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Via Ferrata Ivano Dibona, Belluno, Italy
One place we’re sure you won’t be bothered by crowds is on the Via Ferrata Ivano Dibona. This isn’t because its necessarily an unknown destination – it’s not – but more because it’s 1,200 metres into the air and known to be an incredibly challenging and tricky route.
It skirts the rocky top of the Dolomites, taking a supply route from World War One, with barracks still visible from that time. At the very least it’s a seven-hour journey, and it ain’t easy, but you’ll be rewarded with the most epic sequence of mountainous landscape vistas.
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Happy Hour
Franco’s Bar in Positano, Italy
Someone give Franco a round of applause because we’ve just crowned his al fresco bar the best in Positano. With a killer view of the Mediterranean Sea, this contemporary setting is both luxurious and relaxed; perfect for an ‘I-need-to-get-off-my-feet’ stop or a ‘this-will-look-great-on-my-insta’ shot.
The cocktail list harks back to the good ol’ days, the fine spirits menu is endless and you can replenish your energy levels with an array of small bites – ‘nough said.
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The Clumsies in Athens, Greece
While many rooftop bars in Athens draw travellers in with wanderlusty views of the Acropolis, we’re way more interested in what’s happening behind the eclectic doors of The Clumsies (which is what we’ll be feeling after one too many of their signature cocktails).
They’re called ‘Happy Accidents,’ and they’re for when life doesn’t stick to the script. Or for when that third lamb gyros you just ate is dangerously close to coming right back up and you need a little something to help wash it down.
Who cares about, ‘Forgetting the Umbrella,’ when a scotch and edamame concoction is waiting to be sipped? And no one minds, ‘Slipping on the Dancefloor,’ when there’s peanut butter and bourbon whisky involved. Don’t say it, don’t say it, don’t say it…Opa!
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Maxo Relaxo
Eremito, Parrano, Italy
As viewed by the birds, Eremito in the Umbria region of Italy is a tiny speck of stone surrounded on all sides (for kilometres) by green trees. What the birds don’t know is that this speck is one of the best retreats in the whole world for humans hitting the reset button; no Wi-Fi, beautiful food, beautiful stone architecture, and a subtle agreement between guests and to get to know each other. How wholesome.
A great way to think about Eremito is to imagine it’s a contemporary monastery: a place of purity, where you can reconnect with the Earth you live on. It’s a monastery without the vows, religion and silence, and not having any worldly luxuries. In other words, it’s nothing like a monastery at all.
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Manna, Arcadia, Greece
Manna was once a sanatorium for people with chronic illness. Nowadays it’s a luxury mountain sanctuary, although it’s easy to see why this was considered a good place to heal what ails ya. Really, really old trees surround you at all times, whether you’re chowing down gourmet gyros or taking a bath. Maybe you’re doing both at the same time.
There’s lots of outdoor adventures to keep you occupied: hike, ski, cycle, hunt for mushrooms in the forest, hunt for gyros in the forest, whatever.
In many ways, it’s kept its original purpose of rejuvenating, even if it isn’t chronically ill people staying here now.
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Weird Places of Worship
Holy Kipinas, Lalarrites, Greece
Monks have a habit of picking the most difficult place possible to live, and the 13th century Holy Kipinas Monastery in Kallarites, Northern Greece is no exception. It’s abandoned now, but still a pretty sick spot to go and explore, perched where it is on the side of a vertical cliff overlooking a massive valley.
It’s a pretty decent hike to get there, but worth it. On entry you pass through a tiny door, emerging into cave with stalactites and stalagmites, before eventually reaching the church, the roof of which has been carved to form a dome. All visitors must enter via a bridge which can be retracted in the event of a raid. Good to know.
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Bar Nilo, Naples, Italy
Bar Nilo is less of a bar and more of a shrine in a religious sense. The patron saint in this instance is Diego Maradona, the legendary footballer who called Naples home for five years in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The bar has a shrine which includes a small shrine to the Argentinian – complete with a lock of his hair. There is football fandom, and then there is Naples’ obsession with Maradona.
