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If Tuscany is the polished aristocrat and the Amalfi Coast the extrovert demanding your undivided attention, Le Marche is the quietly brilliant rogue who never needed either. For travellers searching for undiscovered Italy, the real thing, unspoiled and unapologetic, this is where to begin.
Here, medieval hilltop towns guard their secrets behind ancient stone walls. Sheer limestone cliffs drop into clear water, hiding coves that feel reserved for the quietly curious. The food is brilliant and unselfconscious. The wine (Verdicchio from the chalky hills, Lacrima di Morro d'Alba from the valley floor) is as individual and surprising as the landscape that produces it.
Ancona hums with salt, history, and excellent espresso. The Renaissance city of Urbino stops you in your tracks. The Monti Sibillini rise into myth and wilderness. And everywhere, the unhurried rhythms of hidden Italy at its most authentic.
For travellers ready to leave the obvious itinerary behind, Le Marche rewards handsomely. Come prepared to be surprised, fed extraordinarily well, and very reluctantly to leave.
Abandoned vineyard farmhouse. Radical vision. Seven suites, an InArchitettura-awarded underground winery and an infinity pool above the Le Marche hills. Filodivino is exactly the kind of Italian hotel you thought didn't exist anymore.
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Sirmione is a collision of history and hedonism, where Roman ruins, medieval castles, and thermal waters meet golden-hour magic. A lakeside town where poets dreamed, Callas escaped, and sunset Spritzes are an art form.
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Como’s crafted outsider – a modernist lakeside escape stitched into the land, made for lovers of design, detail and chilled luxury with a bold architectural soul.
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Once the home of devout Sisters, its aged cloistral heritage has been recast following an exacting narrative of preservation, reframing the monastic aesthetics for the modern nomad without corrupting the patina of austere beauty and timeworn touchpoints.
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Wrapped by the Dolomites, this modern eco-resort pairs mountain lifestyle with simple elegance and luxury wellness vibes. An authentically pastoral location accented with the local Ladin culture that feels at once both holistic and fun.
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A smooth design den pearled in white with an interior design that is eminently simple: a clean alpine aestheticism that borrows from Italian design, the Danish principles of hygge and a touch of sweet sophistication in the Japonesque detailing.
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Birch and smoked oak hug the thick walls and capture the house’s DNA from the days as a farmhouse barn. Once a resplendent Renaissance home to the Bishop and favoured lodgings for the merchant traders heading along the Romanesque Via Claudia Augusta.
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Rising up like delicate meringue-whipped peaks, mirroring the Dolomites panorama that surrounds it, the architecture and design of Hotel Milla Montis create an impact.
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A groovy icon from the seventies, Seehotel Ambach, presides over the shores of Lake Caldaro in Italy’s South Tyrol with its perfectly formed, curvaceous marshmallowy walls of laid-back glamour and a canvas of tangerine, vert and oxide red, which drape mid-century furniture pieces.
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Sleep under medieval frescoes, sweep down labyrinthine corridors, lord it up on the lofty ramparts or stroll through the Mediterranean garden, admiring the ivy-clad castle backdrop.
Dating back to the 16th century and once the noble country pad of Marquises and Counts – the Relais Roncolo 1888 is a boutique hotel set within 130-hectares of the Venturini Baldini viticultural estate.
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A design refuge for those that like their head in the clouds but feet firmly placed in architectural modernism, set at 1850 metres, the hotel is lofty enough to be able to ski straight out of its door, as well as hiking in summer.
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History, design, calmed wellness and an interior of modern heritage make this hotel-apartment refuge close to Merano the perfect pitstop for some downtime and closeness to nature.
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Get the insider news and lowdown on what we've been up to, where we've been, and who we've met along the way. Be the first to discover new places and get the scoop on our favourites.