Top destinations in Italy
Posted: July, 14 2014
Being travel professionals, we love to share our knowledge with our clients to help them make their trips more enjoyable and memorable. Whether it’s recommendations on the best parts of town to stay or where to dine for a romantic evening out, we can help.
Today on our blog we’re exploring Italy. This fabulous country is one of the most-visited European countries and for good reason—amazing history, delicious food, amazing wine, friendly locals, and great weather!
While deciding to visit Italy may be a no brainer, deciding exactly where in Italy to visit can be a challenge! With so many amazing cities and regions to explore, it can be difficult to pick just one or two.
To hopefully help aid you in your decision, we’ve summarized some of the perks of each of our favorite Italian destinations below.
Rome
If for any reason you’re on the fence about visiting Rome, don’t be. This city is one of the most amazing destinations in Italy, especially for first-time visitors who have never experienced Italy before. Rome is very tourist friendly, so if you’re apprehensive about visiting a country that speaks another language, Rome would be a great way to get your feet wet in a new country and culture. Many locals speak English and even if they aren’t fluent, they are often familiar with enough English to get by and communicate with you.
Rome is full of big hitters like the Colosseum, Trevi Fountrain, Pantheon, Roman Forum, St. Peter’s Basillica, Spanish Steps, and the Sistine Chapel. These are all pieces of our world’s history that everyone should get to see for themselves at least once in their lifetime.
Rome is also close to Florence and Naples, making it easy to tack those additional cities onto your trip without sacrificing too much of your precious time to travel.
Venice
Up North and on the other side of the Italian peninsula, you’ll find the city of Venice. If you’re visiting Rome, we’d save Venice for a separate trip due to distance, but if you don’t think you’ll find yourself in Italy again and you’re doing an extended stay in Italy, then it may be worth fitting into your trip.
Instead of streets, Venice has canals—where boats and gondolas navigate the narrow waterways between buildings rather than streets full of cars. Its definitely a site to be seen and its amazingly fascinating to see buildings that look as though they’re on flooded streets, but in reality they were built to be in the water.
Nowhere else in the world will you find a city like Venice. Beyond admiring the canals, in Venice you can visit Saint Mark’s Basilica, which is home to the famed St. Mark’s Square; peruse the Rialto markets full or rainbows of fresh produce; enjoy a Gondola ride through the canals; and take a trip to Burano island, a island in Venice marked by brightly colored buildings and known for being less congested and more laid back than the heart of Venice.
Naples
It seems many people forget about Naples when it comes time to plan their Italian vacation, but we’re here to give this city its much-deserved credit. Naples is a gorgeous seaside city that’s definitely worth a visit. Naples sits north of the Amalfi Coast, which is a region in Italy that sees a lot of tourist traffic, however Naples itself is left mostly unbothered by tourism.
While Naples doesn’t have big hitter tourist attractions like the Colosseum or a canal system, it isn’t without its own appeal and charm. Naples is home to the archeological sites of Pompeii and Vesuvius, two cites that were frozen in time by a volcanic eruption that spewed ash and lava. Naples is also famous for being the home of the Neapolitan pizza and delicious, yet very very strong coffee.
Amalfi Coast
The Amalfi Coast is a stretch of coastline on the southern coast of the Sorrentine Peninsula in Italy. It’s a popular destination for tourists all over the world and features some of the most breathtaking views you’ll find in all of italy thanks to the rocky coast that provides for peaks perfect for taking in the expansive views.
In the Positano municipality of the Amalfi Coast you can check out Sentiero degli Dei Lemon Point, that provides soma amazingly scenic walking trails and is a great way to enjoy a little bit of nature during your vacation. There’s also the amazing views at Sul Sentiero degli Dei in Praiano if you’re the type that can’t get enough of walking trails.
Other attractions include Villa Cimbrone Gardens, amazing limoncello and other fresh lemon products (the Amalfi Coast is a large producer of lemons), and historical religious sites like Duomo di Sant’Andrea Apostolo and Duomo di Salerno. The Amalfi Coast is also home to Coast Road, a scenic coastal drive that is among the most beautiful drives in Europe.
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