Ahhhh. Italia.
Land of art, food and romance.
And food. And art. And romance. And George Clooney.
I have always wanted to go to Italy.
And this spring, we are going!
I started brushing up on some Italian phrases.
And by brushing up, I mean I just downloaded a translator app on my phone.
And I type random phrases into it while I’m lying in bed.
I may or may not be getting ahead of myself.
But I’m already debating over which flavor of gelato to try first.
I’m looking to you guys for some help.
You guys are so smart and resourceful. No really, it’s true.
Have you been to Italy?
Right now, Rome, Florence and the Amalfi Coast are on the itinerary.
I may be persuaded to consider other locations as well.
I’d love to hear about what you loved to see/eat/visit!
And you know me, budget-friendly tips are always welcome too!
DesignLively 
The Cinque Terre is amazing. We went there as part of our honeymoon.
The only negative thing was having to wait. As a culture dinner is so much later than what we were used to. Snack often!
Hope you have an amazing time!
Ahhh yes! I am trying to see if I can add CT to the mix or not. Not sure of timing?
The Cinque Terre is amazing! Gorgeous! We went there as part of our honeymoon.
Snack often. As a culture they eat dinner much later in Italy than what we were used to.
Have a wonderful time!
Go to Rome first. My daughter went in the spring and did just that. The line-ups weren’t too bad but 3 weeks later when they returned to catch their plane back the line-ups in the city were crazy busy.
Good to know! I think we will try to do Rome first
Agree with suggestion by cameo24 to stop by Cinque Terre. Think beautiful little villages perched precariously on cliffs overlooking the ocean. No cars, and you hike through lemon groves, vineyards, on little paths hugging the cliffs… perfection!
If you have some extra time in Rome, visit Hadrian’s Villa and Villa d’Este as well – both places are a daytrip away and well worth the trip.
Lastly – you won’t run out of gelato flavours to try! It’ll be so awesome!
Vatican Museum queues are looong, so go early to queue. Tickets are valid for 5 days though so you can always return the next day.
Have a good time there, very jealous you are going – mi manche Italia! xx
I am definitely going to see if we can squeeze in CT! It sounds gorgeous!
I wish I had advice on Italy, cause then it would mean that I’d been there already. *sigh* Not yet, but it is definitely top of my list for travel. So take LOTS of pics! Lesley Carter who is also a blogger on here travels a lot and she does have some articles on Italy that include sights, places to stay, eat, and maybe even a heads up on stuff that wasn’t as fun as it looked. Here’s the link to those articles if you wanted to take a look: http://lesleycarter.wordpress.com/category/italy/
Hope it helps and have a great trip!! OOO and if you do anything with cooking Italian food…Recipes please!! I love Italy for the same reasons you do: George Clooney, art, romance, the beauty, and of course THE FOOD!
Ciao!
You will get there eventually! thank you for the link! I will check it out!
No problem! Have a good trip.
Just found another one and this looks fun! http://www.bucketlistpublications.com/2013/01/16/seeing-rome-scooter-style/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=seeing-rome-scooter-style
oh yay! more links! thanks!
You must go to one of the lakes in northern Italy. I’ve been to both lake Como and lake Maggiore and can recommend them both. Bellagio on lake Como and Stresa on Lake Maggiore are delightful.
Enjoy!
They look beautiful! I’m not sure if we’ll be able to do them all on this trip though! If only we could go for longer!
Do one each trip!
Reblogged this on travelwyse.
while you’re near florence, i’d say go to lucca for an afternoon; hire bikes and cycle up onto the old city walls. if you’re particularly adept on two wheels, you could even take the gelato with you!
Bicycling + Gelato = lovely!
I took a trip to Italy last summer and had a hard time deciding on where to go; finally ended up going to Perugia, Ancona, Assisi and Venice. I loved every moment, but ended up feeling most comfortable and intrigued in Perugia and Assisi.
My advice:
1) Just go – have a great time, and tell us all about it!
2) Pistachio & butter cream go so well together; weirdly, butter rum and espresso gelato go well, too. Also, it’s almost expected that you go out around 10 or 11pm to get an espresso and gelato, so you can realistically pack in a few different flavors a day if so inclined!
3) Please, PLEASE remember to call your credit card companies before leaving. My cards all got cut off in Perugia, and none of the numbers for Chase (even the special “Call from Europe” numbers) would work for me or any of the five Italians I ended up begging for help, on any phone we tried.
4) With that in mind, if you’re traveling with an iPad or phone that catches wireless signals, coffee shops/gelato places are great for getting free wireless. In an emergency, if none of your other attempts to call home have worked, get some gelato to calm down, then use Skype to call the US 🙂
5) Budget twice as much money to buy pretty things for yourself. Not that it’s too expensive – just that you’re going to really hate yourself if you pass up those beautiful shoes…believe me.
I will pack in as much gelato as possible : D and tell you all about it. thanks for the tips!
Oh, if you have a day or two in your itinerary and want to go to Venice, do yourself a favor and spend an extra day exploring a city you’re already planning to see. I’ve done the two day trip to Venice twice now, and both times I kicked myself for not just planning a week to explore. After getting home this time, I found a visitor’s guide written by a couple that travels professionally, where they basically said that anything less than a week’s stay in Venice is pointless. Not that I regret going, but in hindsight an extra couple of days in Perugia would have been a better idea for me this time. If you do end up going to Venice after all, don’t miss the cute little island of Burano, but go before 7pm – everything shuts down very early in the evening.
Yes I have heard Venice is gorgeous!! Not sure if we will be able to do it this trip though – too many places to choose from!!
Cinque Terre was amazing… kind of nearish Florence, I think. it’s a protected area with villages along the coast all connected by the train, and you can hike in the mountains or do the coastal trail that’s described as ‘hanging between sea and sky’. Also, I found that in italy, staying at hostels was more like renting an apartment, but without costing over-much.
Have a great trip!
Yes! I am going to see if we can also do CT – I would hate to miss it when it’s so close!
http://www.ricksteves.com/news/travelnews/0602/italy-audio-tours.htm
Rick Steves’ free audio tours were a wonderful addition to our trip to Italy.
yes!! we need to get those!