“And we walked ! How we enjoyed walking ! “

When I asked my mother last night, as we twirled the pasta together, what Rome was like during her childhood in the two decades before the War, she said immediately : “The big difference was the absence of cars. There were lots of horses and carriages. And we walked ! How we enjoyed walking ! ”

When I look back at photos of my Roman childhood in the 1960s and 1970s, the absence of cars is still marked.  I remember playing in piazze and streets — kicking soccer balls, chasing pigeons — in places where double parked vehicles, motorbikes and cars have simply taken over.

Because Insider’s Italy memories stretch back so far that we remember an Italy where the car was not queen, we feel all the more strongly about avoiding its use while you are traveling in Italy — and in cities most specifically.  The urban hotels we select for you are — without exception — all in the heart of the city center such that everything, or close to everything, can be seen on foot.  We want you to savor the colors, the feeling, the fragrances, the sounds and spirit of a city starting from your hotel’s door.

Occasionally clients tell me that they have already booked in a major city at a Marriott or a Hilton or a Weston.  While these hotels were in their day quite grand, every single one of them is well removed from the old city center that you will want to enjoy – and you will be experiencing and contributing to (and wasting precious time in the process) urban traffic because you will be taking taxis regularly, for long rides, throughout your stay.

Would you like to discuss your own Italy accommodations : superbly located, mostly owner-managed, smaller hotels of charm and very great comfort in cities up and down the Italian peninsula ?  Begin with our no obligation travel planning survey. We will then be most delighted to review ideas, and an itinerary.

My mother’s words ring in my ears: “And we walked !  How we enjoyed walking ! ”

With our help, this theme will be central in your next Italian trip.