# Italy Travel Guide: Stories & Insider Notes | Doorways

> Insider guides to Italy from 30 years of villa travel, where to eat, day trips, family ideas, wellness, romance and the villas behind famous films.

Source: https://villavacations.com/travel-guide/

From the Notebook

# The Doorways
*Italy travel guide*

Stories from the road. Where to stay, what to eat, when to go, and which sleepy hill town deserves more than a photograph. Written by us, lived by us, kept honest for you.

![Villa Montosca — view 01](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/villa-montosca-01-20240703_120420_2822jpg-1024x682.jpg)

[Trip Inspiration](https://villavacations.com/category/trip-inspiration/)

October 23, 2026

## [Large Villas in Chianti and Siena for 16 or More Guests](https://villavacations.com/travel-guide/large-villas-chianti-siena-16-guests/)

Estates with 8 to 20 bedrooms in the wine country between Florence and Siena, each one personally inspected by Doorways.

[Andiamo →](https://villavacations.com/travel-guide/large-villas-chianti-siena-16-guests/)

More Stories

![Villa Hortus — view 01](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/villa-hortus-01-20191014_125947jpg-1024x682.jpg)

For Families

October 23, 2026

### Tuscany Villas for Grandparents: Ground-Floor Bedrooms and Fewer Stairs

Villas and apartments in Tuscany with ground-floor en-suite bedrooms or an elevator, chosen by Doorways for family trips with older travelers.

![Villa Maria Serena, Lake Como — photo 01](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/villa-maria-serena-01-1024x682.jpg)

Romance

October 23, 2026

### Lake Como Villas for a 50th Birthday or a Small Wedding

Lakefront villas with frescoed salons, private docks and room for 12 to 28, chosen by Doorways for birthdays and intimate weddings.

![Villa Laura, Cortona — estate establishing](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/laura-02-estate-establishing-1024x683.jpg)

Trip Inspiration

October 23, 2026

### The Best Villas in Italy for Large Groups (2027)

Private estates for 16 to 101 guests, every one personally inspected, from Lucca and Chianti to Lake Como, the Amalfi Coast and Sicily.

![Cala Goloritzé and its limestone spire on the Gulf of Orosei, Sardinia](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/cala-goloritze-gulf-of-orosei-sardinia-768x1024.jpg)

Trip Inspiration

September 26, 2026

### Sardinia, Unspoiled

Experience authentic Italy at its most natural: soaring limestone cliffs, water so clear it seems to glow, and a way of life that has barely changed in generations. Now just one nonstop flight from New York.

![Fresh-picked Italian olives on a green harvest net under the olive tree branches](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/italian-olive-harvest-683x1024.jpg)

Food & Wine

June 6, 2026

### The Olive Harvest in Italy: Three Weeks That Become a Year of Better Cooking

Late October, early November. The week of the year when every farm in Tuscany and Umbria is briefly the most important place in Italy.

![kids-lucca-make-pizza.jpg](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/best-activities-for-kids-in-lucca-body-02-1024x652.webp)

Food & Wine For Families

June 6, 2026

### Six Italian Cooking Classes That Work for Families (and the Three Things That Make Them Memorable)

Where to take children to roll pasta with a nonna who actually likes children — and where to take them to roll it with a chef who actually likes adults.

![Villa Nuea — Garden with palm tree, sunbeds, and Tyrrhenian Sea view](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/villa-nuea/villa-nuea-35-1024x682.jpg)

Romance

June 6, 2026

### The Three Honeymoons We Keep Designing in Italy (and How to Pick Yours)

Coastal, countryside, or a bit of both — three itineraries that have held up over thirty years of bookings.

Romance

June 6, 2026

### Ten Italian Places Worth Proposing In (and What Makes Each One Work)

Where, when, and how.

[View all 45 stories →](https://villavacations.com/travel-guide/?show=all)

Travel Advisor

## Reading is lovely. *Going* is better.

Tell us which of these places caught your eye and we’ll hand-pick three villas that put you right in the middle of it, with the dinner reservation, the boat, and the back-road directions sorted before you land.

[Plan My Trip](https://villavacations.com/contact-us/)

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Doorways Villa Vacations, Italian villa specialists since 1994. Book through a travel advisor: https://villavacations.com/contact-us/