We are heading to Italy in July, and all I’ve done so far is make our plane reservations. We are flying into Rome and visiting friends there, but the rest of the trip is up for grabs. We are thinking it would go something like this –
- Rome for a few days
- Train to Florence
- Stay in Florence as a base, take day trips by trian or car to Pisa, Siena, San giomani (where else?)
- Back to Rome for another few days? (We fly back from Rome) To the beach maybe? Someplace else near Rome that is worth seeing?
I’m hoping some of you have done this trip before and can help me out. I don’t trust the rest of those people out there on the web..
Any suggestions? Hotels you loved in Florence? (I need to move on this one yesterday..) Restaurants in Rome or Florence or Tuscany? Places to see (and avoid)? Great web sites that you used for your trip? ?
You should know that I HATE being a tourist and I know that I will have to deal with this in Florence, which, from what I read is like Disneyworld. So any suggestions as to places off the beaten track or how to avoid the crowds will be appreciated. In that vein, are we nuts to even go to Tuscany? Should we head to some other region or city within striking distance of Rome?
Any and all suggestions are welcome.
I promise I will be blogging the trip so I can “pay it back” to the blogsophere.
THANKS, GUYS!
You really should go to Venice. You could stay on the Lido, which is an island in the lagoon, and get a Vaperetto acoss to Venice, which is a joy in itself, and also have a beach holiday as there are beautiful beaches on the Lido.
We went for a few days four years ago, and it was one of the nicest places I’ve been, and relatively inexpensive.
I know it’s an extra journey, but I wouldn’t cross the Atlantic to Italy and not see what surely must be one of the world’s most unusual places.
The Cinque Terra – 5 villages hangning on cliffs. If you can, stay in one and walk to the others.
And I wouldn’t bother with Milan…personal opinion!
Sounds like a wonderful trip already.
I write a lot about Italy in my blog since I’ve been there about 10 times, over 46 years.
I know Florence is crowded but for me, being the centre of the Renaissance makes it something you can’t miss. Just be very careful about pickpockets there. Well everywhere.
I think Siena is wonderful, but we stay with friends when we are there.
I love Venice too but it is crowded and expensive. Still it is very special. No other place like it.
Most of these places need a few days at least, so just concentrate on a few places and their surrounding areas.
If you have a car and go to Pisa stop off at Lucca.
Cinqueterre is great but if this is your first trip save it for another time. No I don’t like Milan either.
I just wrote a post about Assisi and the Umbrian hill towns. But they may be out of your way.
Rome is an amazing city, although noisy, dirty and crowded. But it’s the centre of the Roman world and the Catholic church with the Vatican Museum one of the best in the world. There is so much to see.
Lucky you, it’s five years since I’ve been I need to go again.
By the way, you didn’t say how long you were going for.
If you go to Venice then Verona is a wonderful city and Lago di Garda is a beautiful lake nearby. You really need a car for this.
I’ll be looking forward to hearing about your trip.
Italy, my favourite destination. I’ve even been there three times to attend Italian language schools .
I haven’t spent much time in Italy, but I have to say I *loved* Naples! Of course, part of the attraction (as an historian) was being able to go into the dungeons of the old castle :>)
i’ve only been once for a brief visit to see my brother who was there apprenticing with various and sundry chefs. i was there for a week, on a resident’s salary, and had an amazing trip.
in florence, i cannot say enough wonderful things about trattoria za-za (piazza del mercato centrale, 26r, tel 055 215411, http://www.trattoriazaza.it). we have a friend who lives in florence and does wine tours of italy. za-za is her favorite restaurant in firenze. the ribollita is to die for. my brother loves the tripe there, if you are the adventurous type. try the crema di mascarpone if you have room for dessert (i highly recommend it). il mercato di san lorenzo is a great place to walk off lunch, too.
we went to venice. if you haven’t seen it, it’s worth seeing, if only for the amusement of seeing ambulance boats going up and down the grand canal.
