This May is our 25 wedding anniversary. We are looking to go to Italy.
Both of us have minimal international traveling experience, my wife none, me a handful of times but all business and most continental North America.
We are both into experiencing local cultures. IE we both like going a bit off the tourist beaten paths…but maybe not completely away from it. I’m into the history side of things. Both like hikes, scenic places etc.
Not much to go on but…
Any suggestions on the following.
I don’t mind doing some traveling while we are there but I don’t want to spend hours on trains, buses and cars. Which one, two or three places/cities would you recommend.
should we use a travel agent, use a vacation arrangement place like online or even Costco or arrange some or all of it ourselves.
what do we definitely not do?
I’m cheap. Not necessarily poor, I just want to get the best bang for my buckðŸ˜
there’s a lot of tours, coliseum, wine/cheese/dinner, other sites etc. These come with packages but can also be purchased separately. Is there anything one should look out for from those?
Sorry not trying to cut in on your thread but we’re going in October, we’re catching a cruise in Civitavecchia but are going early to spend a few days in Rome, so I’m looking for advice as well, we want to stay close to the Colosseum but within walking distance to Trevi fountain.
I am sure many of us could write a lot about vacationing in Italy.
It is an easy place to vacation for people who don’t have a lot of international travel experience. It is fairly easy to get around. Most people speak at least some English. The local food is familiar to Americans.
The problem is that most of the great sites in Italy tend to be touristy. Rome and Florence have plenty of amazing stuff to see, but much of the economy is catering to tourists.
I would skip Pisa. Some things are a lot more impressive in person than what you’ve seen in photos. The Leaning Tower is not one of them.
If you are into hiking, I’d suggest flying into Venice. Several cities in the US will have non-stop flights to Venice. Spend two days there. No more. It is touristy and expensive, but is an extraordinary place to walk around. After two days you’ll have gotten the gist of the place. Then, head to the Dolomites, perhaps basing out of Cortina D’Ampezzo. Driving from Venice to Cortina is easy. The culture up there has more Austrian influence, so it’s a lot different than southern Italy. But, the Dolomites are incredible. They are visually more impressive than any mountains in the lower 48 in the US. If you like to ride, rent a bike (or an e-bike) and do the one-day Sella Ronda loop. It’s the most scenic mountain ride I have ever done, and I live in CO. If you want to add more history/culture, then add Verona. It has some cool old stuff, including a Roman coliseum, but on a smaller scale than Rome. It is a great place to walk around for a few days. The Romeo and Juliet stuff is touristy, but worth 30 minutes.
I would just book everything online, and not use a travel agent. Once you decide on your basic itinerary, it’s easy enough to use any of several hotel booking sites. I have not used Air BnB in Italy, but suspect that is fairly easy, too.
The family went to Rome couple years ago. Unfortunately, my mother planned it so I don’t know have any names for where we stayed. We were about 2 blocks from the Trevi fountain in this great hotel. Location was excellent. You could walk everywhere. Spanish steps were 5 min away. Colosseum was 15 min walk. Vatican 15-20 min walk. We had a private tour of the Vatican/Sistene Chapel. I’d recommend it, or a semi private tour. There is so much to see there, was nice having the guide to explain as we walked and to give you little tips that you normally wouldn’t hear.
We also did a golf cart tour, in the city, but it was all oddball stuff you would never see. Went to the Jewish district, a shopping area where all the local Roman actually shop at. An area past the Colosseum which was an actual gladiator ring. Just a low dirt ring now but you could see the outline of it. The was a short, what looked like a fountain. Tour guide explained how it was actually water from the original Roman aquaducts flowing out of the fountain. Where the water was coming out, right above was a hole. Guide said to put our finger over the hole, all of a sudden the water starting coming out in a steadier stream, like a drinking fountain, which it actually was. He said they were located all around the city for people to have access to clean water.
Also took us up into the hills overlooking the city. Brought us down this residential road and stopped outside a set of large locked gates. Told us to look through the small hole in the door. You could see into a courtyard, through the glass windows of the builiding and the Vatican in the distance. He then said we were looking through 3 countries. We were in Italy, the gate/building was an embassy of the Knights of Malta, which has no actual land so their embassy is considered part of their country, and the Vatican, which is its own country. The keyhole is called the Aventine Keyhole. It was all little neat things like this that made the tour so fun.
