Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books
  • Blog
  • Spello Visiting Umbria Travel in Italy Around the World
  • Books and Movies Food and Drink Gabe's Blog Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching
  • About
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/
P1150417.jpg
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.

Read More
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.

Read More
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.

Read More
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.

Read More
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.

Read More
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.

Read More
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.

Read More
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.

get book!


Follow me on Instagram!

While I was soaking in hot springs and reflecting in temples and wandering the countryside, my husband, daughter, son and son’s girlfriend were skiing! Japan, you are full of wonders.
Much like yesterday’s snow monkeys I am ALL IN on Japanese hot springs! We stayed three days in Shibu Onsen where overnighting in a hotel gets you a key that opens 9 different onsen. Fun, and especially fun to traipse all over town in a yukata
Imagine walking through a frost-laced forest, turning at every rustle in the branches…was that one? Yes, you can spot the furry head resting against a tree down the hill. Then you see another. And another. A mamma carrying her baby, friends cu
An unexpected beauty of Japan? All these tucked away moments to pause and reflect and connect with something deeper.
Funny that as many posts I see about Japan, few mention the jaw-dropping, staggering beauty of the countryside. If you want views for days, Nagano prefecture is worth considering. Plus, a guy from New Zealand I ran into at the convenience store told
Arrived at Shibu Onsen, a hot springs town where you can buy eggs cooked in the hot springs water. More importantly, a stay gets you a key to the nine public bathhouses. You can buy a towel for a few dollars that you stamp at each of the nine bathhou
Scenes from a morning in Nagano 🇯🇵
I’ve already started eating all the things 😂🇯🇵😂 Picked up this bento box at the train station for less than $7 USD and happily ate on the train to… well, you’ll see tomorrow!
Tokyo bound 🇯🇵
Photos from our 2016 family trip to Asia. I have a feeling next week’s photos will be quite different. Check stories for a link to my post about how to survive a long haul flight. I know I’ll be revisiting those tips!

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”