I am finally able to check Italy off my bucket list! Being raised in an Italian family, it has always been my dream to make it to the country where my great-grandparents were from, where all of our family traditions began, and where the culture seems to resonate with me deeply even living in the United States. And although I have checked it off my list, I know that my recent trip is only the first of many.

Two weeks is not nearly enough time to see everything, but my husband and I tried to cover as much ground as possible and do a lot of “touristy” things so when we return we can be more relaxed and not on such a schedule.

In this post I will give my personal tips on things I enjoyed and things that are worth doing while there.

Venice

 

Venice is spectacular. I will never forget the moment I saw it. We stepped out of the train station, and there it was, picture perfect, exactly as it looks in pictures. I couldn’t believe I was there. I felt like someone picked me up and dropped me in the middle of a storybook. It sounds dramatic, but I swear thats how I felt.

What to Do:

Get lost- It sounds funny, but one of my favorite things was getting lost in the maze of Venice. After dinner each night, my husband and I would have no idea how to get back to our hotel. The roads are unpredictable, it is not like the grid of NYC where all the roads are straight up and down. They bend, they lead to dead ends, or loop you back to exactly where you started. But with such beautiful scenery, it the greatest thing you can do. The streets at night were quiet and pretty empty and paired with the cool breeze it made for a great after dinner activity. We would eventually pull up directions and follow the street signs carved into the sides of the buildings, but while we had no idea where we were going, it was fun.

Hop-on Hop-off Boat

City Sightseeing is a company that provides a very easy to use hop-on hop-off boat system. It takes you to the surrounding islands of Lido, Tortcello, Murano, and Burano, to name a few. It’s about 20 euros for 24 hours and is well worth it. Plus, the scenery is amazing! You get to see Venice from a different perspective.

Murano

      

Known for glass blowing, this was a great stop. You can actually see people blowing glass in some of the shops. It is definitely worth visiting. The island is beautiful as well.

Burano

Known for making lace, this island has so many shops featuring beautiful lace work. Also, the buildings here are incredible. They are so colorful and make for a great background for pictures!

 

 

San Marco

Make sure you make your way through San Marco if you are not staying close by. We stayed at a hotel close to the train station, so to get to San Marco it was about a 20 minute walk- but well worth it!

 

Florence

Gelato

This is the town to have Gelato! I mean its the place where it was invented, so it’s only right that you eat gelato here as often as you possible can! Out of all the places we had gelato I would say that my favorite place was Fontana Gelateria. Soooo good and the flavors they had were unique. One stands out- Ricotta e Pinoli (Ricotta Cheese and Pine Nuts). I unfortunately did not get to try that one. I saw it the first day, but went for Pistachio and when I went back the next day they were out ::sad face::

Florence Town Tours

We used Florence Town for 2 tours and they were amazing. The first was An Hour with David. To be honest, when we decided to go to Florence (mainly because of the Statue of David) I wasn’t overly excited not knowing much about the background of this statue. However, our tour guide was incredible. She gave us the whole story on Michelangelo’s life and inspiration for David. I won’t give too much away…

 

We also did a Vespa tour through Tuscany with wine tasting and a group lunch. This was one of the moments of my trip that I will never forget. It was such a fun day and the tour guides were awesome. The group lunch was so traditional and way more than I expected. I learned so much about wine as well.

 

 

L’Osteria Di Giovanni

Hands down our favorite meal in Florence. I felt as if I was at my grandma’s. The service and the food were exceptional. We learned early on that they best meals are away from the tourist attractions, down the little side roads. Thats where you find the restaurants the locals eat at, and this was one of them. We recommended this place to everyone we met along the way that was making their way to Florence.

 

Sorrento

The city of Sorrento is really beautiful, it had an old Hollywood vibe if I am describing that correctly. There are tons of cute little shops and restaurants and they are known for their lemons so it seems like you can’t walk more than 5 steps without seeing place to buy limoncello. Tip: try the limoncello with cream added. It’s like a lemon creamsicle.

 

 

Hotel Mediterraneo

I could not have been more pleased with this hotel. It was absolutely beautiful, more of a resort style hotel. It had a great pool area with a bar, rooftop bar, restaurant that looked over the coast of Sorrento. They also offer a shuttle service that takes you into the heart of the town and runs every hour. The staff was great and it was very clean.

 

Positano

There are no words for how beautiful Positano is. We used the City Sightseeing company again which provides a bus service that took us from Sorrento to Positano and it was seamless. We also had the most amazing sandwich here- Caprese with spicy salami. We stopped into a deli because we wanted a low key lunch and it was the best decision. I’m still thinking about it! Also you must have one of their lemon ices. They have carts on the streets where they are sold. It is so delicious and will definitely cool you off from the hot temps.

 

Capri

This place definitely lives up to the hype. Before we went, everyone was telling us we HAD TO go to Capri. I am so glad we made it there because it was stunning. We booked a tour through our hotel with Golden Tours. There were 12 of us on the boat. We got to drive under the Tunnel of Love where the legend is if you kiss the person you are with as you go under your love will last forever. We saw the summer home of Dolce & Gabbana, visited some of the grottos, and got to swim in the Mediterranean which is indescribable. Then, we were dropped off on the Island of Capri for 4 hours to walk around and explore.

 

 

Rome

Colosseum

I was never one for history, but after visiting Rome I found myself wanting to learn as much as I could. We booked a tour through a company called Grey Line which was great because you don’t have to wait on the lines. This is a must see when in Rome and you will learn so much.

 

 

Cacio e Pepe

This dish apparently dates back to the Roman Empire so its only right that one would try this while in Rome. It is a simple dish made with spaghetti, a little bit of water the pasta boils in, grated pecorino cheese, and pepper. My husband who is not a pasta person like myself tried mine on our first night in Rome and wound up ordering two other times while we were there because he liked it so much.

 

And that about wraps it up for my stand out moments. Of course, there are a ton of things that I could write about, but these were some of the top.

Other key things to note: Drink café and wine as often as you can! It is incredible and really doesn’t compare here in the states. I am still wishing for both on a daily basis.

Have questions? Feel free to comment ❤️