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Olivia Greenway, travel journalist and copywriter

Florence for lovers – past and present

December 1, 2010
By olivia

“How do I love thee?” wrote Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Let me count the ways.” Hopefully, the answer is enough to take your loved one to Florence for a romantic getaway.

 

The UK is a miserable place in winter and a trip to Paris doesn’t quite cut the mustard either, as the weather is so similar. It’s time to go to down south to Florence.

 

The poets Robert and Elizabeth Browning scandalised Victorian Society by running away here. The piece de resistance of this plan is to stay in the very apartment that our Victorian lovers lived in all those years ago. What could be more romantic? The Casa Guidi is now owned by the Landmark Trust and they have kept the bedroom and salon very much as it would have been. It’s impossible not to think of love lying on the large antique four-poster tester bed, replete with crisp white linen. The salon (or lounge) is where they received their many visitors and leading off here are the fretwork balconies where Pen, their son, kept his rabbits. There is a well-equipped kitchen and the apartment sleeps six.

 

Florence is wonderful to visit out of season – the long queues, oppressive heat and crowds of tourists spoil it for many visitors in spring and summer. The city is compact so you can get to see much of it in a weekend and the temperature is always several degrees warmer than in the UK. Wander through the Pitti gardens opposite and climb to a beautiful view of the city, visit the local trattoria and eat with the locals, peer at the works of art in the Uffizi and walk over the Ponte Vecchio, minus the hordes.

 

If you are not Browninged out, on your return to the UK, do go and visit Robert and Elizabeth in the National Portrait gallery.

 

Useful links
Landmark Trust

 

Categories : Europe, Hotel Reviews, Italy, Reviews, Travel
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Trips 2018/2019

2019

January: Zanzibar

March: Cape Town & Pretoria

May: Slovenia

October: South Africa (tbc)

November: Kenya (tbc)

 

Trips 2018

March:  New York, including Frick Gallery

May:  Vietnam including Halong Bay

June:  Giverny and Monet’s garden

June:  Majorca

December: Hyderabad and Chandigarh, India

Trips 2017

January: Johannesburg, Pretoria, Swaziland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe
February: Bangalore
April: Lake District
May: Malaga
September: Mexico, Cancun
November: Delhi, Agra, Shimla
December: Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Venice

Trips 2016 (not clickable)

January: Oxford, Tenerife
February: Hampshire
March: Manchester
April: Sicily, Germany
October: Bangalore, New Delhi
November: Bangalore, New Delhi
December: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

List of trips 2015 (not clickable)

January: European ski resorts; Milan
February: Germany, Austria, Switzerland
March: Istanbul, Jersey, Vienna, Prague, Budapest
April: Road trip Ireland
May: Road trip France, Germany, Benelux and Copenhagen
June: UK luxury hotels
December: Cannes

List of trips 2014 (not clickable)

January Weimar, Vienna
February - Berlin, London
April - Chicago, Toronto, Montreal
May/June - Driving trip, Spain
July – Majorca
July - Paris
August - Southern UK
September – Northern Italy including Venice
October - South of France
October/November - Germany, Austria and Switzerland
December - Cape Town, Durban, driving along Garden Route South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda

List of trips 2013 (not clickable)

  • January - Tenerife
  • March - Istanbul
  • April - Italy luxury hotels - mid and southern Italy including Sicily
  • June - Las Vegas
  • June - Massive west coast road trip - Vancouver, BC
  • June - Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Napa Valley, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, San Diego
  • September - Washington DC, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia
  • September - Carolinas, Georgia, northern Florida (Talahassee area)
  • September - New Orleans, Orlando, Miami; Vancouver
  • October - Puglia, Italy and Milan

List of trips 2012

  • January - Hawaii, USA
  • February - France - Le Touquet, Lens, Lille
  • March - Nelamangala, India
  • July - Milan, Italy
  • August - Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • August - Iguazu Falls, Brazil
  • August - Montevideo, Uruguay
  • September - Delhi, India
  • November - Dubai, UAE

List of trips 2011

  • January - Madeira, Portugal
  • February - Bangalore, India
  • April - British Virgin Islands, Caribbean
  • May - Sicily, Italy
  • May - San Francisco, USA
  • June - Bangalore and New Delhi, India
  • July - Prague, Czech Republic
  • July - Munich, Germany
  • July - Washington DC, USA
  • August - Lake District, UK
  • September - La Grande-Motte, France
  • Annapolis, USA
  • October - Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • December - Helsinki, Finland
  • December - St Petersburg, Russia

List of trips 2010

  • February - India - Kerala & Chennai
  • March - Manchester & the North West
  • March - Austria
  • April - Czech Republic
  • May - Lake District
  • June - Cologne
  • July - India - Bangalore and Delhi
  • August - Eastern Cape & KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
  • September - Grasse, south of France
  • September - Wick, Scotland
  • October - Utah, USA
  • December - Montreal, Canada
  • December - Madeira, Portugal
Olivia Greenway, travel journalist and copywriter
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