Italy, give me your recommendations

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We hired a private tour guide in Rome and Florence. It was definitely worth it to us. ‘No lines’ is a wonderful thing!

And I also agree with others who suggest you focus on what you like on a vacation. Variety is nice but if you lack stamina I wouldn’t try to do/see too much. You will walk a lot(!) so besides a safe bag (I like Pacsafe), get great walking shoes.

Edited to add: and book at least one food tour! We enjoyed one in Trastevere. Personally we like to book one early in a trip to a new city. We get a lay of the land and getting outside helps set the body clock.

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While I still stand by my comment above about avoiding where Rick Steves recommends in Italy, tipping my hat to him and his company now.

"Europe travel expert Rick Steves says his company has canceled 2022 tours that include stops in Russia, citing the invasion of Ukraine and the reality that bringing travel dollars to the country “would support [Vladimir] Putin’s aggression.”

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I’ve done Italy twice, the most recent time this summer. First time was 9 days, second time was 6.

For the 9 days, we started in Rome, without a car. Hit all the obvious spots. Two suggestions here: 1) For the Colosseum, make sure to get the special tours that go under it. Makes or breaks the tour and under it may be one of the coolest things anywhere. 2) For the Vatican, get one of the early morning tours that includes something special and private. There are several variations. We chose to get a private breakfast in the Vatican courtyard catered by Vatican staff from food produced on site. It was amazing. Then a private tour of the Vatican Museum before the public. Other tours give you private access to the Sistine Chapel before the public.

From Rome we took a day trip to Pompeii, using a high speed train to Naples. From there we SHOULD have taken a private car to Pompeii but I was cheap and adventurous so we took a local train which was definitely a way to see the non-tourist view of urban Italy but I don’t recommend it. Pompeii was absolutely amazing, to me. My wife and kids, not so much. It was August and unbearably hot. Keep in mind Pompeii is basically concrete everywhere, radiating stored heat.

After Rome, we rented a car, drove up near Sienna area where I found a private castle for rent. Amazing experience – it dated to about 1,000 AD and we were in the main castle to ourselves (the out buildings were rented to others and the family that owned it were in an adjacent area). That said, a very large bat flew into the living room one night through the massive fireplace so there was that… We used this location as a base for day trips to Sienna and Florence. In Florence, I found a private guide very affordably and they had a special pass allowing us to skip all the lines to get into the main museums, including to see the David, etc.

From there we took the car up to Venice and turned it in then became walkers again. Vienna was special. Flew out of there.

For the second trip, we split between Rome and an Airbnb in a tiny down in central Italy near Lake Bolsena. This was so different and really cool. We had a car and visited small ancient towns all over the region. (It was very easy to drive; the roads even have “Stop” signs in English; and Waze works great there.) The place we stayed was right next to (with a view of) something called “the dying city” (formally: “Civita di Bagnoregio”). It’s impossible to describe but a bucket list thing to see so look it up. This region was incredibly beautiful and so uncrowded (unlike Rome, Pompeii, Florence, Venice).

For the second stay in Rome, we re-did our favorites but also took a day trip to Tivoli (and nearby Emperor Hadrian’s Palace) and highly recommend that. The former has a world famous set of gardens and fountains, the latter is like Pompeii without all the crowds.

Obviously there’s still major regions we have yet to visit (south and north). Good luck.

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I usually borrow Rick Steves books from the library, it’s good to read a bit about the countries you’re touring, I think I really like the planning process, that’s half the fun for me about traveling, but I don’t follow exactly what’s in his book.
In Italy, we never had a car, I think it would be a headache for us to find parking, we enjoyed taking the train to go to most places in Italy. We took the fast train from Rome to Florence twice.

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My kids rolled their eyes that I did a lot of research ahead of time, especially Rick Steves books. (Side note - I did bring one of the books, which was a few years old. Then I gave it away at our Venice hotel. But for trips to smaller towns I usually just photocopy the pages.)

However in Rome they were quite thankful at the LONNNNNNG morningline at Colliseum that I had his trick to buy the combo ticket (Colosseum, Forum and Palatine) at the nearby Patatine Hill entrance. There were only 2 people in that line.

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We were happy not to try to deal with driving and parking in a different country. The trains seem pretty reasonable and run rather regularly.

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+1 for Pompeii.

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Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Capri. We spent two weeks around the country and this was easily the favorite.

Florence second, then Rome. Small stops at places like Sienna, Assisi, San Marino were memorable. I’d pass on Milan. Venice was fine, just to have been there, but not a must-do.

EDIT: I should add that being the first ones in , in the morning, and laying on a bench staring up at the Sistine Chapel ceiling was the peak 15 minutes. Seeing the Pope give his weekly address from his window, and St. Paul’s wasn’t far behind Capri and Florence.

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Someone did, and they and you are right, Fabulous!

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In Rome with the grown kids in 2015 we really enjoyed the Piazza Navona neighborhood near our VRBO rental. We stayed 4 nights and did a lot of walking. Also used a few buses (son had done a semester in Singapore and was a whiz using maps/schedules downloaded to his cellphone) and a taxis.

This link has some interesting info about various Rome areas.

