Timely Gifts

June 27, 2011

"Before traveling with young kids, buy a present-something quiet-for each one. Then when you arrive at your hotel, sit the kids down and tell them you're giving them a "hotel gift." While they play with their new toys, you'll be able to unpack in peace. Plus they'll have a souvenir, so you won't have to purchase something you know they won't use." —Debbie Roche, Winterville, N.C.

Get more family-friendly travel tips right on your mobile phone! Scan our QR code, here, and then check back each month as we add more tips.

Plan Your Next Getaway
Keep reading

Secret Hotels of Italy

Wouldn’t it be easier if Italy were just a bit more boring? The art, the history, the landscapes, the pasta—seriously, you’re always going to feel like there’s more to do (or eat). If actual relaxing is on your agenda, the Piedmont region may just be your answer. Tucked into the northwestern corner of the country, Piedmont pulled the short straw when it came to major Italian attractions. This is nothing but farm country, home to countless hazelnut groves, Barolo wineries, and truffle-studded fields, a place where folks have so much time on their hands, they created Italy’s slow-food movement. Most tourists don’t bother with Piedmont, and those who do have little choice but to stay in unpretentious, family-run inns that serve meals made from what the owners grow and raise themselves. No crowds, authentic farm-to-table cuisine, endless Barolo—wait, that doesn’t sound so bad after all. In fact, it sounds like heaven. Leave it to Italy to make even life in the slow lane completely irresistible.   See the places.   TENUTA MONTANELLO A winery with a glorious view, and a storied pastFifth-generation winemaker Alberto Racca left an office job in Turin to return to his childhood home at Tenuta Montanello, releasing his first Barolo in 2001. About 140 years earlier, his great-great-grandfather had founded not only the winery but the first cooperative of local producers. The 99-acre estate has an enviable hilltop position overlooking cascading vineyards in countless shades of green, punctuated by the crenellated fortresses of medieval towns like La Morra and, yes, Barolo, just visible in the distance. Guests wake up to this view each day and taste the estate's wines at their leisure. It's a treat to chat with Racca in the cellar—where his Barolo, Barbera, Dolcetto, and Langhe Nebbiolo wines are slowly coming into their own—way out of earshot of any tour groups. An adjacent building offers five rooms with a polished country look: cotto tiles, plaid bedding, antique wood furnishings, and curved metal headboards. A ground-floor room is wheelchair accessible, and an apartment caters to families; Racca shares two other apartments with his wife, Monica, and their two young children. Everyone can make use of the communal breakfast room—decorated with framed historic maps, a cabinet painted in a harvest motif, and fresh lilac sprigs—and pluck a fig or two from the yard.Via Alba Monforte, 40, 12060 Castiglione Falletto, Cuneo province, tenutamontanello.it, from $86 CASA ISABELLA Heirlooms and art in a renovated hillside houseWhen architect Monica Barattieri and her husband, Alessandro, couldn't take the stressful pace of Turin any longer, they knew where to turn: Asti province, about a 75-minute drive to the southeast and their favorite weekend getaway. A farmhouse on a gentle slope surrounded by vineyards for Barbera and Cabernet won them over within a week. The couple left the brick pillars, walls, and floors intact but spent four years on painstaking renovations—enlisting the talents of friends and raiding their family closets in the process. So there's a story behind almost everything in four-room Casa Isabella, named for Alessandro's mother. Her photo rests discreetly on a mantle in the living room, which is painted in pleasantly muted shades of lilac and peach, with a ceiling-high stack of books about the region and design. Alessandro's grandmother contributed the kitchen's 17th-century oil paintings of fruits and vegetables, while Monica's grandparents supplied a bedroom's gleaming art deco headboard and matching armoire and dresser. The masterpiece is the top-floor suite, outfitted with a sink that was once a church's holy-water basin, a modern soaking tub directly below a huge skylight, and a 19th-century barocco piemontese sofa in ornate burgundy brocade. Divided by a deep-red and gray partition, the sleeping area showcases a friend's hand-stitched bed linens. Although hiking paths and day-trip-worthy towns abound, Monica understands why some guests don't venture far beyond the house and its pool, garden, and bocce court. After all, she's more than happy to hang out there, too. "Anyone who comes here to stay with us is looking to find the downtime that they normally don't have," she says. "That's what we want to provide."Via La Pietra 5, 14049 Vaglio Serra, Asti Province, casa-isabella.com, from $171 CASCINA SANT' EUFEMIA A rustic farmhouse where everyone is welcome to get their hands dirtyIf there's a hospitality gene, Chiara Andreis and Paolo Nasi were born with it. The husband and wife share a down-to-earth nature that puts visitors at ease, even while juggling the upkeep of a hazelnut orchard and vineyard. They work alongside Andreis's parents—and anyone else who wants to lend a hand, particularly during the September and October grape harvest. Whatever the season, the couple gets to know guests over breakfast spreads of local cheeses, salumi, and homemade pastries in the large kitchen, or while lounging by the log burner in the homey living area, formerly a cattle shed. "This work is very nice because you don't have time to visit the world, but you learn different things from people who visit you," reflects Nasi. Since Cascina Sant'Eufemia's 2005 debut, he has kept track by updating a map with flags pinned to guests' countries of origin. When one family from Denmark made a repeat visit, the kids