Michelle Damiani
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Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Books and Movies
    • Food and Drink
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/
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Michelle Damiani

writing with Italy at heart

Travel in Italy

Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Books and Movies
    • Food and Drink
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/

From alpine lakes to sun-drenched coastlines, this is where you’ll find stories from my travels across Italy—the hidden corners, the unexpected delights, the journeys that stay with you. Want new wanderlust in your inbox once a month? Sign up for The Grapevine.


October 09, 2025

Agriturismo Explained: Italy’s Best-Kept Travel Secret

October 09, 2025/ Michelle Damiani
Agriturismo Explained: Italy’s Best-Kept Travel Secret

An agriturismo is a farm stay, Italian Style, and the best way to slow down and savor Italy.

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October 09, 2025/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
italy, travel, dolomiti
Italy, agriturismo, dolomiti, travel
December 05, 2024

Travel & Writing in Liguria with Ciao Andiamo

December 05, 2024/ Michelle Damiani
Travel & Writing in Liguria with Ciao Andiamo

I had no idea how much teaching writing in Italy would deepen my love of both writing and Italy.

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December 05, 2024/ Michelle Damiani/ 1 Comment
liguria, italy, blog, Piedmont, travel
travel, blog, Piemonte, PIedmont
July 31, 2018

Your First Family Trip to Italy

July 31, 2018/ Michelle Damiani
Your First Family Trip to Italy

Planning your first family trip to Italy can be daunting. From getting passports to using ATM’s to planning an itinerary to asking for a highchair, I’ve got you covered.

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July 31, 2018/ Michelle Damiani/ 2 Comments
travel, blog, children, italy
travel, children, parenting, Italy
July 31, 2018

Trieste? Where's That?

July 31, 2018/ Eyrnn Laurie
Trieste? Where's That?

Part of the Local Guide Series — Discover a jewel in Italy’s northern crown with writer Erynn Laurie.

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July 31, 2018/ Eyrnn Laurie/ Comment
travel, italy
Italy, travel, Trieste, Local Guide, food, Friuli Venezia Giulia
April 05, 2018

10 Reasons to Visit Italy in the Off Season

April 05, 2018/ Michelle Damiani
10 Reasons to Visit Italy in the Off Season

I've noticed that travelers often avoid Italy in the off-season, and I'd like to put in a plug for visiting Italy when it's cold and grey. On purpose, even.

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April 05, 2018/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
travel
travel, Italy
September 02, 2016

Tuscany

September 02, 2016/ Michelle Damiani
Tuscany

Where to get bistecca and notes about Lucca.

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September 02, 2016/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
travel, italy
travel, Italy
October 29, 2015

To the Adriatic

October 29, 2015/ Michelle Damiani
To the Adriatic

During our summer trip to Italy we realized that Le Marche is like Umbria’s pool. Or at least Spellani’s pool. Almost everyone we talked to had just been to Le Marche, went when we were there, or was planning a trip. Most of those we talked to went to Numana, and so, like true Spellani, that’s where we set our sights.

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October 29, 2015/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
travel, blog
day-trip, Le Marche, food, travel
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Books and Movies
    • Food and Drink
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/

Michelle Damiani

Website for Michelle Damiani, author of Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center, the funny and heartfelt memoir of an American family living in Spello, as well as Santa Lucia, a page-turner set on the Umbria border. 

Rumors. Romance. And more than a little espresso.

Get Santa Lucia, a novel set in Italy, FREE by signing up for my monthly newsletter, The Grapevine. Recipes, travel tips, and free wanderlust stories delivered right to your inbox.

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Flashback to gathering wild asparagus outside Spello 🌸 one of those flavors I miss!
Anyone else more than a little in love with Bologna? The city’s unofficial motto is “the red, the fat, and the learned”… what is your favorite aspect of Bologna?
Happy birthday to Rome! I love you for your old bits and your new bits. You make aging an inspiring thing.
What nobody tells you about Japan is even when you’re too early for cherry blossom, there are plum blossoms. Plus, Japanese gardens are glorious with no blossoms at all.
As a person who grooves on food and connection, the Omicho Market Tour and Cooking Class offered by In Kanazawa House was one of the most satisfying and delicious experiences I had in Japan. Our guides Naoko and Kazuko (tagged in stories) introduced
Remember yesterday when I mentioned the Japanese alpine town that taught me how fall in love with sake? That town is Takayama. Known for sake, Edo era architecture, and a kind of beef so excellent that my husband, after an entire meal of steak and su
I wasn’t sure how I’d take to Japanese sake culture considering I, you know, wasn’t a fan of sake.

For those who need a refresher, sake is one of the many ingenious ways the Japanese make use of their most abundant crop—rice.
The most important word in a foreign language…

“Thank you” is polite. “Hello” is excellent.

But to my mind, if you want to connect, learn the word for delicious. 

In Japanese, it’s oishi. 

When I said “o

A trip to Italy is better with language basics! Here’s my recommended course to learn Italian and make your trip fantastico!


Festival participant, speaking about “Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center”

Festival participant, speaking about “Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center”

Featured speaker on panel discussing Romance for “Santa Lucia”

Featured speaker on panel discussing Romance for “Santa Lucia”