as a new yorker at heart, i actually loved milan. it’s more cosmopolitan than the rest of italy, which is probably why most people don’t like it. but as a new yorker, you just might. if you go, go to peck and cracco peck.
peck (www.peck.it) is the most amazing gourmet food shop, i think, in all the world. there’s a cafe upstairs, an amazing wine selection on the lower level. the main floor is filled with cheeses, olive oils, balsamic vinegars, everything to delight the senses. the staff are quite helpful and are happy to ship anything back to the states.
cracco peck is right around the corner and is a joint venture restaurant run by chef carlo cracco and peck (the folks who run the food shop). the food is amazing, two michelin stars. totally worth it.
have a wonderful trip! i can’t wait to read all about it.
La Giostra is a wonderful, absolutely wonderful restaurant in Florence. And if you are going to climb to Duomo, go early in the morning, before it gets really hot.
–Chava
http://www.contexttravel.com/main/home/
Did 2 tours with them (vatican museum and palatine hill). Thought I would hate it – we LOVED it.
We stayed in Rome for 4 days then went to Malta for 3 days. We went to Italy with the assumption that we’d go back some day, so we simply focused on Rome.
Malta (A group of 3 islands, 60 kilometers from Sicily, but not a part of Italy) was amazing and bonus – 1 of the 2 official languages is English – so you get the history, beauty, architecture, but you can really converse with the locals.
This is great stuff! Thanks so much everyone!
I lived in Belgium for three years with the military (dh was military). If you can, they have awesome cruises in that area that are not very expensive. Oh and we were always told in Italy to watch our pockets for pick pockets. Have fun
Shakespeare set a number of his plays in Italy (or Rome), so I think you definitely need a resident Shakespeare person on your trip!
Schruggling says:
When in Rome, take the time to go to Tivoli – Hadrian’s gardens are a place you can walk around the ruins and see how decadent his life was, and what a passion for architecture he had. Amazing really.
Rome has so much to see and do you can spend a lot of time there. Do the Vatican, the ruins, the fountains, everything. Read Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons and make your own Roman tour. (Fantastic book if you haven’t read it by the way)
Since you are going to Florence, you have to go to the Michael Angelo Museum. I love art, and though not highly informed about it, I do appreciate it. When you walk into the museum, you will notice 4 statues that are in the midst of being completed…they were the last works he was working on when he died. The are called the 4 prisoners. You see, MA sculpted in marble from the front to the back, not top to bottom. They are a bit like Han Solo after the Empire Strikes Back…I FELT them emerging from the stone. I was highly moved – don’t know why, but was truly emotional experience for me. Then there is the orignal DAVID. It’s amazing, and if you have to be a tourist to see it, suck it up. It’s like nothing you have seen before.
You have to go to the flea markets near the Duomo (also a must see). In the flea markets I bought a leather jacket from a woman who spoke in gypsy accent. She sold me a jacket ’cause it was so soft. She kept saying…”it is lamb…” Once I bought it, she fell back into normal accent – she was from Brooklyn. Too damn funny, but I still have the jacket, and it is still soft as butter….
You are going to have a fantastic time!
Drink ROFOSCO wines…they are wines that don’t really age well, but are fruity and light for the summer. Fantastic. You won’t get a bad meal for sure…
If you go to Milan (not worth it though) eat the risoto with veal milanese. TDF (too die for)
If you are willing to take the train ride, go to venice. No place on earth like it at all. Truly a marvel. Eat at the Tratoria a al Madonna at the base of the Rialto Bridge. ASk for the squid in black sauce. It might not be on the menu, but they will make it for you…it’s a specialty. Take the tour in English at the cathedral. Extremely informative and rich with history and entertainment.
enough for now…if I think of more, I will repost.
Go to your local Barnes & Noble (no, wait — run there!) and pick up a copy of Rick Steve’s travel book. Rick does “Europe through the Back Door” on PBS. Used his book on a tour of Venice and Liguria / Cinque Terre. Invaluable insights and unfailingly good recommendations. Pick up his Italian phrase book, too, and bring it with you. Just a little book, but it will help you in spades.
