Local Insights
Skip the algorithms and the tourist traps. Discover authentic itineraries, hidden gems, and honest reviews written directly by our network of local experts.
Local expert Francesca Cozzolino shares her honest guide to Liguria — where to go, what to skip, the best restaurants, and why focaccia di Recco beats everything else on the coast.
Tommaso Pante, a local expert from Sicily, shares his honest advice on how to travel the island well — when to visit, the small towns to choose, and what to eat from arancino to cannolo.
Valeria Colla came to Verona to study and never left. When she wants to feel happy, she goes for aperitivo with friends. Five spots — from a 1935 Valpolicella institution to a sky lounge above the Arena — where Verona reveals itself.
After many years walking travellers through Florence and Tuscany, Massimo Coppo can tell you that the Uffizi and Accademia are beautiful — but they're not the only reason to come. Where Florence and Tuscany actually reveal themselves to those who look deeper.
Massimo Coppo was born in Florence — so he knows how a real Florentine starts the day. Not with a smartphone and a hurry. With coffee, with quality, with ritual. Four cafes where he actually takes his breakfast.
Roberto Vendramin was born in Venice, raised in Venice, owns property in Venice. Venice is not something he visited and studied — it's something he lives. Three neighbourhood walks that show the city Venetians know.
Thirteen years in London hospitality have taught Dewi Evans that the best hotel bars aren't about money — they're about experiences you can't get anywhere else. Three rooms that represent the pinnacle of London bar culture.
Dina works with travellers as a Florence-based travel advisor — and the first thing she does is take them for coffee. Nine cafes where she actually spends her mornings, her afternoons, her time in this city.
Francesca Zaccari came to Bologna to study art history and fell in love with the city through its churches. Four sacred spaces that contain art that changes how you see the world — and a city full of life around them.
After thirty years walking travellers through Bergamo, Lucia has learned that the city only opens itself to people who slow down. Food is the best reason to slow down — five experiences inside the walled city that will change how you understand it.
Daria Astorri is a vegetarian cook who's spent years driving the Apennine hills looking for places that take raw materials seriously. Here are her five favourite agriturismi — honest food, fair prices, and a quality of cooking that comes from people who actually understand it.
Paolo Crosetto has led many cyclists through Piedmont and watched them fall for the region. Cycling here isn't just exercise — it's moving through the landscape, tasting the air, experiencing beauty with your body. His five favourite rides.
Giovanni Geraci grew up Sicilian — and that means he understands food in a way most people don't. Five experiences that introduce you to the real island, not the postcard version: Palermo street food, Mazara prawns, Trapani cannoli, Marsala wine, and Catania pasta.
Life in the Valle d'Itria is not what you read in travel blogs. Francesco Sibilio shares three real Pugliese experiences — riding alongside Europe's longest aqueduct, looping the Canale di Pirro by old Fiat 500, and the meat-pilgrimage braceria even a vegetarian respects.
Ravenna is the place where Byzantine art reached its most brilliant expression in Western Europe. Born in the city, Silvia Giogoli has spent her life understanding these mosaics — and she walks you through the five UNESCO sites where their power is still alive.
Charo Havermans came from Amsterdam and fell completely in love with London's pub culture. After a Master's in pub history and years of running tours, she takes you to three of her favourites — real pubs, real people, real London.
Born and raised in Massa Lubrense, Giovanna Loria takes you off the postcard route — to Roman villas swimmable through rock arches, FAI-protected bays, and a fishing village where the catch arrives an hour before lunch.
Pisa is not about climbing the Leaning Tower. Through Walking with Heritage, Amanda Ombra helps travellers experience the city the way she does — slowly, deeply, with the history and language to make sense of it.
As a mother and wife in Bologna, date nights are precious. Sara Flammini takes you to the three places she actually books when she and her husband want a meal that feels like a celebration — elegant, seasonal, and unmistakably Bolognese.
Francesco Sibilio is a (half) farmer, a winemaker, and a believer in honest small businesses. JAZZILE — a young natural wine bar in the Valle d'Itria — is the place he points everyone who wants to taste where southern Italy's wine is going.
When you come to Sicily, the food is not just what you eat — it's what makes you understand the island. Federica Gulfi takes you to the arancini, granita, chocolate, and fish that define what it actually means to eat Sicilian.
Most travellers come to Rome and never realise the coast is an hour away. Giulia Giangiulio takes you to Anzio and Nettuno — five seaside places where Rome locals actually escape to, where history meets the sea and the crowds disappear.
From an 1822 institution on Piazza San Carlo to a hybrid cafe inside the historic FIAT workshops, Stefania Nurisso walks you through the spaces where Turin's tradition and innovation actually live side by side.
Seda Elkin spends her days finding the restaurants Romans actually choose for dinner — not just the ones with the best Instagram shots. Her ten favourites, from a Tuscan trattoria to the gelato that stops you in your tracks.
Lucrezia Incanti splits her time between Milan and Emilia Romagna. We asked her how to spend a long weekend on Italy's food and fashion spine — where to eat, what to skip, and why visitors are getting the food wrong.
Rosa Ricciuli has spent years showing travellers a Tuscany that does not begin and end in Florence. We asked her where to base yourself, what to skip, and why she is so quietly insistent about leaving the city behind.
Walter Zedda has spent his life in Cagliari, the city Sardinians call the City of the Sun. We asked him where to eat, where to walk, and why the island's northeast coast is the one place he would happily skip.
Cagliari local Walter Zedda makes the case for Sardinia's capital over the famous north: better beaches, flamingos, Roman history, and authentic food — at a fraction of the price.
Discover the five most common mistakes travellers make in Sardinia and how to avoid them for an authentic island experience.
Skip the tourist traps and discover where Romans enjoy real carbonara made with just four ingredients: guanciale, pecorino, eggs, and pepper.
Discover Rome's authentic aperitivo scene beyond the tourist hotspots, from creative hideaways to refined garden bars.
Skip the overpriced spots near monuments. These neighbourhood pizzerias serve the thin, crispy Roman-style pizza that locals crave.
