This year spend your Christmas in Tuscany. You’ll find many events, concerts, initiatives for adults and children, Christmas markets and special festivals in all the cities and villages of the region.

Multicoloured, decorated, enlightened cities. Thousands lights warming city streets, shops windows and children hearts. Shopping, gifts, cards to Santa, Christmas songs and huge Christmas trees located in the largest squares of the cities, such as in Piazza della Repubblica in Florence.

As usual, Florence will welcome you with many amazing Christmas events and traditional handicraft markets. Don’t miss the fabulous Weihnachtsmarkt, the German Christmas market,

If in this period you’re in Milan or you’re planning to spend your Christmas holidays in the capital of fashion and shopping addicts, then now you have three reasons more.

Why? First: Fiera Oh Bej Oh Bej, a typical Milan festival with hundreds of stalls; second: Artigianato in Fiera (Handicrafts and handmade products from all over the world), and third, Fiera del Libro Usato, a market with hundreds stalls selling second-hand books.

Milan is going to celebrate its famous and most loved Fiera degli Oh Bej Oh Bej from 7th to 10th December. A thousand stalls offering

Are you ready for spending a special Christmas in Italy?

If you’re in the neighbourhood of Turin (Northern Region of Piedmont), you will have the opportunity to visit the yearly Christmas Market, which this year will be held in Piazza Borgo Dora from 2nd to 23rd December 2011.

So, come on! Let’s go shopping for this Christmas! Find your Christmas gifts in this striking local market taking place in the “Cortile del Maglio” and Piazza Borgo Dora.

Over 140 exhibitors coming from all Italian regions and abroad,

St Mary of Health Day is celebrated every year on 21st November, in honor of Madonna of Health, to which the Basilica placed on Canal Grande is dedicated. It is a catholic event celebrated by Venetians and consists in a votive pilgrimage to the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute (Basilica of St Mary of Health), which was built in late 17th century for celebrating the end of a terrible period of pestilence.

In 1630 Venice experienced an unusually devastating outbreak of plague. As a votive offering for the city’s

Once again, one of the most beautiful cities in the world gets ready for 28th edition of its marathon, which will take place on 27th November with an itinerary of 42,195 km.

In years, such a great Florence event has become more and more important and popular in Italy and the world, so much that it became the 2nd greatest marathon in Italy and last year it reached a new record of registered participants: 10,200 runners coming from 62 different countries.

Florence Marathon is one of the main road events in Tuscany and one of the first 20 marathons in the world for participants and quality.

The Firenze Marathon Expo comes back this year also: an important benchmark for athletes, audience and firms, where the competition packs and the numbers for taking part in the marathon will be assigned. Here it will be also possible to taste delicious Tuscan products and find vouchers of many agreed restaurants offering a special price, as well as many other activities.

Last but not least, the new itinerary of this edition! This year the start won’t take place in Piazzale Michelangelo as in last editions, but in Lungarno Pecori Giraldi, for making the marathon even more technique and exciting. This modification will give benefits to the athletes, by avoiding the height difference and creating a marathon taking place in plain only.

After the start, the athletes will go toward the beautiful green Cascine park, before crossing the historical centre and going towards the arrival in Santa Croce Square. Start and arrival will be very close, near to the most important monuments and artworks of Florence.

After the marathon, there will be as usual the “Marathon Party”, a party open to all the athletes and their friends. An excellent dinner with Tuscan products and typical Florence dishes, much music, shows and dance.

Children also have the chance to enjoy and run in the city streets! There will be once again the Ginky Family Run: the non-competitive run for the families, 2,5 km long with start and arrival in Piazza Santa Croce. The itinerary will be the following: via Magliabecchi, Corso dei Tintori, via dei Neri, via della Ninna, Piazza Signoria, via Vacchereccia, via Por Santa Maria, Lungarno degli Archibugieri, Piazza del Pesce, Lungarno de’ Medici, Piazza dei Giudici, Lungarno Diaz, Lungarno alle Grazie, Piazza Cavalleggeri, and finally come back in Piazza Santa Croce.

For having more detailed information about Florence, click on this online travel guide to Florence.

Halloween night is coming!

Get ready for the most frightful night in the year in the best way. Many Italian cities are planning to give parties and masked balls for 31st October to remind macabre atmospheres of ghosts wandering on earth.

This typically American party has become popular in Italy in the last years, with a bigger success every year. Don’t lose the chance to spend this night at best. There are lots of opportunities to spend a mysterious and frightful night both for adults and children, let’s see some!

Milan gets ready for the “witches’ night”

From 28th October to 1st November 2011, the Lucca Comics & Games 2011 will be held in the Tuscan city of Lucca, the international fair of comics.

This year the edition will welcome guests like David Llyoid, Manuele Fior, Davide Reviati and the Japanese Jiro Taniguchi.

Scott Farrar wil be the special guest of this edition, one of the greatest artist and special effects maker (in his career he took part in 40 Holliwood films,

Venice is one of the most charming cities in the world, a rare treasure famous for its architectural beauty, romanticism and peculiarities, such as living with high water, a phenomenon that is kept under control also by the Venice Marathon event staff.

The 26th edition of Venice Marathon will take place on Sunday 23rd October 2011. This year, probably the 7,000 athletes will be lucky: they will have the chance to cross the wonderful Piazza San Marco.

Start is located in Stra (a small country town about 25 km west of Venice), at the beginning of “Riviera del

From October, 21st to November, 2nd 2011, Genova will host the 9th edition of the Science Festival, this year entitled “150 e oltre” (meaning “150 years and above”) in order to pay homage to the anniversary of Italian unification.

As a matter of fact, the festival’s aim is to celebrate 150 years of national unification by with a wide array of hints, experiences and excellences of the recent past able to project knowledge into the future, into the next 150 years.

Far from just being a mere historical celebration, Genoa Science Festival is seeking

From Friday 9th to Sunday 11th September 2011, the 6th edition of “Con-Vivere”, the festival of philosophy, comes back in Carrara with the main theme “Bianco, rosso e verde” (the colours of Italian flag: “White, Red and Green”). This because the whole event will focus on the Italian Unity, analyzed from every side by many journalists, historians, economists.

This year, the festival will have as usual a rich program: it schedules 14 meetings, 4 concerts, 2 painting exhibitions, besides many book shops and restaurants open and beautiful squares crowded by people.

The Italian band “Elio e le storie tese”