I am going this Friday to Florence and Tuscany; bringing Rick with me 😉 — and my husband, too.
By the way, Venice is wonderful, but the Cinque Terre is not-to-be-missed, especially if you like to hike. Every step is like walking through a gorgeous picture postcard. Besides, how can you beat eating a pesto pasta in a sidewalk cafe overlooking the Mediterranean ocean in the place where they invented pesto pasta?
Have fun!
If you’re looking for beach, the Maremma isn’t far from Rome. It isn’t the Italian Riviera but still is the Mediterranean. We were in a national park with pine up to the beach line: pine and salt air, and a view of the Tuscan hills! Heaven.
http://www.travelplan.it/grosseto_guide_maremma.htm
Siena is a must…we also went to Spoleto and stayed in a farm on top of a mountain. Agritourismo Bartolo..they’re on the web.
Check out “The Bounty of Rome” by Mimi Sheraton in the NY Times archive for terrific Rome restaurants.
Tuscany is a must…also a gorgeous village called Pitigliano. It’s in the top ten must-sees of the Rough guide:
http://www.pitigliano-toscana.com/
Uh! Why is everyone going to Italy this Summer except me? I went there on my honeymoon 4 years ago and I can’t wait to go back. I highly recommend Rick Steve’s guidebooks-worth every penny. I also really enjoyed the Cinque Terra, if you can squeeze in a few days at the end, it’s a nice way to decompress from the travel. Vernazza is the tourist favorite, without being touristy, but Corniglia is where my heart is.
Sienna is worth a night. We stayed 2 and weren’t bored. The duomo is amazing. But to really get the feel of Sienna, it’s nice to stay for the evening passegiata, have a glass of wine in the campo and watch the boys play football(soccer).
Make sure you have gelato. Every night if possible.
Comment on my blog if you want, I can give you my email and maybe some specific places we went to. Ciao!
I live in north Italy and went on a trip to Sorrent and Naples a couple of weeks ago. (I am 18 years old.)
You could go and visit the “Napoli Sotteranea”, the undergrounds of the city. After a guided tour you get candels and come to an extremely amazing place, kind of an underground pool.
The archeological museum is very interesting if you like the classical stuff 🙂
If you can, take a ferry to Capri. One single day is better than none. It feels totally jetset and the beach is awesome. Don’t climb up to the “Villa Jove”, it’s totally not worth the time!!!
In Rome, I recommend you the Pizzeria “Tre pupazzi” (http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2785377-d_j_seafood_restaurant_rome-i)
Try to get a reservation for the tour in the Vatican Gardens. Maybe you even get to see the pope in his “nightgown”? 😉 We did! But even if not, the place is wonderful. You have to go to the vatican office a couple of days before!
The Villa Borghese is a big park where your eyes can recover from the mass of stones you get to see during your trip. My mother totally loves it and calls the museum “the most beautiful in the world”, even if you’re not completely into art.
If you have seen “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, you probably will want to lay your hand into the “Mouth of truth”, but it will take a lot of time since the queue is looong. Better pass the waiting people and take a pic of someone else standing there and don’t wait for your own turn. You’ve been there, that counts as well!!
Okay, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me: friducha@gmx.de
Anyway, have a nice trip!!
And bring a camera with lots of space for pictures!
Cheers from Italy
Lisa
There is a lot of valuable info in these comments already that I won’t repeat.
We went to Italy last Oct/Nov. Rome is certainly a “must see” but we were there 2 days and that was plenty. It is crowded, noisy, aggressive – and not in the same way that NY is.
Venice is so unique – need to see it once. The Amalfi Coast is beautiful.
Our favorite was Florence.
Safe travels.
Many, many thnaks to all of you who have responded to this post. The advice is fabulous, and I can’t wait to tell you all about our trip…
In addition to Cinque Terre (which I didn’t visit but am still sad that I didn’t) make a trip to the decidedly non-touristy but excellent Lucca. It is a quick train ride from Florence.