherish some share of this wealth of art. Indeed, many of them can be considered real treasures - so beautiful and valuable are the works they contain. The artistic riches of Italy's main cities have already been described.
Food & Wine
The main characteristic of Italian cooking is its healthy balance, the excellent basic ingredients being simply cooked and retaining their original goodness and freshness. Simple and yet with such a variety of flavors and rich inventiveness in preparation, that even the most demanding gourmet is delighted.
Italian breakfast is quite different from American or English. Colazione is usually light: cappuccino (coffee and milk) and a brioche (sweet pastry), or simply espresso (black-short-strong coffee) .
Pranzo (lunch) is the big meal except in the industrialized cities. It consists of antipasto (starter) a primo piatto (pasta, rice or soup), a secondo piatto (meat or fish) with contorno (vegetable or salad), then frutta ( fresh fruit). Finish with espresso and maybe a grappa or amaro (strong digestive liqueur).
Cena (dinner) is similar to lunch. Nowadays there is a tendency of having a light lunch, then dinner becomes the major meal.
Gelato (ice-cream) has hundreds of different flavours and can be enjoyed at anytime of the day as well as the granita (crushed ice with flavoured syrup).
Where to eat ?
There are thousands of ristoranti (restaurants): the most formal type of place to eat when one is not in a hurry, sometimes a little fancy and pricy and family-run; trattoria and osteria: less formal than a ristorante, where local specialties are served; panineria: a sandwich bar, where a quick meal can be had at any time of the day; pizzeria: is not only for pizza lovers!
"Italy is not only the largest producer of wines, but above all a producer of great wines.
Italian Government Tourist Board - North America , source: www.italiantourism.com
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