piped up about Andreis's memorable apple fritters—and she promptly enlisted their help in making a fresh batch. Want to ditch the car? Just ask to borrow a bicycle. In keeping with this informal approach, accommodations are comfortable, spacious, and modest. Three rooms and two studios range from the rustic yellow room, with exposed wood beams and a staircase leading up to a loft bed, to the elegant blue studio, with lace-trimmed sheets and a skylight. Andreis and Nasi also tailor dinner recommendations to match varied tastes. Most of the time, they send guests to locavore restaurants that ascribe to the slow-food movement, which was launched just a short drive away in the town of Bra, in the heart of southern Piedmont.Loc. Sant’Eufemia, 3, 12050 Sinio, Cuneo province, cascinasanteufemia.it, from $86 TETTO GARRONE An ecofriendly labor of love where florals go modWhen Tetto Garrone celebrated its opening in 2009, host Fulvio Faccia told the well-wishers, "You should be proud of this building because it speaks to the talents of the community." Two teams of architects, builders, ironworkers, and electricians, all from Roata Rossi, had worked for three years to renovate the two-story brick structure, combining traditional materials with innovative ones like the photovoltaic roof panels that produce electricity. They divided the second-story hay barn into eight large rooms that open onto a balcony. A science teacher by day with degrees in biology and agriculture, Faccia had the inspired idea to fashion each room around a local fruit, including damaschino (a kind of plum) and cotogno (quince). His mother, who owns the property, and a cousin sewed the drapes, pillows, and tablecloths, mixing and matching floral patterns. The resulting look is cheerful and crisp, with contemporary touches like oversize hanging lights with linen shades and sliding-screen closet doors. The most enchanting room features warm purple walls and a high ceiling with original exposed beams. They called the room mure, or mulberry, whose leaves fed the silkworms that were cultivated in this southwestern corner of Piedmont until the 1950s. There's even a mulberry tree amid the hazel, walnut, and chestnut orchards that ripen each July. Tetto Garrone's garden is also Faccia's handiwork, and its yield appears at the breakfast table. A typical morning begins with his mother's hazelnut cake, fresh pulpy peach or pear juice, soft local cheeses, and bread with two kinds of homemade jam. You'll likely have the pleasure of having your meal interrupted by Faccia's adorable kids, Pietro, 6, and Magalí, 4, before it's off to school for them and out to the countryside for you.Via Campagna, 45, 12100, Roata Rossi, Cuneo province, tettogarrone.it, from $107 VILLA ILE A grand farmhouse run by a traditional yet groundbreaking hostIleana Allisio is a pioneer in many fields: She launched the first agriturismo in the region in 1985; she was the rare woman to make a career as a winemaker; and before all of that, she honed her design chops as a successful interior decorator. These days, Allisio's style is imprinted on the four guest rooms at her Ville Ile: There's the romantic, rose-pink Room 3, which has an ornate baroque armoire (a family heirloom) and balcony doors just begging to be thrown open onto the garden and the outlying vineyards. Room 1, which is larger and done in muted blue and yellow tones, also opens onto the balcony and showcases paintings by her son Alessandro alongside a local artist's black-and-white sketches of the river Alba. Allisio's own paintings line the staircase down to the living room and breakfast area; the engraved china cabinet was a wedding present given to her husband's grandmother. Villa Ile feels like it hails from an earlier, more courteous time, when a host would give each guest an individualized gift (perhaps a book you'd discussed or a bottle of wine you favored), make you just the breakfast you desired (crepes one day, for instance, toast with homemade jams and fresh butter the next), and remember you with a card come Christmas—all of which, it turns out, Allisio does, naturally. Str. Rizzi, 18 – 12050 Treiso, Cuneo province, villaile.it, from $111 LA TRAVERSINA A quirky retreat with a communal table for home-cooked mealsRosanna Varese's grandfather gambled away most of his fortune, but he managed to hold on to the ivy-covered farmhouse at Piedmont's eastern edge that has been in their family since 1714. The quiet estate, secluded in the woods, hasn't changed much since then. "This house was absolutely in my soul," says Varese, who spent childhood summers here and opened it as an agriturismo in 1989. (Today, however, there are no children—or televisions—allowed.) Varese is the warmest of hosts, often greeting guests with a glass of local Cortese white wine and canestrelli biscuits. Along with her several cats and a sheepdog with dreads named Ollie, she frequently welcomes an eclectic group of world travelers. "Sometimes we have five or six nationalities sharing the table at dinner," says Varese. "After a second glass of wine, we're all friends." Another staple is her accomplished regional cooking, including dishes such as homemade pesto with twisted trofie pasta and melanzane al forno, eggplant topped with huge meaty tomatoes from her garden. The special strain of tomato has been in her husband Domenico's family for decades and can weigh over two pounds. The couple has filled the main house's four rooms and three adjacent apartments with a hodgepodge of goods from their travels: rugs from Turkey and Morocco, china from French flea markets, and Indonesian batik wall hangings. The mellow vibe is completed by yoga classes, offered free to all guests.15060 Stazzano, Alessandria province, latraversina.com, from $129   SEE MORE POPULAR CONTENT: 5 Iconic American Drives 10 Coolest Small Towns in America The Dirty Truth About Hotel Ratings 12 Restaurants With Spectacular Views 4 Most Common Reasons Airlines Lose Luggage  

