Italy Holiday Reviews

Desenzano is not a resort but a working town, it has many bars and restaurants and a ferry terminal. The town has a lot of charm and a very good market on Tuesdays

The market is most memorably, fishmongers. A cacaphony of sellers' pitches. All at the same time. A Verdi or a Pucccini could never replicate the scene, the sound, the soul, of this chorus. Cigarettes hanging from every other monger's mouth. Nobody seems to notice that there is above a sky. Those mongers are down in a depression in the man-made environmnet. Sort of like a buy and sell pit on a commodities exchange. And just as pandemonious. Around the upper (by about three feet) permimeter are raw meat makeshift "stalls", as imperminent as they are open all around, with dogs and goats hanging naked and usually headless up side down. Below an ancient creek has been contained in concrete, but still open to view from the passageway above. It whooshes by down below you. In the early afternoon blessedly all this mercantile madness and mayhem is gone.

The location of the hotel was perfect.....we walked to all the attractions: vatican, colosseum, trevi fountain, piazza navona, pantheon and the spanish steps. Trastevere is filled with narrow cobbled streets, authentic restaurants and excellent ice cream places. We felt like we were in real italy living amongst the locals which made our experience even more special.

Although there is no resaurant there are some very good, inexpensive restaurants in the same street as the hotel, and others within easy walking distance. The staff speak English and are most friendly and very helpful. They gave us a good recommendation for a local restaurant.

This is a very rural area and you need a car, its about a half hour drive to any of the beaches. Beautiful views across the hills. The Gole Alcantara gorge park provides a great place to explore. There are organised activities in the park and the hotel provides a free pass for the gorge area (if you ask). Overall a relaxing place with beutiful scenery. Taormina is about a half hour drive and provides nightlife and designer shops. Beaches are also about a half hour drive. Mt Etna is an hour trip by car.

Lucca had a chilled pace of life with very little cars in the centre. People generally strolled around or used bikes. The route around the walls is a great way of seeing the town and appreciating the open spaces and countryside.

Very safe for everyone, families and elderly people alike. Very flat ground to walk or cycle on and no sign of crime. Some people are happy to spend all of their time on the resort but it is also very handy for Venice - just an hour to an hour and a half away by bus and ferry.

We all liked Alghero - he hotel was quite a way from the main town, but a bus took you there in no time. The town is brilliant, a walled old city around a pleasant marina. There are plenty of nice shops there.

Rome is a beautiful city with lots to see and do for everyone. The restaurants are quite expensive but a lot of them offer specials menu's which are quite good value for money. In mid august Rome was very busy but ques can be avoided by arriving early. The Vatican city was amazing.

The resort its self is quite expense but very beautiful. There are plenty of shops up and down cobbled streets. Plenty of good restaurants to dine in . Lovely beaches.

Be careful of prices in the bars we where charged 5 euros for a outside table in one bar at 1.00 am in the morning.

The Hotel is good if you have a car. This is slightly away from center of Pisa. There are buses and trains to this place. We preferred to take the local bus and it stops about 5mins walk from the hotel. But the frequency in the night is less and there are no buses after 9:30PM. Please note that each bus journey costs 2.5 Euro per person, so it adds up to the hotel price. The room was nice and clean and the breakfast excellent. Overall a good and comfortable hotel

It is pretty well known that the Pisa area is not the most attractive place and is only really worth a visit for the leaning tower. However, it is well worth a visit for that reason alone. It really should be seen with your own two eyes it is such an iconic sight. It can be done in a morning from Florence so needn't take up too much of your time. You must climb it too - it's not cheap but you really can feel the slope on the way up the steps inside the tower and also when you get to the top. Not to mention the fun photo opportunity of you 'holding up the tower' - yes cheesy and touristy I know, but still a fun snap for the collection!

This was our third trip to Sorrento. We really like it, especially all the nice shops leading down the backstreets from the main square. We also like the choice of places to go for daytrips, never boring!

Naples is a busy city that has lots to see and do. It is situated very close to pompeii and vesuvius, botyh of which make excellant days out. The city of naples was quite dirty but the people were friendly. The restaurants offered excellant food for a vey good price. The islands procida and capri were beautiful and definately worth a visit.

Really liked it here, it is probably as close to a typical Spanish holiday resort you will get in Italy, but with the added bonus of delicious restaurants and lovely ice cream parlours. The beach is lovely, and being so close to Venice gives you great options for excursions.