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Weekly roundup
Ever wish Tuscany still had a corner that felt a little undiscovered?
Along the Maremma coast, the landscape opens into dunes, wild vegetation, and ancient traces, making the whole stretch feel raw, airy, and quietly beautiful.
Take a moment to see why this coast feels like the version of Italy people are always hoping to find.
Just as travelers look for places that feel a little more intentional, brands are being pushed to think more carefully about how they show up too. Today’s sponsor is a good example of what that looks like when creative and targeting work together in a crowded market.
How Jennifer Aniston’s LolaVie brand grew sales 40% with CTV ads
The DTC beauty category is crowded. To break through, Jennifer Aniston’s brand LolaVie, worked with Roku Ads Manager to easily set up, test, and optimize CTV ad creatives. The campaign helped drive a big lift in sales and customer growth, helping LolaVie break through in the crowded beauty category.
Hidden Italy
The Maremma Coast Still Feels Secret 🌊
Less famous than Tuscany’s usual headline names, but far more quietly transporting: the stretch of coast around Ansedonia and La Torba feels wild, open, and wonderfully underdone. The article begins with a Hypermaremma installation, but the real draw is the setting itself.
A softer side of Tuscany. Dunes, spontaneous vegetation, and traces of archaeology give the landscape a rougher, more atmospheric kind of beauty.
Still blissfully underexplained. There is no oversized reputation doing the work for it, which makes the place feel more personal the moment it comes into view.
Just when Tuscany starts to feel too familiar, this is the kind of coast that resets it. It feels quieter, less handled, and much closer to the kind of discovery people hope Italy still offers.
Beyond the hotspots
Naples’ Romantic Garden Behind the Palace Walls 🌿
A quieter corner inside a major stop: the Royal Palace of Naples is one of the city’s best-known landmarks, but the reopening of its Romantic Garden adds a softer, more tucked-away reason to linger.
Its appeal is more than botanical: the restored garden brings back a nineteenth-century layout through renewed plantings, architectural details, and a stronger relationship between the landscape and the palace around it.
What gives this reopening its pull is the access: after a long restoration, the garden is reopening for daily visits, which makes it feel less like a passing detail and more like one of Naples’ newly returned pleasures.
Beyond the grand rooms and formal history of the Royal Palace, this is the kind of detail that changes how a famous place feels. It gives Naples one more reason to slow down and look beyond the obvious.
City spotlight
Piacenza Gets a Beautiful Reason to Revisit 🎨
Venice is never short on attention, which is exactly why city updates like this matter. With the 2026 day-tripper entry fee and registration system back in effect on selected dates, the city suddenly feels like a place visitors need to plan a little more carefully, not just admire from afar.
A practical update in a city everyone visits: Venice is again charging day visitors on designated days in April, May, June, and July 2026, with the number of active dates expanded compared with last year.
There is real impact behind the headline: the rules do not just add a fee, they change how a short visit works, especially for travelers coming in for the day rather than staying overnight.
What puts Venice in the spotlight is its relevance right now: this is the kind of city update tourists actually need before they arrive, because it turns a familiar stop into one that now asks for more timing, more planning, and a little more intention.
Product spotlight
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Italy Dream Guide gives you a done-for-you Italy travel map that clearly shows where to go and how to connect the stops, so you can plan faster and travel smarter.
Do This, Not That
Verona Romance Beyond The Balcony 💌
Verona gets famous for one balcony, but the real charm is how effortlessly the whole city leans romantic. Between the river views, soft pink buildings, and lively piazzas, it feels like a place made for slow afternoons and even slower dinners.
Do this: Start in Piazza delle Erbe, wander toward the Adige River, then head up to Castel San Pietro around sunset for one of the best views in the city. After that, settle into a cozy wine bar or trattoria and let the evening unfold at a slower pace.
Not that: Do not treat Verona like a quick stop for Juliet’s House and one photo. If you rush through the obvious landmark and leave, you miss the elegant, romantic atmosphere that makes people fall for the city.
Itinerary of the week
Three Days in Matera 🏺
Day 1: Settle into the Sassi by wandering the stone lanes and lookout points, then visit a thoughtfully restored cave home museum to understand how people once lived here. For a local-feeling moment, grab a warm slice of Matera bread from a neighborhood bakery and watch the light shift over the ravine at sunset.
Day 2: Explore a handful of rock churches in and around the Sassi, choosing just a couple and booking ahead where required to keep the pace easy. In the late afternoon, join a small cooking or bread-focused experience for a hands-on taste of Basilicata, then linger over a slow dinner in a tucked-away grotto-style spot.
Day 3: Cross to the Parco della Murgia Materana for a short, scenic walk to panoramic viewpoints back toward Matera, keeping it light and unhurried with water and good shoes. Return to town for a simple final loop through the quieter backstreets, ending with an easy aperitivo where locals gather before dinner.
What to expect: Matera is compact but steep, with lots of stairs and uneven stone underfoot, so plan for slow, satisfying wandering. The magic is in the light and the views, especially early and late in the day. Reserve popular cave sites ahead, and leave breathing room for spontaneous stops in tiny churches and hidden terraces.
Italian Dish of the Week
Ossobuco alla Milanese (Milan)
What It Is: A classic dish from Milan made with veal shank, slowly braised with wine, broth, and vegetables until the meat becomes incredibly tender. It is often served with Risotto alla Milanese, which makes it even more traditional.
Why You Should Try It: This is the kind of dish that shows the comforting, elegant side of northern Italian cooking. The meat is soft, flavorful, and rich without feeling too heavy, and the marrow in the center of the bone gives it something extra that most tourists do not get to try back home.
What Makes It Special: What makes ossobuco special is the slow cooking and the balance of flavors. The sauce becomes deep and savory as it cooks, and it is often finished with gremolata, a mix of lemon zest, garlic, and parsley, which adds freshness and cuts through the richness beautifully.
Get involved
📊 Take this edition’s poll
Would you rather anchor a trip on a secret-feeling coast or a stone-city itinerary? 🧭
Why it matters
What ties this edition together is the idea that Italy still has room to surprise you.
Not through the loudest names, but through quieter landscapes, softer details, and places that ask you to linger a little longer.
That is often where the most memorable version of a trip begins.
Alla prossima,
Francesca Vitali
Editor-in-Chief
Italy Dream Life
PS: Love Italy as much as we do? Follow us on Instagram @ItalyDreamLife for daily inspiration, hidden spots, and real moments from il bel paese. Because Italy isn’t just a destination—it’s a lifestyle. 🇮🇹✨
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