You can buy drinks and coffee, and the man behind the bar will happily chat football with you. Come here for a drink, stay to pay homage.
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Restaurant Rules
Medusa, Milos, Greece
We’ve all sat down at a restaurant with a view, but there’s something different about Medusa on Milos Island. It doesn’t just have a view, it is the view.
It’s technically perched on the edge of the island, but it may as well be in the middle of the Mediterranean Ocean for all of the wavey blue stuff you’ll see over a dinner full of local produce cooked by two Greek women who know their way around the kitchen.
From smokey mackerel and grilled swordfish steaks to an envious selection of local cheeses and one seriously decadent chocolate cake it’s no wonder this impressive restaurant boasts a waiting time of one hour + for a table.
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La Loggia, Florence, Italy
Exclusivity is La Loggia’s middle name – there’s only eight tables at this intimate restaurant, each one with astonishing views over Florence’s Renaissance architecture. The location’s historic, the chef is a pioneer, and memories, art and nature inspire the food (even the plates each dish is served on).
You’ll find an array of traditional and seasonal ingredients on the menu, so you can feast yourself on signature pasta dishes and fresh seafood while enjoying a glass of Tuscan wine in a hand-blown glass.
This place is decadence, luxury and romance at its (Italian) finest, just in case there’s any boyfriends-in-the-back searching for pop-the-question-worthy venues.
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For the creep-seekers
Navagio/Shipwreck Beach, Zakynthos, Greece
Pro tip: if you’re trying to smuggle cigarettes into Greece, don’t do it aboard a coaster ship facing stormy weather and low visibility levels. Chances are you’ll suffer the same fate as the MV Panagiotis. The epic shipwreck has rested in the limestone gravel of Navagio Beach since it was abandoned in 1980, giving the once-popular swimming spot an eerie feeling. Since then, the beach has been plagued by earthquakes – do you reckon Zeus is mad he never received his Marlboro Lights order?
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The Capuchin Catacombs, Palermo, Italy
Above ground, Palermo bubbles with fresh food markets and cultural sights but beneath its cobblestoned streets lies an underground cemetery full of exposed corpses. Kinda cool, definitely creepy, the Capuchin Catacombs is a masterpiece in mummification that may or may not give you nightmares (it probably will). But if you can get past still-robed 400-year-old skeletons following your every move, it’s actually a pretty fascinating insight into the ancient Sicilian tradition of human conservation.
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Festivals From the Left-field
The Rocket War Over Chios, Greece
Capulet and Montague family, who? The feud between the churches of Agios Markos and Panagia Erithiani on the normally sleepy island of Chios is nothing short of epic.
As part of Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations every year, the members of both churches start an all-out rocket war, launching thousands of homemade fireworks in the direction of the opposing church’s bell tower.
If they hit it, they get 10 points for Gryffindor. Okay no, but it is pretty wild that this fiery tradition has been going on for 35 years without someone putting a (safety) stop to it.
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Polifonic, Milan & Bari, Italy
We think you’d struggle to find a better vibe than the one at Polifonic, held at two different locations: in Milan, and then in the southern seaside town of Bari, in Puglia.
There’s a few things that make this electronic festival special. It’s a distinctly Italian scene, with most of the DJs on the bill coming from local shores. The stages aren’t mega-creations where you can’t see a thing because you’re behind tens of thousands of people. They’re smaller and trendier, and make for a more relaxed festival experience. This year there was a portal where festival goers engaged with an LED wall, creating art and other cool shit.
Polifonic translates to polyphonic (WOW!) which means “consisting of many voices or sounds” and we reckon pretty much anyone can come and enjoy some boogs here.
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From the Big Screen
James Bond with Black Tomato, Italy
Ever wanted to be the world’s greatest spy?
