Cremona
A short stroll outside the historic centre, the Hotel Continental is a self-proclaimed 'lifestyle' hotel that pricks your interest with a dynamically designed lobby replete with retro loungers, book shelves, an honesty bar and a Nespresso machine. Take this as a gateway to more fun including a rooftop cocktail bar (negronis €6), a pizza restaurant (margheritas €4.50) and a modern gym.
It all makes for an attractive bargain – plus the Piazza Commune is only a 10-minute walk away.
27.31 MILES
Overshadowing even the cathedral, the octagonal pink-marble baptistery on the south side of the piazza is one of the most important such structures in…
27.32 MILES
Another daring Romanesque beauty? Well, yes and no. Consecrated in 1106, Parma has a classic Lombard-Romanesque facade, but inside, the gilded pulpit and…
29.39 MILES
You could spend a whole day in this monster of a museum housed in an ex-monastery and still have plenty left for another visit. Those with limited time…
20.31 MILES
The opening of the world's largest maze in 2015 fulfilled a lifetime dream of art publisher Franco Maria Ricci, who once published what many considered to…
0.58 MILES
Cremona’s history echoes to sound of violins and violin-making, meaning a visit to this relatively new, state-of-the-art museum is practically obligatory…
27.08 MILES
The Galleria Nazionale displays Parma’s main art collection in dark and ambiently affective environs. Alongside works by local artists Correggio and…
10.76 MILES
This stately theatre on Busseto's aptly named Piazza Verdi was built in 1868, although Verdi himself initially pooh-poohed the idea. It opened with a…
0.41 MILES
Welcome to an ecclesial colossus. Cremona’s cathedral started out as a Romanesque basilica, but the simplicity of that style later gave way to an…
0.4 MILES
Cremona's 111m-tall torrazzo (bell tower, although 'torrazzo' translates literally as ‘great, fat tower’) is the third tallest brick bell tower in the…
0.41 MILES
Welcome to an ecclesial colossus. Cremona’s cathedral started out as a Romanesque basilica, but the simplicity of that style later gave way to an…
0.43 MILES
This beautiful, pedestrian-only piazza is considered one of the best-preserved medieval squares in all Italy. To maintain divisions between Church and…
0.43 MILES
The 12th-century baptistry houses some architectural fragments, including a 12th-century figure of the Archangel Gabriel that once perched on the roof.
0.44 MILES
The Palazzo Comunale has been home to the city's government for hundreds of years. Begun in the 13th century, its arcaded walkways and courtyards were…
0.45 MILES
A delightful little Gothic gem built in 1292, the Loggia dei Militi was where the captains of the citizen militia would meet.
0.52 MILES
Set in the spacious halls of the Palazzo Affaitati, Cremona's finest art gallery houses an exquisite collection of paintings dating from the 15th to the…
0.58 MILES
Cremona’s history echoes to sound of violins and violin-making, meaning a visit to this relatively new, state-of-the-art museum is practically obligatory…