Casinos in Italy are not a very large reality, especially due to the fact that in our country there is a rather restrictive legislation. The casinos that, however, have opened their doors have then become the undisputed institutions of reference for all fans of the game.
Today, after the closure of the famous casino of Campione d’Italia, a few kilometers from the Swiss border, there are four active gambling houses, which in all cases also offer a tourist attraction linked to their location.
The Casino of Saint Vincent
The Casino of Saint Vincent, in Valle d’Aosta – also known as Casino de la Vallée – is the highest casino in Italy. The gambling house, built within a resort, was inaugurated in 1947, and has also become one of the most prestigious in Europe.
Following several extensions and renovations, today it is a reality housed in a hotel on an area of three thousand five hundred square meters, located in the charming center of Saint-Vincent, a resort of great tourist attraction, very popular for the holiday.
The casino proposal is based on over five hundred slot machines, four hundred electronic gaming stations, one hundred traditional gaming tables, including roulette and blackjack, Punto and Banco and Baccarat.
The Poker Room hosts, among other things, major international tournaments, and cash tables dedicated to Texas Hold’em and Saint-Vincent Poker. The offer of Siant-Vincent also includes a program of shows, events, concerts and gala.
The dress code is quite strict, and categorically excludes wearing sandals, sports shorts, jumpsuits and tank tops. In the Privè room, located on the first floor of the building, it is mandatory for men to wear long trousers. It is played from 10:30 until 3 in the morning, at the tables you sit from 3pm to 3am.
- Saint Vincent, beyond the casino, spa and ski
Saint-Vincent is one of the most famous tourist destinations in the Aosta Valley. The small town is nicknamed the Riviera of the Alps due to its rare beauty and the presence of various colorful buildings.
Saint-Vincent, although it is preferred for its natural surroundings and for sports activities, is a resort that has some very interesting attractions. Winter sports in the Col de Joux. The Col de Joux is the pass near Saint Vincent where there are several ski resorts where you can practice winter sports. This is one of the main reasons why people go to this resort on holiday during the colder months of the year.
Activities like skiing and snowboarding are the most practiced, however, those who do not appreciate the extreme sensations experienced during the descents from the steep slopes can try cross-country skiing or just walk in the snow-covered area enjoying the view.
Take a break from the stress at the spa. The spa is particularly equipped and in addition to the thermal pools where you can immerse yourself in hot water, you can do different beauty treatments and massages, taking care of the health of the body and mind really well-rounded. This is a great way to get away from the typical stress of the city.
And if instead you were wondering, after this great physical activity, with what to regenerate, in a territory so strongly dominated by the harsh climate, soups are the exact answer! From pèila, made with rye flour and wheat, bread, fontina and butter, to seupetta à la valpelleunèntse, the soup of Valpelline with black bread, cabbage and fontina.
The Sanremo Casino
The city of flowers and the Festival is also famous for its casino, which boasts a hundred and ten years long history, during which it has become a privileged destination of the most famous representatives of Italian culture and music. The gaming house, with classic and elegant environments, is located in the heart of the Ligurian town, and can count on a slot machine park of four hundred and eighty pieces, flanked by classic table games: roulette, Baccarat, Punto and Banco, Blackjack and Poker, also in the Texas Hold’em and Omaha versions. Open daily, the casino requires you to wear the jacket inside the private lounges.
- Sanremo, the wonderful city of flowers
Visit Sanremo means to make a full immersion in the Ligurian reality and also prepare your stomach to savor the many typical dishes liguri. Some of the viewpoints of San Remo will inebriate the eyes of an indescribable beauty.
In Via Matteotti, a few steps from the central square of Sanremo, Piazza Colombo, you will find the theater Ariston. Every year in this location the famous Sanremo: the city in February comes alive with so many artists from all over Italy and, in the air of the city, resonates music at every corner.
The bars, bars and restaurants are really many: it is here that you can taste many local dishes. For those who prefer the coast, it is suggested to go around the area of Porto Vecchio. In Sanremo we can find both ingredients from the sea, being a maritime city, and products of the hinterland and the mountains.
Not everyone knows, in fact, that you can find forests rich in tasty products such as pine nuts, mushrooms and chestnuts when it is obviously the right season. For this reason, the Ligurian area is particularly appreciated not only for tasty fish recipes, but also for inland products. You will all know the famous Taggiasca olives. They come from the nearby area of Arma di Taggia, a village very close to the city of flowers.
To taste a dish of fish particularly appreciated in the area, both by tourists and locals. It is called Brandacujun, a dish based on cod, potatoes and olives, also called cod creamed Ligurian style.
The casinos of Venice
The Venice Casino is the oldest gambling house in the world. Its foundation, in fact, dates back to 1638, when the Ridotto of Dan Moisè was inaugurated. In the 1930s the Lido Casino opened its doors and twenty years later the prestigious headquarters overlooking the Grand Canal, at Ca’ Vendramin Calergi, the elegant Renaissance residence where the Doges of the Serenissima lived.
Since 1999, the casino has doubled with the opening of Ca’ Noghera, the first open-air American casino, near Marco Polo airport. In the headquarters of Ca’ Vendramin Calergi ranges from classic games, including Roulette, Punto and Banco and Chemin de Fer, and modern ones, such as Black Jack and Fair Roulette, as well as carribean poker.
The dress code requires the use of the jacket, which is not required only in the halls of the slots, but where it is always required clothing marked by decorum. Ca’ Noghera, which has an area of over five thousand square meters and a modern architectural design, offers over five hundred slot machines, a Poker Room reserved for Texas Hold ’em Poker tournaments, as well as live shows and music.
- Venice, a glorious history of centuries/li>
The Grand Canal is the number one tourist attraction in Venice: the most famous, the most original and the first to come across. It is the wide canal shaped like an S or a snake that crosses the entire historic center of Venice, dividing it into two.
At the end of the Grand Canal I will be obliged to continue until you get to St Mark’s Square, close to the lagoon is the city salon par excellence, where the most important events of the Carnival and other unmissable events take place. On the square there are the two monuments symbol of the city: the Basilica of San Marco, a monumental church with Byzantine charm that is an unmissable visit, and the Bell Tower, the tallest building in Venice.
Venice is a city that knows how to tell unique stories, made of sea, men and thousand-year-old traditions: a people of sailors who knew how to adapt their cuisine to the long trips around the Mediterranean. It is precisely for this reason that many of the typical Venetian dishes are fast and based on fish – which certainly was not missing at sea – or were well suited to be preserved over time. Many of the culinary traditions can still be tasted in some restaurants and in the traditional bacari of Venice.
