Rome has so much to see and do that the best thing is to tour it at your leisure and sightsee with a view to coming back for a second stint. Above all, take some sturdy footwear with you as it’s best to see the city on foot, strolling along its streets. At each corner you will come across a picture capable of transporting you to some bygone era, or a church beckoning you to enter and discover the treasure hidden inside. Here are some pointers to tackling a three-day getaway in this beautiful city.

First Day – a Walk Through Ancient Rome

The best way to make initial contact with the city is by visiting its ancient sites. We recommend you start by heading forIl Vittoriano,a monument to Victor Emmanuel II, affording some splendid views of the complex making up the ancient Roman city: theCircus Maximus,the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine, the Forum of Augustus and the ever-impressive Trajan’s Column. If you’re up for something a little special, take a stroll through the Roman forum at dusk and you will experience a magical moment. And, if you’re seeking something more secluded, head for the Church of San Bonaventura al Palatino, a backwater of peace.

After so much excitement, the best thing is to make for the district of Trastevere and delight in its culinary offerings and nightlife. To whet your appetite, have a glass of wine at the Ombre Rosse Caffe (Piazza S.Egidio 12,13) before going for a genuine Italian dinner without any frills at Trattoria da Lucia (Vicolo del Mattonato 2).

Second Day – the Vatican, Piazze, Palazzi, and Umpteen Churches

Whether you are religious or not, you can’t leave Rome without having seen St Peter’s Basilica. As much as you may have seen it in pictures or on the television, until you actually set foot in St Peter’s Square, you cannot imagine the sheer scale of this monument. Once inside, everything seems overwhelming, from the dome, designed by Michelangelo, to the incredible marble decoration, Bernini’s baldachin crowning the high altar and the sculptural groups such as Michelangelo’s Pietà and Bernini’s tomb of Urban VIII. “The early bird catches the worm”, so we recommend getting there early to avoid long queues.

Hard by St Peter’s are the Vatican Museums which, among many other art history gems, feature the Sistine Chapel. You are urged to book ahead to avoid long waits. If you’re into art, make sure you extend your visit to include the Stanze di Raffaello, four rooms adorned with frescoes by Raphael which are well worth seeing.

After this double session, both mind and body are going to need a good rest. Time to head for Castel Sant'Angelo, cross the river Tiber and regain your strength in one of the eateries along the trendy Via dei Coronari. We recommend you try the Italian cheese and sausage boards at Fresco Coronari.

Once you’re restored, it’s time to descend on the Piazza Navona where you will come across the original Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, designed by Bernini, and the Chiesa di Sant’Agnese in Agone, by Borromini. Not far from there stands the Pantheon of Agrippa, another must-see piece of Roman architecture. Built from AD 118 to 125, you can’t fail to be moved by its stunning dome. Slip inside and seek out the tomb of Raphael, housed in one of the side chapels. Culminating this itinerary is another of the city’s classics – the Fontana di Trevi.

A good way of rounding off this intense day’s sightseeing is to stroll along the Campo dei Fiori and roam the streets surrounding the Piazza Farnese. Stop off for a break at the Caffè Perù and then cap your itinerary by dining at the Cul de Sac (Piazza di Pasquino, 73).

Third Day – Picnic with the Borghese

The Villa Borghese Gardens make the perfect setting for ending off a getaway to Rome. On your way there, make sure you go along the Via del Babuino and stop off at both the Piazza di Spagna and Piazza dei Popolo. From there, walk up the hill to the Villa Borghese gardens which afford panoramic views of Rome from the highest point in the city. Culminating a tour of this magnificent park, full of statues and leisure areas, is the Galleria Borghese. This museum houses the final jewels of your journey – the frescoes adorning its interior, sculptures by Bernini and a collection of paintings.

Ready to be spellbound by the beauty of the Eternal City? Book your Vueling tickets here.

