As Italy’s number one golf resort, Verdura Resort has played a prominent role in helping to raise the profile of Italian golf with players across Europe and beyond, and the country’s status in world golf is set to be elevated to a new level at the end of this month (September) when Italy hosts the 44th edition of the Ryder Cup – the biggest team competition in golf – for the first time in its burgeoning history.
The eyes of the golfing world will fall on Rome’s Marco Simone Golf & Country Club from September 29 to October 1 as Europe’s best players take on the United States in a bid to regain the trophy they lost two years ago.
Originally designed by Jim Fazio in the 1980s, the course – a 45-minute drive from Hotel de Russie – has undergone a major renovation by Tom Fazio II and European Golf Design ahead of the biennial contest. A two-time host of the Italian Open, the course is renowned for its pristine condition and offers unparalleled views of lakes, the Marco Simone Castle and Saint Peters dome throughout, providing guests with a unique yet classic Italian setting to enjoy.
Some holidays are designed to be action packed. Others are the opposite. Not for idleness, nor just for sleep necessarily, but the simple, underrated experience of a mind with nothing to chase.
Speaking with longevity physician Dr Ingrid Yang and Irene Forte, Wellness Consultant for Rocco Forte Hotels and founder of Irene Forte Skincare, it quickly becomes clear that lasting wellbeing isn't built around one breakthrough or one perfect routine. Instead, both point towards the cumulative impact of everyday habits, from the way we move and to how we connect with others.
The Grand Tour has had its day, in the most fortunate way. What was once a rite of years is now within reach of anyone with the curiosity to make it. The prescribed list of sights has loosened too, leaving the traveller free to follow Goethe's original instinct, to stand where the present is being made as well as where the past is preserved. Today, our journey through Milan, Florence and Rome begins, as it always did, in the north…
