Tourism

There are 15+ UNESCO World Heritage sites within a day-trip from the house; some require at least one night away.

San Daniele, a good 1/2 hour away, is perched on a hilltop. It has a magnificent center, and it is the birthplace of the world famous San Daniele ham (1). Taste it in the city, or taste it in our house on the terrace with a glass of Friuli or Veneto white or red wine, and life has meaning.

Cividale, ≈ 1 hour from the house, is beautifully situated around a canyon formed by river Natisone. The city has a wonderful medieval center and has great historic interest as the capital from 568 A.D. in the Lombard kingdom. The Lombards, or Longobards, was a Germanic people who originally came from south Denmark (scadanan) (2).

Palmanova, South of Udine and ≈ 1 hour from the house is also fascinating. The city is surrounded by fortified moats shaped as a 9-pointed star (3). Enjoy the 6-edged central Piazza Grande from one of the cafés.

Unique and always wonderful (and expensive) Venice can be reached in ≈ 2.5 hours (4). The same applies throughout the eastern part of North Italy with highlights such as Viscenza (5) adorned by Palladio's buildings (6), Padova with Giotto's famous Capella degli Scrovegni (7) and the world's first botanical garden (8), the charming towns of Treviso (9), Udine (10) and the old Austro-Hungarian port city of Trieste (11) with the beautiful coastal road, plus the cozy Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia (12).

Verona with the splendid arena (13) and Salzburg (14) can be reached from the house in ≈ 3 hours through beautiful mountain scenery.

Istria, a peninsula belonging to Slovenia and Croatia, may be reached in 2-3 hours. Here, you'll find beautiful beaches. Poreč in the Croatian part of the peninsula is in a gorgeous setting by the sea and has one of the finest early Byzantine churches with impressive mosaics (15).

If by 'culture' you understand lying in a 'cancergrill' on a sandy beach, the northern Adriatic sea is only ≈ 1-1.5 hours away, fx the Grado-area (16), and the picturesque towns North of Venice, fx Caorle (17). There are of course large tourist areas with bathing possibilities on the Lignano/Bibione beaches ≈ 1.5 hours from the house (18). The same, but less touristy, is the Istrian peninsula (19), which, however, is a little further away (see above).

On the way to the beaches, don't forget to visit the ancient Roman town of Aquileia (20). Its basilica contains one of the finest and oldest (4th century) mosaic floors in Italy and, hence, on the planet. The floor is incredibly well preserved despite earthquakes and the construction of a new church on top of the old one.

The house also lends itself as a base for visits to many other Northern Italian cultural pearls, including Mantova (21), Bologna (22), Ferrara (23), Modena (24), and Parma (25). Florence (26) with the largest concentration of art in the world can be reached in a morning. In that case you should spend a night or several nights away from the house. The same goes for the ever young and musical Vienna (27).