Text and images by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

If you are just about to land in Bologna, and you wonder what to do in this medieval city in northern Italy, capital of Emilia-Romagna region and home to the oldest university in Europe, you just hit the mark: following we suggest some of the amazing experiences you can have in this lovely land known as La Rossa, due to the red facades of their buildings:

1.-Take a walk around Portico di San Luca, the longest in the world

In Bologna is easy to meet with History in every corner. Take a walk down to its famous porch leading fromPorta Saragozza, crossing Arco del Meloncello, to Sanctuary de la Madonna di San Luca. It is a tradition between locals and pilgrims and you may admire this spectacular renaissance architecture whose length is 3.8 km and 666 arcs. Once at the top of the hill where this iconic and majestic sanctuary stands, you may enjoy from its stunning views to the city and to the Apennines. The most athletic ones can do this tour running or biking along the rails ouside of the porch.

2.- Discover historic center in Bologna

If you go deep into the historic center, you will know the real paradigm for Bolognese life. You should begin by Piazza Maggiore and Piazza Neptune, where there stands many monuments as the Basilica di San Petronio and you will come across different palaces, crossing Piazza San Stefano with its respective church and ending at Piazza di Porta Ravegnana, where you will find Le Due Torri, the iconic towersGarisenda and Asinelli. You can go up this latter for an old city’s panoramic view until five in the afternoon. The best pizzeria in town, Due Torri, is at its feet where it is usual to ask for take-away portions for only 2 euros each and quietly eat at Piazza Verdi, where most people get together while gazing at the Teatro Comunale.

3.- Move to the Bolognese Night’s rhythm

Bologna is a youth-oriented city. Proof of this is the great university atmosphere there and the best way to live it is by going to Via del Pratello or to La Scuderia in Piazza Verdi to get ready with the typical ” aperitivi ” based on some snacks, pizza and spritz before going party.. There are plenty of bars and music pubs on this street where sure the fun begins. In Via Broccaindosso there is a curious medical students association with such a great atmosphere and live concerts . This is a small and bizarre venue you get down by a staircase , from which you can enjoy live gigs while browsing the medical books from their shelves . The most odd combination, the most entertaining it is. Bring your own drinks is allowed. Finally , we should mention one of the best electronic music club in Bologna , disco Link, located on the outskirts of the city.

4.- Give Yourself A Treat

 Via della Independenzia is the center for Bologna’s comerce. Also, you can go to Montagnola‘s market tracking its many stalls because surely you will end up with some wonderful piece. If you prefer more traditional and chic shopping, you’d better go to the city center, where you will find all kinds of boutiques and a wide range of well known brands.

5.- Try the best of its cuisine

 To feel like a true bolognese, enter a “salumerie” or deli and take one mortadella di Bologna or tortellini, region’s typical food . You can not say goodbye to this wonderful city without tasting the wonderful “taggliatelle Ragu-style accompanied by a good wine”. La Trattoria del Rosso is a perfect place for this. To taste local products, Tamburini is a classic, having a shop to purchase a variety of delicatessen. They serve tables of meats and cheeses, oils and local wines. Il Veliero is the ideal restaurant for fish lovers, whose specialty is “risotto ai frutti di mare”. Finally, icecreams at Gelateria Gianni or La Sorbetteria are a must.

Picture by Szs

By Blanca Frontera

Why not take a trip to Bologna? Have a look at our flights here!

Today we recommend one of the most charming routes in Spain. We hiked along it and were captivated. Want to know why? I’m referring to the Camino Natural de la Cordillera Cantábrica, a wilderness trail, steeped in nature, which runs for just over six hundred kilometres, mostly through  Asturias, traversing the Cordillera Cantábrica (Cantabrian Mountain Range) from east to west. We started out at the easternmost point, in the municipality of Peñamellera Baja, near the border of Cantabria. The trail ends in the municipality of Santa Eulalia de Oscos, hard by the Autonomous Community of Galicia. It was a magical trip, a getaway in communion with nature in which we totally switched off from the daily rat race.

The Camino Natural is divided into twenty-seven stages. However, depending on your level of fitness, and the time you have available, some stages can be grouped together in order to complete the route in fewer days. The good thing about this trail is that it never becomes monotonous. You are accompanied by beautiful panoramic views throughout, with a rich diversity of fauna and flora. We were treated to some of the finest examples of scenic splendour Asturias has to offer.

