*** NEWS UPDATE: Good-bye ClaireintheWorld! A lot has changed since I started this blog during Covid, and Wix (the website host) keeps raising their prices, so I decided to stop paying for premium and I will lose the " Claireintheworld.net " URL. In a few days this site will be called Wix+random numbers. I'm going to start writing shorter posts over at my company website Wild Sage ( see the "news" tab ), so please join me there! I'll post again with more information before I

Wild Sage: Manu's best pics 2024

I just finished my 28th year of leading tours and it was a truly spectacular one. From the new destinations (Cuba! Morocco!) to the...

Like many Italian cities, Florence has hundreds of churches, from the massive Duomo to tiny hidden chapels, and it's hard to know which...

Cuba is one of the most fascinating and unique islands in the world. Its tropical beauty shines from behind crumbling buildings and an...

It's been an exciting few weeks for Wild Sage as we went to our first international tourism trade show (the Bit di Milano), celebrated...

Buongiorno e Buon Anno Nuovo! The new year started with a calm "Come on in" instead of the frantic alarm bells that rang in 2023, so I'm...

This year has gone by like a high-speed train, rushing headlong into the future and carrying me along -- breathless and shaken -- for the...

It's peak travel season and I've packed and unpacked my bags so many times I've got it down to a science, so I thought I'd share a few of...

Buongiorno June 1st! Summer is almost here, and with it comes a very full tour season for me -- my first year as co-boss of Wild Sage!...

Tips on navigating the airport and train station in Rome and Florence

"Prudenza!" the van warned, via a disembodied voice coming from my navigator advising me to be careful. I was cruising down a nearly...

E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle -- And then we emerged to see again the stars WE DID IT!! After our four month journey through the...

"Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate" "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here" are the powerful opening lines of Dante's "Inferno,"...

Hello, Bonjour e Ciao! I've been SO busy these past few months (** setting up MY NEW COMPANY!! see below...) that I haven't had time to...

Hail, history fans! I've had a busy fall season with lots of travel, for work and for play. My latest trip was a ten-day voyage with my...

Beyond the Duomo and the David, Florence hosts a wealth of surprise street art, fun architectural details, and free art installations....

One of the most unexpected museums in Florence is the Museo Stibbert, which houses the eclectic collection of Frederick Stibbert (1838 -...

I recently spent a few days in the region of Lazio (the region of Rome) on a little birthday trip, and one of the most unexpected and...

Southern Italy has a totally different feel from the rolling hills here in Tuscany, or the plains and mountains of the North. Puglia...

It's hard to believe we're 3 months into the flowering season here in Tuscany, and after our February magnolias, March cherry trees, and...

Tuscany is so big, there are still places I've never seen in my 25 years of guiding here. So I was thrilled to have the chance to visit...

Spring in Tuscany means fresh fava beans! Many people think immediately of Hannibal Lecter's famous line from Silence of the Lambs, but I...

¡Hola! and welcome to Spain! I was just in Spain on business so decided to extend my stay a few days and really explore the fascinating...

It's still cold outside with nighttime temps around freezing, but the days are getting warmer and the sun is bringing out the first...

Most people think of Italy as a summer destination and come for the beaches and al fresco dining, but that's also when it's hot and...

I’ve been hiking the popular trails of the Cinque Terre since 1997 and have seen frequent trail closings over the years due to...

Today's post is all about nature. My home base in the U.S. is on a narrow barrier island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I love...

Happy New Year from the Outer Banks of North Carolina! It's lovely here in the off-season and I'm grateful that I was able to travel this...

Sure, the weather may be risky in November, but it's also a great time to visit the Tuscany. Most of the tourists have gone home, the...

As promised, here's a follow-up to my previous post about the amazing collection at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. My...

I received notice of my termination today After 20 years of working for a small tour operator (ten of those full-time) I'm finally going...

I had a few extra hours in Athens recently so decided to visit the fascinating National Archaeological Museum. I had already been but it...

Buongiorno! I can't believe it's been a month since my last post! I've been traveling a lot and actually had one TOUR (Greek Islands...

Hello finally from my home in Florence! This is a great time to be in Tuscany as the savage heat of the summer has eased and now there’s...

After a fun few days on the island of São Miguel (see pt. 1 of the Azores adventure here) it was time to head to Faial, where my friend...

Some of my favorite trips are the spontaneous ones where I impulsively decide to go somewhere I know nothing about. That happened to me...

We all try to avoid long lay-overs when we fly but you can also extend your visit and turn it into a fun "stopover"! I did it last week...

The summer sun can be brutal in Florence, and it's often one of the hottest cities in Italy since it's landlocked and in a wide valley,...

The Tour de France began this weekend so I just had a chat with my old friend and former guiding colleague Luca Magnoni. He and I have...

Here's one last post from my recent trip to the U.S. and then I promise to return to Italy! My memories of New York were mostly of...

Today marks the 32nd anniversary of the mass demonstrations and eventual violent crackdown in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Amazingly, my...

I recently spent a week in New York City to cap off my visit to the U.S., and I decided to go to the city's premier museum, the...

I had never spent much time in Miami but recently went there to visit my niece, and she took me around to see the sights. The city lies...

I normally cover the southern Mediterranean but my U.S. home base is in the Outer Banks of North Carolina (affectionately dubbed the...

Italy is opening up again and the museums are finally welcoming visitors after almost 6 months of closed doors. The famed Uffizi Gallery...

After 14 months of pandemic and 7 months without even leaving the Florence city limits, I finally decided to get outta Dodge and fly back...

Greece just announced that it's opening its borders to international travelers on May 14th, so I figured it was a good time to check in...

[* updated to July 2024; I will add the ones that are open for business at the end of the post.] Everybody's been talking about...

I've spent the past year exploring every inch of Florence's city limits, so I thought it would be fun to check in with my friend and...