Unforgettable hotels and inspirational travel ideas.

The journey along the spectacularly panoramic sea-edge road which hugs the cliffs of Italy's Amalfi Coast is, itself, one of the most memorable moments of any holiday spent on the "Divina Costiera".

Gazing out towards the sea, the towns dotted along the Amalfi Drive rise up from amidst the rocks like a collection of intricate, Neapolitan Nativity scenes. Positano, with its maze of little lanes lined with elegant fashion boutiques; Amalfi, ancient Marine Republic dominated by its magnificent cathedral; Ravello, home to stately cliff-top mansions, romantic gardens, and music festivals of international renown; and Furore, tiny fishing village and famous retreat of the stars of the silver screen, these are just a few of the jewels adorning the Amalfi Coast.

Each and every town and village on the Amalfi Coast is steeped in century upon century of history, littered with the traces left behind by the ancient Greeks and Romans, by the Arabs and Byzantines. These civilizations all profoundly influenced the architecture, culture and popular traditions of this part of Italy, today one of the world's most sought after holiday destinations, and home to any number of luxury hotels and villas. A vacation along the Amalfi Coast might easily take holiday-makers all the way to the Cilento, where nature reigns supreme, and where the warm waters of the Mediterranean sea gently caress the secluded bays and secret beaches of one of the most beautiful stretches of the Italian coastline.

Wild, primitive, seductive, glamorous, sophisticated, always wonderfully and irresistibly sunny: this is Sardinia.

An island where nature is, inevitably, awarded the role of lead protagonist. Starting with the crystal clear sea lapping Sardinia's long sandy beaches, from the Emerald Coast with its luxurious hotels to Villasimius, from Alghero to the La Maddalena, from Asinara to the island of Sant'Antioco. Then there is the bluntly honest and obstinately reserved Sardinia, that of the shepherds and crop farmers of inland Barbagia: the Sardinia home to spectacular natural landscapes which stretch as far as the Gennargentu massif.

Sardinia is an island of truly ancient origin: the island of the Shardana, a bellicose, seafaring people, and of the Nuraghic civilization, whose temples and tombs still litter the landscapes. An island which proudly conserves its Sardo language, along with all of its most authentic popular traditions. The merging of seafaring, agricultural and pastoral traditions has resulted in Sardinia's incredibly varied cuisine and in highly-prized products such as Sardinian ewe's cheese, wafer thin "carasau" bread, powerful red wines, Myrtle liqueurs and the delicious "filu 'e ferru" grappa.