A Side of Amish Country You've Never Seen

So this is what it would look like if a J.Crew ad came to life: It's a Saturday afternoon in the Prince Street Café, a coffee-and-sandwich spot in Lancaster, Pa. A couple in their 20s canoodle on a plush leather couch by the fireplace. A 30-something in thick, black-framed glasses punches away on a laptop between bites of a green salad topped with quinoa, and a college-age girl with a brunette pixie doodles in her sketchpad. It comes as a bit of a surprise, then, when you wander upstairs to artist Julia Swartz's gallery and find a series of portraits depicting local Amish men—straw hats, serious-looking black suits, and all. Here at the Prince Street Café, it's easy to forget you're in Amish Country. You may think you've heard of Lancaster, but chances are you're thinking of the county, not the city. It's rural Lancaster County, an hour-and-a-half drive west of Philadelphia, that's famous for its large population of Amish families—and their horses and buggies. The city of Lancaster sits in the middle of this slice of the past, but traditionally visitors haven't exactly flocked here. And why would they? For years, there wasn't much city to see, aside from some old cork, cigar, and clock factories. That's changing, thanks to folks like Swartz. "There have always been creative people here," says Swartz, 59, a lifelong county resident. "But nobody did much about it, until one guy set up a gallery. And then, just like that, a whole bunch of us did." Swartz opened her space on Prince Street four years ago, after winning a series of regional painting competitions (17 N. Prince St., 8" x 10" canvas prints from $55). Now the small city is home to 32 galleries. Of course, the Amish community is still the main draw in Lancaster County. Yet the rise of a modern subculture has layered some spicy mustard on top of what had always been a plain-pretzel kind of place. The two worlds don't often mix, but when they do—say, at a traditional Amish mud sale—the combination is delicious. Day 1 PHILADELPHIA TO LANCASTER 69 MILESIt's a wonder that Lancaster can feel young at all considering how old its bones are. It was founded in 1730 and is the oldest city in the U.S. not set on a coastline. Many of its original 18th-century red-brick sidewalks and stone Colonial homes still stand, now renovated into hip cafés, bars, and galleries. "It used to be that artists moved here because Lancaster was a lot cheaper than New York, Philly, or Baltimore," says Elizabeth Todd Lambert, president of LancasterARTS, a local nonprofit that promotes the galleries, symphony, and six museums in town. "But now successful artists are coming because they want to be a part of the scene here. It's a draw in itself." Starting at the Prince Street Café (15 N. Prince St., sandwiches from $6.50), there's a three-block chain of studios and exhibit spaces called Gallery Row. You could stroll the whole strip in 20 minutes, but it's so densely packed with galleries that it takes a full afternoon to do it justice. I ended up at Building Character, a former warehouse whose wide stalls now house 37 jewelry, crafts, vintage-clothing, and furniture booths (342 N. Queen St., vintage dresses from $20). I scored a handmade, 1950s floral silk dress for $90. I'm sure it would have run $200 or more in a similar shop in New York or Philly. I found a similar high-end, low-cost deal across town, at the Cork Factory Hotel (480 New Holland Ave., doubles from $129, including breakfast). The 77-room boutique inn, opened in 2010 by a local family, is housed in a red-brick foundry once used to manufacture cork and glass. On the ground floor, the black-leather booths in the Cork & Cap Restaurant were packed by a boisterous crowd of suits celebrating happy hour. Meanwhile, in my fourth-floor room—which had huge, glass-paned windows and soaring ceilings with exposed wooden beams—it was as peaceful as a church. Day 2 LANCASTER TO RAWLINSVILLE TO INTERCOURSE TO MANHEIM 58 MILESLancaster County welcomes more than 11 million tourists every year, and most make a beeline for one of two places: the (oddly named) towns of Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse. I made quick visits to both, and they're charming, for sure—the buttered brown noodles at Stoltzfus Farm Restaurant alone merit a visit to Intercourse (3716 E. Newport Rd., family-style meal $17 a person). But by and large, they come off more like Epcot Center attractions than authentic slices of Amish daily life. For that, your best bet is to hit up a mud sale, an open-air auction unique to Lancaster County. The Amish have been hosting them here since the 1960s, in spring. But recently, the mud sales have grown so popular—thanks, in part, to all the new residents in Lancaster—that they're now held on Saturdays from February to October, all over the county. From Lancaster, I headed south on two-lane roads, beneath covered bridges and past silos, windmills, and grain fields. The landscape was a patchwork of rolling green-and-gold fields that, from an aerial view, probably looked something like a suburban lawn with big pats of butter on it. I arrived in Rawlinsville at 9:30 a.m. The air was filled with Pennsylvania Dutch—a German dialect the Amish use with one another—and the muddy field was a sea of Amish straw hats and Carhartt-brand ball caps, bobbing between a circle of tents and barns. Auctions take place throughout the day—quilts and handmade furniture at 8:30 a.m., horses at 11 a.m., and buggies at 1 p.m. The items up for sale are provided by locals, with a cut of the proceeds going to area volunteer fire companies. After registering, I was handed a pink paper bid card and directed to the nearest tent, just in time to catch the bidding on a beautifully restored, 1920s oak-and-leather steamer trunk. "Come on, don't let $5 stand in the way between you and this beauty!" the Amish auctioneer yelled before a young couple snatched it up for $75. Another couple took home a gorgeous king-size quilt for $130; I'd seen a similar style priced at $300 at a shop in Intercourse. Who cares about the mud when there are steals like these? Thankfully, Hazel Nestleroth didn't mind a little dirt either. When I arrived that evening at Airy Hill Farm Bed & Breakfast, the farmstay she runs with her husband, Mark, near Manheim, the cake-like mud I'd been slopping through all day had dried like a crusty fringe from my ankles down. Hazel cheerfully offered to launder my jeans and helped me scrub off my shoes. It probably helped that she and Mark had spent 25 years as pig farmers. Day 3 MANHEIM Like many farmers in Lancaster, Mark Nestleroth lives on the same plot of land his family has owned for five generations, since the 1850s. Nestleroth's 20 acres sit up on a hillside, overlooking a quilt of other farm plots, including a dairy run by the chocolate-making Hershey family. Mark and Hazel opened their three-bedroom ranch-style home as a B&B just two years ago, but it's quickly gained a reputation as one of the area's best (1741 Airy Hill Rd., doubles from $139, including breakfast). It's easy to see why, after one bite of the sweet and gooey shoofly pie Hazel makes. "My mother never could bake a thing—seriously—until she found this recipe," Hazel said, as she showed me and a guest how to transfer dough from the rolling pin to the pie pan. On request (and for an extra $35 per room), she teaches baking classes and sends each pupil home with his own shoofly pie—and a laminated copy of the recipe. In the morning, I woke to see a parade of horse and buggies speed by outside, on their way to Sunday morning church services. Hazel prepared a breakfast of omelets, pastries, and fresh fruit while Mark kept me and the other guests busy in the red wooden barn. We went on an egg hunt in the squawking henhouse, bottle-fed the two newborn calves, and gave the baby sheep their share of petting. After chores, Mark led us to a small stable, home to the Nestleroth's new star attraction: Bob, a baby miniature horse. His brown-and-white downy head stood less than 12 inches tall, and when he wasn't nursing, he shyly pranced around the driveway, like he was walking on tiptoe. "All the kids are just going to love him," Mark said, referring to both his eight grandkids and the children who visit Airy Hill as guests. Judging by how the two adult men in our group—one a construction worker, the other an engineer—literally cooed at the sight of him, Bob seemed poised to become another Lancaster newcomer who draws quite the crowd.   SEE MORE POPULAR CONTENT: 10 Popular Travel Scams Around the World 4 Most Common Reasons Airlines Lose Luggage 10 Coolest Small Towns in America Top 10 Most Shocking Mummies in the World 13 Things You Didn't Know About Hawaii