Visiting Italy for the first time...help!?

Question

My husband and I could use some pointers on where to go/where not to go in Italy - any info would be great - thanks!

Answer 1

Venice is good only for one day-there are too many tourists.  There is a cafe there where Casanova used to go, so that's cool to see.  Bologna is wonderful for food.  The Duomo in Modena is wonderful.  If you get a car, outside of Florence there are many outlets of Italian brands at much lower prices.  Some good shopping suggestions can also be found on Lucky.com.  Buona vacanza!

Answer 2

Florance is beautiful but so is Rome, Venice is interesting but if you go during hot weather is is very smelly.

(Don't bother with Pisa, unless you just run off the train run through town see the tower and then get back on a train and out of there.)

Answer 3

don't forget to make a wish in trevi fountain.. :)))

Answer 4

Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice, Milan, Verona, Padua. These are major sites as are the Italian lakes.

Florence is magnificent. If you plan to visit the Uffizi, pre book the tickets as you can wait hours to get in on the day if you don't. There is much to see. The Bargello was the old prison and is now a museum. Donatello's David is there. The Accademia hold Micelangelo's David among other works. There is the Duomo and Campanile, the baptistry doors (gates of Paradise. Casa di Dante and many chuches. Santa Croce is wonderful as Micelangelo, Galileo, Dante et al are buried there. You can see some of Brunelleschi's architecture too. Piazza della Signora and the Palazzo Vecchio and the loggia are wonderful. There is the Ponte Vecchio and many loggia markets............

Get an Eyewitness Travel Guide, they're fabulous.

Take a look at this site also.

http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/englis...

Venere.com is an excellent site for accomodation of all types and prices.

Rome is fantastic have a look at these sites and once again I recommend an Eyewitness guide.

http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/...

http://www.whatsonwhen.com/scripts/query...

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home....

Train travel is cheap and easy in Italy and I recommend you don't drive in Rome, the parking's terrible. Hope some of this helps.

Buon fortuna

Answer 5

I just LOVE Tuscany!!!! Was there a few times, it is just great!!! Has beaches to relax but if you have a car it is great to travel to the inland and discover a lot of small villages and pretty places.

Also Florence is imazing!!!!

Answer 6

well I lived in Italy for 3 years so I went to lots of places while there,and they are:

Florence(Duomo and Campanile Tower,etc)

Venice (Piazza di San Marco,The Canals by Gondola ride,etc)

Naples (The Castel Nuovo,Castel Del ' Ovo)

Rome (The Vatican, Saint Paul Basillica,Coloseum,the Trevi Fountain, The Catacombs, Forum Romanum,Circus Maximus,Castel del ' Angelo,etc etc)

Assisi (Saint Frances Basilica)

Monte Cassino (The International WWII Cementaries and  the Monestary that all nations were fighting to reach first)

Pompeii (Ancient city covered by Volcanic ash,it's really cool you see the entire escavated place and as you walk by you see people like statues who didn't escape the night when the tragedy took place,even a dog frozen in time)

Vesuvius (Volcano that covered the city of Pompeii,right near Naples,you can climb up to it's crater)

Island of Capri (The Azzure Grotto via a gondola ride)

Ilsand of Elba (heaven't been there but i heard it's cool)

Answer 7

Rome, no question. It has some magical places such as Piazza Navona, The Pantheon (go to one of the gelaterias near there. They are amazing!), Trevi Fountain, the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, the Spanish Steps, and of course, the Vatican. If you're looking for a good smaller, lest-touristy city, go to Siena. It has nice town square where a yearly horse race takes place, the Palio. If you want a really laid back place with awesome beaches and crystal blue water, go to the island of Sardinia. It's gorgeous!

Answer 8

Come to the Coliseum and watch me.

Answer 9

The obvious Italian destinations include Rome, Pisa, and Venice. If I had to choose, I'd pick Venice, but Rome is amazing, too. It has the Vatican, the Coliseum, dozens of ancient churches, catacombs, etc. The driving in Rome is crazy, though.

Good luck! Have fun!

Answer 10

Rome was awesome and very tourist friendly when i went. Enjoy yourself, spend time leisurely walking through the streets of every city and notice the differences. Try to see more than just touristy places also.

Answer 11

Hi,

As you can see from the other answers you've got, all the big Italian cities contains heaps of places worth seeing.

(You will also find that even the smallest city offers experiences you wouln't miss..)

I have been travelling all parts of Italy and have allways been facinated by places outside the main tourist tracks.

For example the Abruzzo region, from the Adriatic sea up to the Grand Sasso mountain area. This region offers spectacular variations of nature experiences, nice food and wines and a short distance from endless beaches to the mountainous national parks.

Another example is the small region Molise, located just south of Abruzzo. This is the beatiful spot missed by most tourists.

Make it a visit, you'll never regret it!

Other less visited regions I can recommend are: Apulia (Puglia) and Calabria.

Good advice:

Concentrate on one region at a time.

Go slow..., enjoy slow-food.

Vacations are for relaxing, isn't it?  :-)

Answer 12

Hello.

I have a group on Italy where you will get lots of help from it's members since they are either Italian or living in Italy.

Anyway, in all honesty, trying to tell you what to do with so little information is hard and would take me forever to explain.

Basically, I would suggest you do Italy in stages.

The major cities you want to visit are; Rome, Venice, Florence, Sorrento, Pompeii, Taormina, Genova and of course Milano if you are into fashion.

All these cities have many museums and art galleries. The most famous are in Rome and Florence.

If you are looking for a spiritual look at Italy, then I suggest Assisi and Rome. The Vatican will take you a day all by itself.

Then there are places like Pisa, Lucca ( an old Roman fortress town ), Capri, the Italian islands, the Alps, etc..... All must see, but like I said, it would take me forever.

Best suggestion I can give you is join Portal Italy at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/portalital... and we can all help you more there.

Answer 13

http://www.tourismturkey.org/   better  TURKEY

Answer 14

I loved Florence!  It's a beautiful city, and what I always thought that Europe would be.  While there, see The David, the Ufitzi Gallery and the Ponte Vecchio.  You can get some really good bargins on gold there.  I also loved Rome (for obvious reasons). Try to stop in Milan to see Da Vinci's Last Supper and try to get tickets to La Scala (opera...you may not initially like it, but it's really an experience).

Hope you guys have fun and Bon Voyage!