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I would do the big three. 3 nights Venice, 4 nights Florence, 4 nights Rome. That’s 11 nights.

The first time we went we skipped Florence and did Positano as seeing the Amalfi Coast was a dream of mine. Is it yours? If so, skip Florence this time and do that. Don’t skip Venice, there is no where on earth like it and it needs to be seen.

This time in May, we are finally going to Florence for 3 nights and skipping the Amalfi Coast,

Give us and idea of what you are after and enjoy doing. Are you into hiking, romantic settings, beach, touring around, museums? That will help is give suggestions.

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I haven’t been to Venice nor Almafi Coast, I like to leave some unexplored area so I can come back, I like to space them out too, don’t want to do too soon.

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I think Venice decision might depend on season. Our son saw it on a high school music tour, and he said in July it was tough with big crowds and oppressive 100 degree heat (no sure if that is normal). Also a challenge was the 5 hour early morn bus ride prior and evening 5 hour bus drive back to their motel city. He was delighted to have another shot at it with the family a few years later in May. The weather was lovely, and though I thought it was a bit crowded he said it was not bad in comparison to his stay… which possibly had more cruise travelers. We stayed one night, en route by train from Rome to Munich, in a central location. Another night would have been lovely as time had permitted.

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The trick to Venice is to go around after the cruise ship visitors leave, which is after sunset. Take a vaporetto ride during the golden hour and land in the main square after sunset. It is magic!

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I feel very fortunate in life in that I’ve probably been to Italy more than 10 times. Every trip has been to a different area. We now go with a friend who lived in Italy and her husband who teaches courses to doctors every summer. She speaks perfect Italian (both high Italian and street slang) and looks Italian and they have friends all over Italy. She researches each place we go to. Plus, ShawWife sometimes teaches painting in Italy and likes to go to the Venice Biennale. So, I get to see a LOT of art in Italy. You can find magnificent paintings hidden in churches in various hill towns, for example. Caravaggio left a trail of masterpieces around Italy. What I found helpful was to buy and read up on the art in each place the night before we visited.

There are so many wonderful spots in Italy. The only place I have been that I didn’t love was Venice (and I’ve been there quite a number of times and know nice places and good restaurants). Venice is the 400 year old Italian version of Disneyland.

I think one of the original posters was right. Figure out what you like most to experience. Then plan from there. In Rome, find a really skilled guide to see the Vatican. See the Bernini scuptures. Try the fried artichoke in the Jewish Quarter. Tuscany and/or Umbria are extraordinary and probably are the places to go on a first trip after Rome. Sienna is magical. Lots of beautiful hill towns in Tuscany (San Gimignano. Montepulciano, Cortona, Arezzo) and Umbria (Spello, Spoleto, Bevagna, Assisi, Perugia) – I think I am getting the town’s provinces correct. I’ve never been to Lucca or Pisa so I can’t comment.

We have had wonderful times in the Veneto (Padova was a really lovely city and people say Bologna has the best food in Italy though I didn’t find it), Friuli, Sicily, Trentino Alto Adige (great hiking). You could go to any of those regions and have a great time. Natural beauty, usually great food, often good art. We went to Lake Como years ago. The food was more German/Austrian influenced (less interesting for me than most Italian food) but the region was also very beautiful. I’ve never been to Milan or Naples or the Amalfi Coast. But, I don’t think you can go wrong in almost any of the places. One of our next trips will be to Abruzzo.

Incidentally, @1dadinNC, I think they have banned cruise ships from Venice. You will need to work much harder to find good restaurants in Venice. Because of the massive tourist influx, most are pretty mediocre. We ask the owners of the bnbs/pensions we have stayed in which restaurants their friends own and which of those they would recommend and then they often make the reservation for you. The restaurant owners then care about producing good meals for their friend’s guests and we have done pretty well that way.

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Cinque Terre, anyone? We loved how you can hike or take the ferry between the little towns.

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I am taking notes on all of this! Looks like we’ll be going to Italy in about March 2023 to visit D studying abroud in Florence. So will spend time in Florence and just trying to figure what else to hit in (about?) 10 days…

Everyone says Rome & Venice but then I hear about the touristy aspects. And hub is not big on museums. Alfalmi coast looks like a dream, but friend just got back and said it was hard to get around and she’d rather have done Venice!

It’s like information overload trying to find what amazing sights to pick!

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We visited for 3 days in 2017. One of our favorite stops in Italy. Wonderful hikes in the national park between the 5 towns. We stayed in Vernazza. Try and stay in one of the actual villages. Most are only a few streets. We swam, went to the markets, hiked, ate (such good food!) and strolled around at night. There are also trains that travel to the other villages. About a 5 min trip. Happy to share specifics if you want.

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Funny this popped up. I booked a hotel for two nights in Cinque Terre for October of this year. A lot of places were already booked, I decided on a hotel across from the beach in Monterosso Al Mare. I can cancel till late September if I find something I like better.

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If you haven’t been don’t miss Rome. In my opinion it’s totally worth it and an easy train from Florence. Two places I haven’t been that I’d like to go is the Italian Alps and/or south and see Pompeii.

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