Fabrizia Caracciolo shares unique insights from a lifetime of summers exploring the Italian Peninsula.

In today’s fast-moving world, year-long Grand Tours are mostly a thing of the past. So, in this postcard from my perfect Italian summer, I suggest a month-long trip down the Italian Peninsula, taking in Venice, Tuscany and Florence, and the Vesuvius and Ligurian coasts, before traveling south to experience the unique beauty of Sicily.

Arriving in Venice is always a treat; I'll forever be impressed by this palatial city within a lagoon. Venice requires, and indeed deserves, long walks, visits to unique sights and long indulgent meals, before retreating to a restful hotel. The opportunity to recharge and relax in a haven with its own greenery and lush gardens makes the long days even more enjoyable. From the beautiful Cipriani Hotel, Venice is simply more lovely and even grander.

The same can be said for Florence, where the summer heat can feel overbearing in the narrow medieval streets that separate glorious churches from museums and shops. I retreat to Fiesole, which hangs over the city landscape, and always choose to stay at Villa San Michele (pictured above). It offers the most spectacular views, rivalled only by the beauty of the hotel itself, and its elegant terraced gardens.

But summer in Italy is also about the coasts, the cafes and the waterfront taverns, and the elegance of summer dresses flowing in the piazzas at sunset. Portofino is undoubtedly where you'll find some of the best examples of these seasonal Italian delights. Walking down from the glorious Hotel Splendido (below, left), in the shade of the woods, you’ll find a tiny fishing village that’s become a sort of seaside sitting room where everyone seems to know each other. Returning from their boats, one and all mingle around cocktails and slices of local focaccia.  

Leaving northern Italy and descending below Rome, one enters a different world altogether; a mix of grandeur and genteel decay coupled with the visible stratification of over 20 centuries of art and architecture presents grace and glory of its own. The scenery of the Amalfi coast, just a stone’s throw from the Vesuvio and extraordinary Roman ruins of Pompei and Ercolano, is as dramatic as it is delightful. The highlight of the coast is, of course, Ravello, which stands high above the coastline looking down to the seemingly endless Mediterranean Sea.

But my single favorite stop, Sicily, deserves a tour of its own. In Taormina, on the eastern coast backed by the Greek theater and hanging above a cascade of colorful lush gardens rolling down to the sea, stands the beautiful Timeo Hotel. Be sure to ask for the Kaiser’s room, the view is so breathtaking you will carry it with you forever.