01
Lake Como
Suits: A first journey, couples, short stays
The lake asks for no programme. Three nights are enough, because arriving and staying are the same thing here; Milan is an hour away, which takes the strain out of both ends.
Lake Como
Destination
Italy
The country most often planned badly — and the most rewarding when it is right.
Italy
Italy is rarely a question of whether it is worth it, but of where exactly and when. Lake Como, Tuscany, the Amalfi Coast and Venice are not nuances of one another but different journeys: different days, different pace, different houses.
We plan Italy from the house outwards. A good address in the right place replaces three items on an itinerary, and most journeys improve the moment one destination is removed.
Why we recommend it
- Because the houses here have grown: villas, estates and palazzi with a patina that cannot be built.
- Because the distances are short — two hours' flying, an hour's drive, and the day is not over.
- Because May, June, September and October are four dependable windows in which the country is quiet and open at once.
Regions
Which region suits which journey
Four regions we know well, and a note on which suits which kind of journey.
02
Tuscany
Suits: A week, landscape, slow days
Best from one address. The Val d'Orcia for space and quiet, Chianti for company, Florence as two days at the start — not as a base.
Tuscany03
Amalfi Coast
Suits: Sea with character, May and October
Steep, loud at the height of summer, wonderful either side of it. Travelling in July or August, choose a house with its own access to the water.
Amalfi Coast04
Venice
Suits: Two or three nights, art, the start of a journey
Venice works best as an opening: early and late, the city belongs to those who sleep there. Then move on into the landscape.
Venice05
Umbria and the south
Suits: Returning guests, quiet, summer
Umbria for guests who already know Tuscany; Puglia and Sicily for late summer, when the north is full and the south stays warm.
Hotels
Houses we recommend
Houses we recommend in Italy — with the reason each belongs here.
Moltrasio, Comer See
Passalacqua
An eighteenth-century villa restored over years by the family who owns it: frescoes, fabrics and furniture kept rather than referenced. You stay in rooms that were living rooms first.
Why this house
The house we name most often for a first journey to Italy — a villa rather than a hotel, with a view one does not forget.
- Suits
- Couples and small parties who would rather inhabit a house than use a hotel.
- Season
- May and June for the wisteria, or September when the lake settles again.
Canal Grande, Venedig
Aman Venice
A sixteenth-century palazzo on the Grand Canal, twenty-four rooms behind Tiepolo frescoes.
Why this house
Two nights in a palazzo on the Grand Canal change how Venice reads.
- Suits
- Travellers seeing Venice for more than the first time
- Season
- April to June, October to November
Umbrien
Castello di Reschio
A thousand-year-old castle on an estate of some 1,500 hectares, brought back by one family over two decades. Everything inside — lamps, handles, beds — was designed and made on site.
Why this house
For a week without a car and without a plan: Umbria, riding, long evenings, a house that carries the stay.
- Suits
- Travellers drawn to craft, architecture and long days without a schedule.
- Season
- May, June and September to mid-October, when the evening fires begin.
Amalfiküste
Borgo Santandrea
A 1960s house built into the cliff and retold in handmade Vietri tile. One of few addresses on this coast with its own beach and an unhurried terrace.
Why this house
The most dependable address on the Amalfi Coast, because the sea belongs to the house.
- Suits
- Travellers who know the Amalfi Coast and want it this time without the crowds.
- Season
- May, June and all of September. In August the coast road becomes an exercise in patience.
Positano
Il San Pietro di Positano
Family-run since 1970 and still guided by the same idea: terraces set into the rock, bougainvillea over everything, a lift down to the sea. The staff have known returning guests by name for decades.
Why this house
For guests who want Positano without staying in Positano — terraces above the coast, a lift to the water.
- Suits
- Travellers who value continuity — the same room, the same bay, every year.
- Season
- Late April to June, then September and early October.
Porto Ercole, Toskana
Hotel Il Pellicano
The same bay, the same pines, the same attitude since 1965: Mediterranean ease without performance. The house shaped a style it never needed to reinvent.
Why this house
The Tuscan coast, few rooms, long-standing guests who return each year. Best in June.
- Suits
- Families and couples after a summer in the sixties sense — sea, lunch, afternoon.
- Season
- June and September. The house closes for winter.
Related journeys
Journeys that combine naturally with Italy.
- Tuscany by Car
Val d'Orcia, Chianti, Maremma
- Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
London, Paris, the Alps, Venice
Best time to travel
When to go
Italy has no single best season, but several. What matters is what you intend to do.
May and June
Green, long evenings, comfortable temperatures at the lakes and in Tuscany. The coast is still quiet and the water cool.
July and August
Hot and busy. Worthwhile only with a house on the water or at altitude; in these weeks the cities shrink to their museums.
September and October
Our preferred window: warm sea, harvest in Tuscany, soft light. From late October many country houses close.
Our Recommendations
If we could only name a few places
How many places in one Italian journey?
Two, rarely three. Each move costs half a day and an evening spent settling in again. Ten nights carry two addresses well: a city and a landscape, or a landscape and the sea. If you want three, allow at least four nights in each.
Noted by Pure Voyage
Common questions
What guests ask us about this
- When is the best time to travel to Italy?
- May, June, September and early October. The sea is warm enough, the towns remain liveable, and houses run with full teams. July and August work better on Lake Como and in the mountains than on the Amalfi Coast.
- How many places should you combine in two weeks?
- Two, at most three. One city, one landscape, one stretch of coast is a good order. Any more and the trip becomes transfers rather than Italy.
- Is a hire car worth it?
- In Tuscany, Umbria and Puglia, yes — the pleasure lies between the places. On Lake Como and the Amalfi Coast we advise against it and work with drivers and boats.
Continue through Pure Voyage
Where to go from here
Not a catalogue, but a next step: the houses, routes, countries and essays we would mention at this point in a conversation.
Hotels
Addresses that belong beside this page.
Journeys
Routes that open up this region.
Recommendations
What we suggest for this occasion.
Journal
Further reading before you decide.
An Invitation
Once a month: hotels, new openings and travel ideas
One hotel that convinced us, with our advice on suite and season. The openings that actually matter. And a destination at its best right now. No offers, no advertising.