For my birthday my best gal gave me a birthday card, inside two RT Tickets to Italy for a 30 day stay.
She has lined up villas all over Italy for our trip which also includes the French Riviera. On my bucket list I wanted to see the Gran Prix of Monaco, we are going! Unbelievable trip for a guy who has never been across the pond let alone take a 30 day trip.
We are renting a car in Milan driving to Lake Como then Venice, Florence, Naples, Nice France, Monaco, down the Amalfi coast, Rome. Any suggestions for travel In Italy, to do, not to do, must places to eat, bars?
Thanks…
Justin
People will forget what you said…
People will forget what you did…
But people will never forget how you made them feel.
When in Naples take the ferry over to the Isle of Capri and see the Blue Grotto! Make sure you visit Mt Vesuvius and Pompeii while in Naples! It’s a day trip and well worth it. Also the Leaning Tower of Pisa, not real far from Florence! Wife and I went years ago. Good trip! I took her to a small factory that made CAMEOS by hand carving them! She still has the one I got for her. Wish I knew where that place was? I’ll do some looking and maybe get lucky but I think it was South of Naples? Here you go! http://www.cascosrl.it/en.about_us.htm
Amalfi Coast: Driving the Amalfi coast will be terrifying. They call it the road of a thousand turns for a reason. What they don’t tell you is there are busses flying around the turns, and it literally is down to one lane at times. When we were there, we took a car to the train station in Naples from Positano. We had to stop and go the other way over the mountain, because two busses had met at a 1 lane section and couldn’t get past each other. Stay in Positano on the Amalfi coast, it is absolutely breathtaking. Like literally one of the coolest things you’ll ever see. It’s your picturesque cliff-side Italian village, and the food is amazing. You can also charter boats to Capri from there, or take the ferry. Capri is awesome to walk around on, but it’s so expensive I wouldn’t stay there.
Florence is beautiful. If you’re in to art or history you should stay in Florence, but the surrounding Tuscan and Chianti countryside is equally awesome. The thing that’s so cool about Italy is you’re driving around and you’ll just go through small towns that are a thousand years old and have tiny little trattoria’s where the mom does all the cooking. Expect to be served truffles like we serve black pepper in the states. One place in particular you should go is Panzano in Chianti. There’s a butcher there that’s famous and is on Food Network all the time. You walk in the downstairs room and he serves you free wine and meat and sings. It’s pretty funny. It’s called Dario Cecchini’s butcher shop. The restaurant itself is awesome, so much pork and beef. Good luck finding a vegetable in Tuscany that isn’t olive oil.
Rome: Oh man I love Rome. Rome is made for walking. You can walk around down a little ally and then all the sudden you round the corner and there’s The Pantheon. We stayed in a boutique hotel in Rome that were actually apartments with a really good group of people. It’s very important to get advice from the locals. Tell the concierges that you don’t want to go to
Oh, one other thing! This may have changed since I was there, but probably not? The way I figured out how to tell a 3 Star from a 4 Star hotel, is the 4 Star hotels have seats on the toilets[:0] Not kidding! You’ll have a fun trip.
PS; They don’t know how to make good pizza!
Thank you so much for taking the time to give us some very helpful tips for our trip to Italy. We are driving and staying in villas, wanted to see the real Italy and not the tourist traps. Your information will be very helpful.
People will forget what you said…
People will forget what you did…
But people will never forget how you made them feel.
I was just told we are going to 2 other places I did not mention…
The Cinque Terre area (staying in town of Manarola overlooking the sea), and the small medieval Umbrian hilltown of Orvieto which is out in the country, about 1 1/2 hrs north of Rome.
People will forget what you said…
People will forget what you did…
But people will never forget how you made them feel.
My experience there is limited but I WILL go back. On our tour of Europe I loved Italy the most. We spent a day on Lago di Garda, which is at the foot of the Alps. There is a little town on the north end called Torbole that we fell in love with. Its a big windsurfing destination because the winds blow one direction in the AM. Die about noon, then blow the other direction in the afternoon - like clockwork. So beautiful and chill there. I could stay there for 2 weeks easy. I’ve heard GREAT things about Cinque Terre BTW, we just didn’t have time to get there. Enjoy! Trip of a lifetime
Congrats to you but extremely jealous. My wife and I love Italy. Overall check out guide books by Rick Steves, his thought process is how to travel like a temporary local. Glance through his Italy guide and see if that appeals to you, it works for us but I’m sure some would prefer a different approach. Hike the trails in Cinque Terre if they are open. There have been several mudslides and harsh weather over the last couple of years that have devastated the area but they are rebuilding. When staying in Orvieto, get to Civita di Bagnoregio. A Tuscan hill town must see is Siena. also check out the Val D’Orcia in Tuscany absolutely beautiful. It is easy to drive in Italy,except pre-planning helps and a GPS saves many an argument. Parking is difficult in the Cinque Terre. There will be times when you can get frustrated but I keep telling myself -I’m on vacation, it’s all good. Enjoy your trip!
Just kidding sounds like an adventure to remember.