Italy: Friuli Venezia Giulia

Long-time travel authors Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls have been tramping over Italy for decades with notebook in hand, in an unending search for the next double espresso. The two spent years living in a tiny village in the Apennines with their small children, and since then they have written over twenty regional and city guides covering every corner of Italy. Along the way, they've grown particularly fond of this unique little corner between the Alps and the sea. Dana loves the mountains, especially if they're the sort rich in folklore and traditions and not too overrun with tourists. Carnia and the Friulian Dolomites are high on her list of special places. For Michael visiting here is closing a family circle; his Slovenian grandfather sailed from Trieste as an emigrant to America over a century ago. With his love of history he's well at home in a region where he can learn the mysteries of a Dark Age Lombard royal court, or explore the forts and trenches of the Great War in the border zones. Both of them agree on Friuli Venezia Giulia's culinary delights. They spend a lot of their time here cadging recipes, seeking out the best plum-stuffed gnocchi and Collio wines, and trying to learn all 67 ways you can order a coffee in Trieste.Besides their many guidebooks the pair have contributed to a number of UK publications, including the Sunday Times, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, Daily Telegraph, Wanderlust and Holiday Which? Over the past decades they have lived in and written about Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland and southwest France, where they are currently based. Most recently they have written Bradt's Emilia-Romagna and a number of app guides in the Art&Culture series, including Venice, Florence, Barcelona, Bologna and Modena and the Italian Menu Decoder (all available on both Apple and Android).