You too can drive a boat at breakneck speed across Lake Como with a beautiful model under your arm, doing jumps and other cool shit, before suiting up for dinner and delivering witty one-liners over a martini (shaken, not stirred).*
Travel company Black Tomato offer a variety of epic Bond, James Bond, experiences for discerning fans. Charging Lake Como as per James in Casino Royale (2006) or ascending Venice’s Torre dell’Orologio like Bond in Moonraker (1979) and having it completely to yourself are some of the experiences that are completely possible here.
*Cannot guarantee breakneck speed nor beautiful models…
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Mama Mia! Island Tours, Skopelos, Greece
Since Mama Mia! smashed box office records in 2008, the movie-musical genre has gone ballistic and so too have film fans travelling to the Greek Islands to visit Kalokairi, the dreamy island featured in the movie.
Unfortunately Kalokairi doesn’t actually exist, but you absolutely CAN get to Skopelos, which is where the movie was filmed and where the limestone cliffs, extraordinary turquoise waters and white sands from the movie can be found. Crowds aren’t too hectic, and there’s a discreet Mama Mia! trail you can follow, including the Agios Ioannis chapel where the film’s wedding took place, and several daytrips by boat. We have substantiated rumours of these boats being big-time singalongs, so warm up those vocal chords.
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Hidden Islands
Marettimo, Italy
Ever wanted to be the world’s greatest spy?
Isola di Marettimo is a tiny, incredibly quiet, incredibly beautiful island with a number of exquisite grottos and quiet beaches.
You know that fantasy you have when it’s just you, or maybe you and a significant other, on an island without much to do each day except drink coffee and work vaguely on your next novel (you’re a famous writer in this fantasy) or wait for your agent to call (now you’re an actor) – this is the place to do it.
Wild goats, rabbits, eagles, peregrine falcons call the somewhat mountains terrain home. No big resorts at all, a population of about 700. A small number of simple trattorias to eat fresh fish and drink red wine.
Eat. Swim. Chill. Repeat.
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Folegandros, Greece
Folegandros isn’t a word we’d heard before, until Gundari Folegandros opened a few months ago, and now it’s all we can think about, occupying our daydreams at 3.30pm and our thoughts when we open the blinds to another cold wintery day.
Gundari is raw luxury; secluded on an island that escapes the infuriating bulk of Santorini and Mykonos travellers, but which still boasts rocky cliffs, crystal clear waters and dramatic landscapes of it’s neighbours.
The island is tiny – only 719 people live there, at last count. There is no airport or cruise terminal to service hordes of tourists, and so it doesn’t; you’ll have soaring cliffs and stunning orange sunsets to yourself. Grab a bike and zig-zag your way around the island, go exploring and swimming, stay for way too long at little family-run restaurants where Yia and Pappou still work daily. The real Greek island life.
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Hidden Islands
Kourtaliotiko Gorge, Crete, Greece
The Greek Islands aren’t short on swimming spots, but Kourtaliotiko Gorge isn’t just a place to get your feet wet. It’s the kind of place where, if a unicorn burst out of the turquoise water behind you and started playing in the shallows, you’d be like ‘yeah, that makes sense’.
Getting there is a little tricky but once you start your gentle (read: freezing) journey to the waterfalls within and catch a glimpse of the sun as it creates rain-like sparkles off the cascading water, this Cretian chasm’s magic becomes obvious. Just don’t let the water pipes at the entrance fool you: this place is as gorge-ous as it gets.
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Fiordo di Furore, Amalfi Coast, Italy
This next wanderlusty beach is as narrow as the winding streets of the Amalfi Coast, which you’ll have to navigate to get here. But you won’t encounter an angry Italian man trying to squeeze his tour bus through a gap that definitely isn’t big enough, so that’s a win.
Nestled in a cove between two sheer rock faces, this pebbly beach promises turquoise water you’ll want to get lost in. Yes, it might hold 50 people max (come early), but that’s what makes it alluring – who wants what every tan-seeking tourist can have?
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