Food is fantastic. I don’t think you could find a bad restaurant. Even just grabbing a tomato/mozzarella sandwich at a quick lunch place tastes so much better than anything you get at home.
We did about 7 days in Italy a few years ago. Did the standard Venice, Florence, Rome city visits. Traveled via high speed train from city to city and it worked very well. Roughly 2 hours from Venice to Florence and about 90 minutes Florence to Rome.
We enjoyed the Tuscany region around Florence the most and would love to go back and explore more of the towns and villages of that area. Very scenic.
Venice was well worth the visit but only 1.5 to 2 days was needed for us. We do not feel a repeat visit will be necessary, but it was still very cool to see especially in evening when most of the day trippers are gone.
We did the major sites in Rome as well as a few smaller ones. The Forum, Colosseum and Vatican are definitely worth doing one time. But would not plan another visit to Rome either.
We would love to go back to explore more areas around the country. We used the Rick Steves Italy travel guide and it is very helpful. You can find local hotels and good restaurants using it.
For most of our travel we used trains, buses and the water bus in venice to get around. We did however book a private driver for a day trip to visit Sienna, Montepuciano, and other villages south of Florence.
The best tip I have is if any major site / museum allows you to make a reservation pre buy ahead of time, do it. It cuts down waiting time tremendously.
If you don’t mind renting and driving in Italy then I’d suggest staying outside of Florence at one of many Agriturismo places. We stayed near Impruneta and had access to the coast, the many vineyards and small restaurants. It’s a short bus ride to Florence to experience the big city stuff but staying in the countryside and experiencing small towns was a treat. San G and Siena is nearby as well as Pisa. And language is not a problem, just talk with your hands.
Rome is amazing. We stayed in the north part of the city and took the subway down to the Colesium, Forum big circus area. It is a big touristy circus down there. We got send to some catacombs we could walk too a few blocks from our hotel. And hold onto your wallet in Rome for sure.
If you don’t have a lot of time and want to save some money go to Osti Antica. It is the old Roman port and the Tiber changed course and it was abandoned and then covered in sand. It is a time capsule like Pompei only you can get there on the subway and a local train for like the ten dollars one way.
For art Florence is amazing. But lots of places in Italy are amazing.
I love Italy. My dad is from there and I’ve spent a lot of time there, but, it’s been a while since I’ve been back. Some general things to know:
for the purposes of tourism, divide Italy in to two areas: north and south. The division point is rome. If you want more of a European experience, have people speaking English to you, have reliable transportation etc, stay north of Rome. If you find the quirks of Italian culture charming instead of grating, go south of Rome.
you’re not going to see it all in one trip so don’t try. Pick a region and camp stay there. Doing a tour where you do 2 days in Milan, 3 in Venice, 3 in Florence, 2 in rome etc is exhausting.
you’re going to fly in/out of either rome or Milan. If you want a stunning lake vacation in the foothills of the alps, go to the lake district around como, or the dolomites. If you want to explore cities and see all the history, consider Rome/Naples/Amalfi coast to unwind at the end. If you want a sort of generic (but still lovely) Italian experience, I would go to Tuscany. If you want a real adventure, go to Sicily.
A lot of people say to skip pisa. I would say skip it during the day. It’s packed with tour buses and pick pockets who prey on tourists.
But, at night it’s actually amazing. All the tour buses leave in the afternoon and it’s so quiet. When we went through we arrived at like 6, there were maybe a handful of people strolling around the leaning tower and square around it. We had dinner on a quiet street with the tower right behind us and just wandered within the walled old city all night, then took the train out in the morning as it started to get busy. It was definitely worth the overnight stop for us.
Unlike everyone else my wife and I love Venice. If you only spend a couple days there you didn’t see Venice. We have been there 4 times and still haven’t done everything. (Once was 10 days in Venice)
Venice has several islands.
Lido is good to rent bicycles and ride the bike path along the beach. That is a day.
Murano is the glass making island and you can spend a day there.
Torcello and Burano (lace island) is a fun boat ride and get to see a couple more cool places.
San Michele cemetery island is a very interesting place to see.
Between the big tourist attractions would be at least a couple days.
