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13 pictures that show just how beautiful Italy is in the spring

Spring has arrived, the country is in bloom and the crowds of tourists haven't yet arrived: now is the perfect time to explore Italy. These 13 snapshots will show why nowhere else looks better in the springtime.

Published: 10 April 2018 11:52 CEST
13 pictures that show just how beautiful Italy is in the spring
Where in Italy to head for the best springtime selfies. Photo: Piero Cruciatti/AFP


Blooming cherry trees at Rome's Eur park. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

A tulip field on the outskirts of Milan. Photo: Piero Cruciatti/AFP

READ ALSO: Six unmistakable signs that spring has arrived in Italy

 

A post shared by Maria Pina Rosato (@mapirosato) on Apr 8, 2018 at 2:04pm PDT

Campo Imperatore in the Apennine Mountains looks almost too good to be true.

 

A post shared by Borgo Villa Risi (@borgovillarisi) on Apr 9, 2018 at 1:47am PDT

Blue skies over Siena.

 

A post shared by Igers Sardegna (@igers_sardegna) on Mar 24, 2018 at 1:14pm PDT

Spring is the perfect time to spy flamingos in several parts of the country — this flock is in Sardinia.

READ MORE: Seven places to see wild flamingos in Italy

Take a springtime walk to explore the outskirts of your city or hometown. This view can be captured just outside Bologna in Italy's centre-north.

And Spoleto in Umbria is a great destination still off the radar of many tourists.

 

A post shared by silvia rissetto (@zilvi_rissetto) on Apr 8, 2018 at 10:09am PDT

Rome's Orange Garden is one of our favourite open secrets: this secluded spot is found close to the Circo Massimo, and the spring months are the most fragrant time to visit.

Pretty Venzone, near Udine, is decked out in purple to celebrate the town's specialty of lavender.

READ ALSO: 13 places in Italy that look like they belong in a fairy tale

 

A post shared by Alberto Cima (@alberto.cima) on Apr 8, 2018 at 3:26am PDT

Wildflowers brighten up a hike through the Dolomites, here pictured at 3000 metres above sea level.

We'll never say no to a trip to the Amalfi Coast, but this snap of Ravello shows why now is a great time to visit.

 

A post shared by Jorge Franganillo (@franganillo.es) on Apr 9, 2018 at 11:19pm PDT

Italy's market stalls (this one's in Palermo) are also at their best this time of year.

Lake Como: need we say more?

NOW READ: Six springtime foods you simply have to taste in RomeSix springtime foods you simply have to taste in Rome
Photo: Bud Ellison/Flickr

TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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