Golf in Italy and The World Expo

NOTE: "I love everything about Italy--the history, great food, friendly people and, yes, its golf courses. Below is a guest post by my good friend Bjorn Jingberger, president of Golf Holiday Italy, a golf travel professional who partners with Italy's best golf clubs and resorts to offer fantastic golf packages. Bjorn is highlighting some of his top golf packages in conjunction with the World Expo in Milan, Italy. Enjoy the post and click to his free e-brochure to check out some great packages. Ciao!"--The Golf Travel Guru.

The World Expo in Milan, Italy is running between May and October 2015. It’s a fantastic opportunity to book a golf break, play a few rounds on selected top golf courses, enjoy world-class food and wine and visit Milan and the Expo, which has many things to do, enjoy and experience. Download this free e-brochure for great ideas and inspiration for your next golf break in Italy and read on for more details.

From May to October,Milan, organizer and host of the 2015 Universal Exhibition, becomes a global showcase where 140 countries and some leading international organizations will showcase the best of their technologies. The spectacular showoffers a concrete answer to a vital need: guarantee healthy, safe and sufficient food for everyone, while respecting the planet and its equilibrium.

On its 1m square meter exhibition area, Expo 2015 will tell everyone out about the world’s best dishes with tasting opportunities, while displaying the best of the agri-food and gastronomic traditions of each of the exhibitor countries.

Outside the exhibition area, located in Rho, a few miles west of centreMilan, the entire city will play an active role with thousands of cultural and recreational eventsorganized throughout the city, such as the largest exhibition so far of Leonardo da Vinci with works of the Renaissance icon borrowed from Italian and international museums.

For more excitement, visit the magnificent gothic Duomo Cathedral, or purchase opera tickets for an event at the famous La Scala theater, or attend one of the more than 140 spectacles during the six-month expo. If you’re a shopping enthusiast, Milan, as a global fashion capital, is near paradise. From the best in value-for-money dining and phenomenal fashions, you’ll find it in the magnificent city of Milan. Football fans will get their treat as well, as both AC Milan and Inter play at home in the city.

To enjoy the Milan good life, don’t forget to stop by Caffé Camparino, just next to the Duomo, for an aperitif. The bar opened in 1915 by Gaspare Campari, the inventor of…well you know what!

 Golf

Why not combine a visit to the Expo with a few days of golf? Northern Italy is home to around 80% of the country’s golf clubs. Discover excellent golf packages, specifically designed to satisfy most interests and tastes, which are available in a free e-brochure you can access here GREAT GOLF PACKAGES IN ITALY

For those who prefer to remain in and enjoy the Milan area there are a couple of golf breaks very close to the centre of the city. Or, in less than an hours drive north you can reach both Lake Como and Lake Maggiore with its breathtaking views and picturesque villages.

Heading east, consider a golf weekend in Franciacorta, the wine region, famous for its white sparkling wine, as well as at the beautiful Lake Garda where a few rounds of golf can be combined with a visit to an Amarone producing vineyard. Alternatively, continuing further east, north of Venice, there’s an interesting golf break combining golf and visits to local coffee and grappa producers.

Golf Holiday Italy acts as a marketplace enabling golf clubs, resorts and golf hotels to reach out to the international golf community.  Through our website, our social media channels and selected media partners, Italian golf structures have access to a cost efficient and easy-to-use platform to market themselves to an international client base.

Golf in Venice, Italy? Yes, Bravo.

Last month, I spent several days in Venice, Italy. Like most tourists, I strolled the sidewalks lining the canals, sipped wine at a café on San Marco Square, indulged on gelato and watched the passing parade of boats on the Grand Canal.

My biggest discovery in Venice (my third visit) had nothing to do with culinary delights, gondolas or Murano glass. Through a well-informed and connected lady named Tabita Miotto, I found out about the wonderful golf opportunities around Venice and Italy in general.

Miotto is a key principal in Amazing Venice Golf , a marketing coop organization that not only promotes golf in Venice but in other regions of Italy, such as Tuscany, Piedmont, Rome, Apulia, Sicily and Sardinia and the Italian lakes region. If you want to play golf in Italy (which has about 200 golf courses), I highly suggest you consult this site first. They’ll guide you to great golf as well as incorporating other activities such as gastronomic, art and wine tours.

Miotto summarizes the appeal of Italian golf this way: “Sipping a cappuccino in the main piazza, under the Italian sun surrounded by art masterpieces….I have always been used to the Italian sweet life…I was inspired to share these emotions with other people…Italy has excellent courses and I hope you will experience the unique feeling of playing in Italy.”

Designers like Arnold Palmer, Robert Trent Jones and Kyle Phillips (designer of Kingsbarns in St. Andrews) have fashioned courses in Italy.

The Amazing Venice Golf site includes a “Great Deals” section which features package deals and an E-Quote, which allows you to submit your destination, accommodations, golf and other requests resulting in a customized quote.

Back to Venice. The closest golf course to Venice is the Golf Club Venezia, which was built in 1926 and is ranked among the top ten courses in Italy. Thirty minutes away in the picturesque, college town of Padova, there are several options to play, including the Golf Club Montecchia, Golf club Frssanelle and Golf Club Padova.

The Veneto Region, where Venice is located, is diverse topographically and you can enjoy a variety of golf experiences in and around main cities like Venice, Padova, Vicenza, Verona and Treviso as well as layouts in mountain settings in the Dolomite Mountains.

Amazing Venice Golf works with a long list of hotels, resorts and luxury bed and breakfast properties and golf courses. Ms. Miotto arranged for me to stay in the Domus Orsoni, a fabulous luxury boutique bed and breakfast situated next to the Orsoni glass factory, which manufactures glass mosaic with gold leaf. The five rooms and hallways are brimming with works by different Italian artists and the mosaic-tiled bathrooms are phenomenal. Located in the quiet Cannaregio section of Venice, the Domus Orsoni is a great respite after a day of playing golf or traipsing over and around canals.

So, if you’re seeking “la dolce vita” (the sweet life) and an Italian golf experience, go to Amazing Venice Golf and you’ll be sipping cappuccino in sidewalk cafes and playing golf among the olive trees in no time.

Arrividerci.