The rest of the time we just walked from end to end getting lost, drinking wine from the markets with bring your own jug. Young, fresh, low ETOH and pretty tasty. Having coffee and pastries and making sandwiches and cheese/encased cured meats every day. We have stayed mostly behind the train station by the Ghetto district in air b&bs.
Rome, Milan & Florence were to me like big cities with way too many “Jesus Picture” galleries.
We liked the Cinque Terre area. Lots of hiking between towns and if you poop out a train between towns can save you. You could easy spend 3-5 days there.
From Venice you can train to Innsbruck over Brenner Pass and visit a totally opposite of Italy country. Austria is way more formal and Italy sort of kicked back. Rent bikes and ride on the paths to other communities. The bikes are usually 3-5 speed city kind bikes. I am guessing there are a ton of E-bikes to rent as well. We have been hitting winter the last couple trips so bikes not so much.
Caveat, the slow tourist method is not for everyone but we enjoy hanging out in the non tourist parts of towns and meeting locals. Eating a meal several days in a row at the same place limits the number of different places you eat. But we have found the cooks and wait staff become friends after a few days and tell you cool places to go visit off the path.
I would prolly go in as early of May as possible because Italy in summer can be hot, crowded, and just not as much fun as when things are slow.
We did the whirlwind trip almost 20 years ago now. Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, Pompeii and Rome over 10 days. Number one recommendation is go as early in May as possible. We went in mid-November and did run into any of the tourist horror stories of massive crowds (except at the Vatican).
As people who like outdoors and hiking, Cinque Terre was the highlight. The walk between towns was amazing. It was 2005 so things have changed, but back then the locals didn’t have the internet so you just found a room for the night when you got to town. 2 nights is plenty there. Venice was second favorite as it is so unique.
If we did it again, I would have skipped Rome and Pompeii and maybe tried to hit Lake Como. They were fine, but probably suffered from being toward the end of the trip.
I studied in Rome for a semester and traveled with a local, but this was 20+ years ago.
Rome is my favorite city in the world.
Cinque Terre is amazing, and wasn’t touristy at all but still on the Italian Riviera.
Ischia was another hidden gem.
I love Italy. My dad is from there and I’ve spent a lot of time there, but, it’s been a while since I’ve been back. Some general things to know:
for the purposes of tourism, divide Italy in to two areas: north and south. The division point is rome. If you want more of a European experience, have people speaking English to you, have reliable transportation etc, stay north of Rome. If you find the quirks of Italian culture charming instead of grating, go south of Rome.
you’re not going to see it all in one trip so don’t try. Pick a region and camp stay there. Doing a tour where you do 2 days in Milan, 3 in Venice, 3 in Florence, 2 in rome etc is exhausting.
you’re going to fly in/out of either rome or Milan. If you want a stunning lake vacation in the foothills of the alps, go to the lake district around como, or the dolomites. If you want to explore cities and see all the history, consider Rome/Naples/Amalfi coast to unwind at the end. If you want a sort of generic (but still lovely) Italian experience, I would go to Tuscany. If you want a real adventure, go to Sicily.
I’d agree one or two cities at a time. Even Milan has so much history.
If you get bored of Venice for a day you could go to Padua. All of 30 km away. If you don’t like the Jesus pictures you probably don’t want the Scorvigni chapel though.
You could always check out the University of Padova
The introduction of empirical and experimental methods together with the teaching of theory marked the dawn of a golden age. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Padua became a** workshop of ideas and the home to figures who changed the cultural and scientific history of humanity.** They included Andrea Vesalio, who founded modern anatomy, as well as the astronomer Copernicus, and Galileo, who observed the skies here.
Padua also vaunts the world’s first university botanical garden and a permanent anatomical theatre, which was built by Girolamo Fabrici d’Acquapendente. William Harvey, who became famous for describing the circulation of the blood, studied in Padua, and in 1678 Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia became the first woman in the world to be awarded a university degree.
You are right Windy. There are some great Jesus Pictures in Italy. In a two week vacation is seeing 100 too many? 1,000? 5,000? 10,000? They ain’t all great but I would guess in Rome only there are prolly 100,000 Jesus pictures on display in galleries, retail, churches building signs, candles, books. The 1st time we went to Italy we totally overdosed on Jesus pictures. Now we try and hit a couple places each trip, just saying there are all kinds of other really cool things to see in Italy.