Danielle Oteri Italy

05/28/2026

I went down a rabbit hole researching Brunelleschi’s dome and ended up here. Wanting an expensive Tabriz carpet. This is my life now.
Episode 37: The Secret of Florence’s Dome — link in bio.

05/18/2026

My grandmother was from Capaccio Paestum. Her father would take her and her sisters to visit the temples built by the Greeks nearly 3,000 years ago. In the 1930s the temples sat unprotected on the plains, about a mile from the beach, without a fence or a ticket office. The young girls pulled pottery shards from the ground and fit them together like puzzle pieces.

The Cilento is right next to Amalfi. When you’re on the beach at Paestum you can see Positano, Ischia, and Capri on clear days. They’re right there. But the Cilento is part of a national park, so no mass tourism, no cruise ships, and significantly less expensive than the Amalfi coast.

The three most famous things: 3,000-year-old Greek temples. Buffalo mozzarella. And the Mediterranean Diet, first studied and codified right here in a seaside village called Pioppi. Cilento is also a Blue Zone, with an extraordinary number of centenarians.

It may take a day or so for the peace of the area to settle in. But it will. I promise.

Comment CILENTO and I’ll send you a link to my destination deep dive.

03/25/2026

Italians celebrate the Annunciation today. Nine months before Christmas the Archangel Mary appeared to the Virgin Mary to tell her she would give birth to the son of God. Gabriel appears in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran as of the messenger of God‘s word. He also has the most fabulous wings. 🪽

03/23/2026

Planning Italy shouldn’t feel like a second job. Because guess what —it’s my job, so I’ve already done the work!!! Use my Italy Destination Deep Dives: on‑demand, masterclass-style guides that give you a clear framework for one city and then show you how to make it your own.

If you love planning your own travel but want an art historian and Italy specialist in your corner, these are for you. Also, these beautiful illustrations are by

02/26/2026

Should you rent a car in Italy? It all depends on where you are going.

What I've learned is that the car question is one of the most consequential decisions you'll make for your trip — and most travel guides give you a useless non-answer. So here's the real version, by region.

02/13/2026

What’s the best way to get to Sicily? Well, flying is best, but I like the boat. Take the overnight ferry from Naples to Palermo. You board around 9–10 pm, have a proper dinner on board, sleep in a cabin, and wake up in Palermo. I like to imagine the next installment of the Before Sunrise series has Jesse and Celine boarding the boat for their 25th anniversary, a conversation turns into a fight in the wine-dark sea, which all gets resolved Before Dawn as they pull into Palermo.

When to book flights, where you need a car, how to get to Sicily, and what to look for on Torcello—full recording of last night's Ask Me Anything.

02/06/2026

Join me for “The Italy Vibe Check” on February 16th at 7pm ET. All you need to do is subscribe to my newsletter at danielleoteri.com, free or paid. I will send out the Zoom link on the afternoon of the 16th.