Although the majority of tourists flocking to Italy still visits prevalently Rome, followed by Florence and Venice, the interest of the international audience has shifted to regional products of excellence and the spots where they are created. Monuments and art still are popular of course, but the growing motivation to visit Italy nowadays is cuisine and lifestyle.

This means for a niche of cultured, discriminating travellers going to less known destinations and staying in small boutique hotels such as those belonging to the chain Travelling around Italy (www.travellingarounditaly.com). Since cuisine in Italy is still very regional, but growing in quality and creativity, connoisseurs now go to the new sanctuaries, the Michelin-starred restaurants located in the countryside, and to the local shops where typical top-quality products and wines are on sale, from cheese (www.italiancook.ca) to Etna wines (www.italianmade.com). Enjoying the taste and flavour of the Italian dishes has been gauged equal to - if not better than - a week at a SPA. In 2006 Conde Nast Traveller Uk Reader's Award, Italy scored top marks for its food, restaurants and variety of attractions and came first as favourite country, climbing from 4th place in 2005.

Also the 'Mezzogiorno', the southern region of Italy, already well known for the Amalfi Coast, Capri and Pompei, is attracting a growing share of tourists extending their trips to lesser known destinations, like the rocky beaches of Maratea, and to Sicily.

This new breed of tourists is looking for different hotels that offer an Italian "feel" and charm. This is the reason why Travelling Around Italy Hotels was created. This small Italian chain has 14 hotels in the country, whose locations stretch from Lombardy to Sicily. These are exclusive, selected, charming hotels, where attention to detail and a warm welcome are de rigueur. Travelling around Italy has a portal (www.travellingarounditaly.com) and publishes a guide in English that provides an itinerary for a contemporary Grand Tour. The journey winds across Italy from north to south and reveals intriguing features of the various regions - from food to shopping - without neglecting their age-old traditions and artistic heritage.

The first itinerary starts at the Locanda dei Mai Intees in Varese, Lombardy, and runs along the shore of Lake Maggiore, then takes us to Milan, with its fashion districts and trendy places. The second itinerary follows the wine and spumante trails through Veneto, presenting four hotels: Hotel Villa Abbazia and Hotel dei Chiostri in Follina in the province of Treviso, Hotel Villa Michelangelo in Vicenza, and Hotel Villa del Quar in Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet.
The next stop is Hotel le Logge del Perugino in Umbria, with its many traditions, fine cuisine and romantic countryside. Then we go to a lesser known part of Tuscany, the Etruscan city of Cortona, set of "Under the Tuscan Sun", where we stay at the Hotel Villa di Piazzano. The itinerary proceeds to Rome, where if we stay at the Hotel dei Consoli, Hotel Barocco or Hotel dei Piranesi. Even centuries-old Rome is changing nowadays and presents strikingly new contemporary buildings like Renzo Piano's Auditorium and Richard Meier's Ara Pacis museum.
Finally, for sea lovers, the Travelling Around Italy Guide presents three most fascinating resorts of the Italian South: Positano on the Amalfi Coast (Hotel Poseidon); Maratea South of Naples (Hotel Villa Cheta); Taormina in Sicily (Hotel Villa Ducale and Villa Carlotta).

Travelling Around Italy Hotels, Via della Purificazione 4, 00187 Rome, Italy
Tel. +39.06.4872001 - Fax +39.06.485994 -
Website: www.travellingarounditaly.com
President: Franco Caruso