Continuing the theme we started last week with our look at Venice, we’ll do a round-up of the various articles on Italy that have been cropping up in the print media over the last few weeks. The Melbourne Age has no fewer that four stories on Italy this month, starting with a look at cycling through the hills of Tuscany, moving to the other end of the country to try out some of Sicily’s delicacies and then heading north to a health resort on Lake Garda.

And if that wasn’t enough for you, consider having a look at the new couples obsession in Rome: chaining padlocks to metal posts on Ponte Milvio.

The New York Times checks out the sulfur baths near Viterbo, and later visits Sardinia’s port city of Cagliari. Returning to Tuscany, we have two articles, one from Canada’s Globe and Mail and the other from the UK’s Independent.

In the blogosphere, the Vancouver Sun has been tracking the progress of Stephanie, in Me and my Euro Summer; her Italy coverage starts at day 29, in Florence. Episode 102 of the Amateur Traveller podcast focuses on the Cinque terra and Lake Como.

To round things off, there’s a wonderful photo of Vernazza, from the Why Go blog.

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The Sydney Morning Herald has a good article on Herculaneum the ancient Roman city which was, like Pompeii, was destroyed in the 79AD eruption of Mr Vesuvias.

Herculaneum is on Line 1 of the Circumvesuviana metropolitan railway between Naples and Sorrento. The journey takes approximately 20 minutes from Naples, and 50 minutes from Sorrento.

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The Guardian has an article on Croatia’s island of Hvar, one of Europe’s up and coming party destinations. While many may well be justified in considering this a good reason to avoid it, the article points out that it is a long way from being Ibiza, at this point in time…

Related articles

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One of the two newest members of the EU, Romania is rapidly gaining ground as a popular destination for backpackers. There’s a great article in this week’s Independent, comparing the Romania of today with the Romania of just two decades ago.

There are three main international rail routes into Romania; from Western Europe, most travellers will arrive via Budapest, and from south-eastern Europe, via Sofia. From the countries to the north of Romania, it’s more difficult – there are lines from both Lviv and Kiev in the Ukraine, but it will involve a number of changes.

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We’re all familiar with the Louvre, but it’s not the only museum that Paris has. Get away from the crowds and go visit some of Paris’s lesser known museums.

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Some truely amazing photos of Iceland, from omarrun.

Found via TravelMinx.

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While most travellers would be very familiar with the huge party that is Munich’s Oktoberfest, fewer would know that there are many more similar traditional German festivals held throughout the year in other German cities. One of the larger festivals is Schützenfest Hannover, which opens in four days’ time, on June 29th, and runs until July 8th.

So, for anyone thinking of heading to Germany to get a taste for the beer halls and traditional German food, here’s a brief guide to Hanover and some of the sights of the surrounding area.


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The New York Times spends 36 hours in Milan.

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Antwerp is often overlooked by travellers, caught between the large capital Brussels to the south, the highly enticing Amsterdam further north, and the tourist-meccas of Ghent and Bruges to the west.

Nevertheless, it’s wonderful place to visit, with beautiful buildings, great restaurants and a much more down-to-earth feel than its neighbours. There’s plenty to do; a look through the enormous Cathedral of Our Lady, wandering around the many diamond shops south of Centraal Station … or for the really offbeat, take a walk through the art deco St. Anna tunnel, a pedestrian tunnel under the river.

The New York times has an article on Antwerp’s Kloosterstraat, a long stretch of cafes, antique shops and restaurants.

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With last week’s opening of the new Paris to Basel high-speed TGV railway line, Switzerland is more accessible than ever. Four trains a day run to Basel, taking 3.5 hours; one continues Zurich (Paris, 8.28am, taking 4.5 hours).

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