Another inducement on this route is the host of protected nature reserves you encounter on the trail: the Picos de Europa National Park, Nature Reserve Network, Protected Area of the Cuencas Mineras (Mining Basins), Ubiñas-La Mesa Nature Reserve, near the Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña e Ibias Nature Park, in addition to the Oscos-Eo Biosphere Reserve and the natural enclaves of Sierra del Cuera, Pico Caldoveiro and Sierras de Carondio y Valledor. Can’t do much better than that, can you?

However, nature is not the only great provider here. There is also the rich heritage of the human imprint. On this route you will come across countless reminders of the local historic and cultural legacy, often in the form of such traditional architecture as the hórreos (granaries raised on pillars), country manors or casonas, hermitages, churches, towers and stately homes. The trail also includes sections designated “historical roads”, notably the Roman Road of La Carisa, the Camín Real de La Mesa and the junction between the pilgrimage routes known as the French Road and the original Road to Santiago, not to mention the presence of Celtic, Roman and medieval archaeological sites.

The Camino Natural de la Cordillera Cantábrica is made up of the following stages:

1. Panes to Alles – 17.85 km; 5.00 hrs.
2. Alles to Carreña – 15.98 km; 4.30 hrs.
3. Carreña to Benia de Onís – 19.02 km; 5.00 hrs.
4. Benia de Onís to Cangas de Onís – 23.58 km; 4.30 hrs.
5. Cangas de Onís to Villamayor – 22.98 km; 7.30 hrs.
6. Villamayor to Espinaredo – 13.40 km; 4.30 hrs.
7. Espinaredo to Fresnedal – 9.26 km; 3.00 hrs.
8. Fresnedal to Los Melendreros – 15.93 km; 5.30 hrs.
9. Los Melendreros to Entralgo – 13.37 km; 4.30 hrs.
10. Entralgo to Bello – 18.51 km; 6.00 hrs.
11. Bello to Santibáñez – 32.54 km; 6.00 hrs.
12. Santibáñez to Campomanes – 26.09 km; 8.30 hrs.
13. Campomanes to Llanuces – 25.96 km; 8.30 hrs.
14. Llanuces to Bárzana – 20.17 km; 5.00 hrs.
15. Bárzana to Villanueva – 18.14 km; 5.00 hrs.
16. Villanueva to Villamayor – 43.67 km; 9.00 hrs.
17. Villamayor to Dolia – 22.65 km; 8.00 hrs.
18. Dolia to Belmonte – 13.99 km; 4.30 hrs.
19. Belmonte to Boinás – 17.25 km; 5.00 hrs.
20. Boinás to Tuña – 24.62 km; 4.00 hrs.
21. Tuña to Onón – 16.68 km; 4.00 hrs.
22. Onón to Corias – 23.77 km; 7.00 hrs.
23. Corias to Besullo – 20.02 km; 6.30 hrs.
24. Besullo to Berducedo – 42.21 km; 7.00 hrs.
25. Berducedo to Grandas – 45.71 km; 6.00 hrs.
26. Grandas to Castro – 13.25 km; 3.00 hrs.
27. Castro to Santa Eulalia de Oscos – 29.43 km; 6.00 hrs.

Top-notch Ecotourism in the North of the Iberian Peninsula

On this trip we discovered that ecotourism is an option which is fast catching on in Spain. Broadly speaking, it is a form of nature trailing which involves respecting the natural environment and promoting sustainability, as well as contributing directly and effectively to developing the area. Resource conservation with a view to safeguarding local fauna and flora is ever-present. Well, then, what better than to put into practice this tourist trend on the ascent by venturing along the Camino Natural de la Cordillera Cantábrica? Sightings of unique species, priceless scenery and unforgettable experiences are guaranteed in this nature paradise located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Now, you wouldn’t want to miss it, would you?

