Italy is for sure one of the most loved countries by tourists and travellers: this beautiful peninsula raised by ancient gods in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea is one of the most diverse countries ever, with breathtaking landscapes ranging from high snowy mountains and plateaus to hot beaches and beaches. Every year hundreds of thousands of visitors come from every corner of the planet to enjoy Italy’s art cities, cultural attractions and attractive lifestyle. With friends or family (or, increasingly, travelling solo) staying in holiday houses, airbnbs, hotels, camping with their own RVs, on a budget or squandering money, for the first or the hundredth time, There’s a visit to Italy for everyone.
The truth about holiday houses in Italy
Holiday houses in Italy such as vacation rental properties listed on sites such Airbnb and Booking are the number one enemy of hotelliers: the digital platforms have allowed virtually anyone owning, or in some cases sub-renting, a space to put it up for short term hosting of guest and establish a second source of income. Traditional hotel industry players, losing profits from this new and amateurish competitors complain about murky practices, tax elusion and overly low prices which ruin their margins. As a matter of fact Renting an apartment for a short term when visiting Italy, and any other country for that matter, is a very reasonable choice for travellers looking for the intimacy of a fully equipped and often uniquely decorated place to stay, as well as some privacy for them and their families.
Why you should rent a holiday house when visiting Italy
The reason is simple: a holiday house booked online have something hotel rooms will never offer: a fully equipped kitchen. This allows you to cook your own food at home, saving money on expensive tourist traps and restaurants, which is particularly interesting in a food country such as Italy. Italy is renowned for some of the most diverse and interesting food scene in the world: Italian restaurants are present in every city of the world and anyone has tried the typical dishes of this amazing country such as lasagna, pizza, tiramisu’ and so on.
As it is easy to imagine, Italians have a very developed taste in regards to food: the average Italian eats a two meal course twice a day, carefully cooked with the best ingredients and will not settle for less than perfect when sitting for lunch or dinner. Getting a cook book or some online recipes and cooking Italian food for your companies in your holiday house in Italy, now, that’s an interesting.
Italian supermarket chains stock high quality consumer packaged goods that cater to the tase of the Italian consumers and are often not commercialised abroad: from pasta to coffee, cold cuts, cheeses, baked goods and so one, in national retail chains such ad Coop and Conad you can go grocery shopping for the true Italian experience.
Which groceries to buy in Italy
In your holiday house you can cook a real Italian home made meal together with your friends while have a good glass of wine or listening to music, conviviality or being together is the cornerstone of Italian eating culture and only having your own kitchen will deliver on that. The products that you should have on your radar while grocery shopping in Italian supermarket are many and you can let yourself be inspired by what you find on the shelves and recommended by locals, but some recommendations would be to have breakfast with the biscuits from brand “Mulino Bianco”, from popular pasta brand Barilla but not distributed outside of Italy. A nice happy hour with breadsticks (I recommend Bibanesi), cold cuts such as prosciutto cotton “Rovagnati, or prosciutto crudo “San Daniele”, and of course wine. In regards of pasta, Italians consider the one from De Cecco to be the best, but Granoro and Voiello are on the same level of quality.
So now consider booking an apartment instead of a hotel room for your next travel to Italy and enjoy your heavenly evenings in the patio, tasting your home made cannelloni with ricotta and spinach in good company as well as good music, laughter and the best this amazing country has to offer.