GREAT ESCAPE ITALY

To travel through Italy is as close as one gets to being in paradise. Forcenturies, writers, artists, architects and merchants have been drawn here,inspired by the beauty of Venice, Florence, Naples and Rome. Countlessbooks, paintings, poems and sculptures are evidence of its undying appeal,and over the past 60 years, the country has become one of the world's toptravel and holiday destinations. The loveliness of Italy—itsarchitecture, landscapes, culture and food (some of the world's finest!)— if not eternal, is certainly enduring, and the easy-going andrelaxed Italian lifestyle, il dolce far niente, is still unrivaled.Here, some of Italy's most amazing landscapes are brought to life, likeLake Como (residence of George Clooney), Venice, Florence and Tuscany, theAmalfi Coast, and no less magical, the Aeolian Islands off the coast ofSicily. In these mythical surroundings are legendary hotels full ofatmosphere, where novels are set, movies are made, weddings are celebratedand famous love stories consummated: Villa d'Este on Lake Como, the HotelSplendido in Portofino, the Il San Pietro on the Amalfi Coast and the VillaCimbrone in Ravello—to name just a few. But in Great Escapes Italy,Angelika Taschen also reveals where to find more secret and hiddenjewels—from the Locanda Cipriani, a romantic hideaway on the islandof Torcello, to the atmospheric Castello di Vicarello in Tuscany.