Italy’s Most Romantic Hiking Route Reopens After A Decade

One might describe Andrew Trotter’s passion for Puglia, in southern Italy, as a slow burn. The British-born, Barcelona-based designer first visited the region, which forms the heel of Italy’s geographic boot, about a decade ago. His close friend Carlo Lanzini planned to create a boutique hotel that would cater to the growing number of travelers lured by Puglia’s charming medieval villages, its sun-bleached landscape dotted with ancient olive groves and its nearly 500 miles of coastline, featuring picturesque coves with limestone cliffs and lovely sand beaches.

Here at TPG, we keep you informed about all the changes and developments in the travel industry.

It's an early spring morning in Milan. The cosmopolitan hub of Italy's north is awakening with a shot of espresso. Many are bleary-eyed after a whirlwind week celebrating the Salone del Mobile, the world's largest furniture-and-design fair. Outside Palazzo Serbelloni, I'm standing in a queue that's snaking around the neoclassical palace. If its weathered stucco walls could talk, they'd tell tales of the palazzo's notable inhabitants, including Napoleon Bonaparte and King Vittorio Emanuele II. Yet this crowd of international and local style setters and design aficionados (mostly in smart sneakers, not the suede loafers of yore) isn't searching for history; it wants to see something new. And Milan, which suddenly feels like the most forward-thinking city in Italy—a place of big ideas, investment, and innovation, busily spouting new subway lines, cutting-edge hotels, and infrastructure ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics—is more than ready to oblige.

When I planned my two-week backpacking trip through six European cities across four countries in October 2022, the last thing I expected was to be blown away by my budget bookings. 

Italy will have 24-hour armed guards put in place following the $10,800 repair of a historic landmark that German tourists spray painted this week, the country's culture ministry and Florence's Uffizi Gallery said. 

A family traveling with one-year-old twins said they were only given a KitKat, chips, and a bottle of water while spending the night at a "freezing" airport after their flight was canceled.

Retail tourism was worth US$178.2 billion, equivalent to 6% of the Travel & Tourism sector, and can represent more than 15% in some destinations.

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the U.S. remains the preferred choice for shopping holidaymakers, as revealed at Virtuoso Travel Week, taking place in Las Vegas, from 13 to 18 August.

Japan has been knocked off the top spot for the world’s most powerful passport for the first time in five years.

A Lufthansa pilot drew a penis-shaped flight path in the sky last week after being diverted from Catania airport in Sicily.

Italy has suspended its golden visa programme for Russian and Belarusian citizens, the country’s Business Ministry has announced on its website.

UNESCO has recommended that Venice and its lagoon be added to its list of World Heritage in Danger.