Text by José García

Images by Turismo de Asturias

Picasso’s Corunnan period remains fairly unexplored, even though he himself considered it important to his development. On occasion, he even rated it above his Blue and Rose Periods. It all began in October 1891, when Pablo Ruiz Picasso was nine years old and, together with his sisters Conchita and Lola and his mother María, left his hometown of Málaga and moved to Galicia where his father, José Ruiz Blasco, took up a teaching post at the Provincial School of Fine Arts in A Coruña. The boy from Andalusia attended both the local secondary school and the aforementioned Fine Arts School for three years, embarking on his art studies at the latter.

During his sojourn in A Coruña, the young boy produced over 200 works, now housed in the world’s leading Picasso museums (Paris, Barcelona and Málaga) or in private collections, as is the case of Portrait of Modesto Castilla,which in 2012 was auctioned for 2.6 million euros, the highest price ever fetched by a painting executed by a boy – Picasso was 12 years old at the time.

So, on any trip to A Coruña, be sure to go on the following itinerary which will take you to the most significant landmarks during Picasso’s Corunnan period.

Picasso House Museum
The Ruiz Picasso family lived in Galicia on the second floor at 14 Calle Payo Gómez for five years. The building, its original structure still intact, features typical Galician architecture, including wooden galleries. The family’s living quarters include a re-creation of a 19th-century home, with a few reproductions of Picasso’s Corunnan work and that of his father, in addition to an engraving by the former which is contemporary with Guernica.

Instituto da Guarda
The Instituto Eusebio da Guarda, located in the Plaza de Pontevedra, is the secondary school and art school attended by Picasso. His school grades were very poor, but he excelled in his art exams. It was on the first floor that he received tuition from such artists as his father, in addition to Román Navarro, Isidoro Brocos and Amorós y Botella.

The Plaza de Pontevedra
This square, which at the time was still sand and stone, was where Picasso played at bulls and bullfighters with his friends, including Antonio Pardo Reguera, Constantino Sardina and Jesús Salgado. A drinking fountain used to stand in the square which the maid employed by the Ruiz Picasso family got drinking water from.

The Beaches of Riazor and Orzán
It is said that Picasso discovered the female nude for the first time in Riazor. This occurred while playing near the bathing boxes that used to be on the beach, which also had boats that Pablo drew. As for Orzán, he executed an oil on panel of that beach.

Chapel of San Andrés
The restored, Neo-Romanesque-style Chapel of San Andrés opened to the public in May 1890. Seven sculptures by Brocos, one of Pablo’s tutors at the School of Fine Arts, were put on display in its interior thereafter. A few metres from the chapel stands the Circo de Artesanos where Picasso attended dance classes.

The Calle Real
In February 1895, Picasso held his first exhibition at 20 Calle Real, in what was then a furniture store, which earned him two excellent press reviews. In March he staged his second exhibition in the same street – purportedly at number 54 – where he showed his Man in Cap, now housed in the Musée Picasso, Paris.

San Carlos Garden
In A Coruña, Picasso heard the story of Lady Hester Stanhope, the lover of Sir John Moore, who died in 1809 and was buried in this garden. He liked it so much that he vowed to travel to England to learn more about her. In fact, the first time he visited Paris, in 1900, he actually intended it to be a stopover on his way to London. Later, however, he changed his mind.

Escola de Artes e Superior de Deseño Pablo Picasso
This school, located at 2 Calle Pelamios, was where Picasso pursued his studies after leaving the Fine Arts School. Several of the chalk drawings he executed during the three years he studied in A Coruña are displayed in the school’s corridors, while photocopies of his school report are exhibited in the foyer.

San Amaro Cemetery
This is where Pablo’s younger sister, Conchita, was buried after her death from diphtheria on 10 January 1895. Costales, Brocos, Navarro and Gumersindo Pardo Reguera are also buried in this graveyard.

The Tower of Hercules
Picasso went on long strolls from his home to the Tower of Hercules, a lighthouse which was designated a World Heritage Site in 2009. Pablo did oil paintings of it and also drew it in both his Corunnan notebooks and one of his news sheets. In the latter he called it the “Tower of Candy”.

Text by Turismo A Coruña