Having recently traveled to Italy with Insight Vacations Luxury Gold, Aaron Drake is the first in a series of five travel writers to talk about his experiences. Based in St. Petersburg, Florida, Aaron is a global correspondent for ManAboutWorld, a leading online travel magazine for the gay community, as well as a contributor to several other travel magazines. Here, the alumnus of The Ohio State University and former editor of Gaycation and Frontiers magazines, talks about his impressions of Italy on the Ultimate Italy journey.

The big decision that faces those booking a vacation in November is often whether to embrace the chill and opt for a destination that is wintry to its very core – indeed, a big occasion to celebrate all that’s fantastic about warm fires, snow-dusted trees and indulgent comfort food – or to escape the colder climate in search of some warming winter sun. Here we’ve selected five of our favorite locations for those wondering where to visit in November.

Ever since Jacqueline Onassis summered at Capri Palace Hotel the location’s been a byword for effortlessly chic shenanigans. Not that she started the phenomenon. The island has hosted a cast of characters in the past, including Maxim Gorky, Claude Debussy, Oscar Wilde, Pablo Picasso and Brigitte Bardot.