We have many “favourite” travel destinations, but one the best is Italy.
When a country is so rich with culture, wine, art and especially the food, how can you go wrong. I am probably prejudiced by my art background, as l believe the Renaissance was one on the greatest times in art history, and you get an amazing opportunity to get to see so much of it first-hand in Italy. (You don’t even have know anything about it, and still know Michelangelo, DaVinci and Botticelli)
The food - yes the food. Real Italian cooking with simple ingredients is the key. Not fussy and often presented in an unassuming manner in some of the best small family restaurants. (Sometimes you must be careful not to be hit by cars while you eat dinner, as some small trattoria have tables placed precariously close to the city street.!!) It goes without saying the Italian wines rival any, and often restaurants serve their own wine, often in cute little ceramic jugs, which is pretty good.
I know Italy has become more touristy and crowded more recently, and the dollar does not go as far, but IT’S ITALY.!!
Rome - (Roma)
Rome is the most populated and the capital city of Italy - it is also been home to The Roman Empire and to Vatican City, the list of must-see items is endless, but the good news, is that it is a really walkable city, if you are able, and like to walk a lot. Otherwise there is a great subway system that is easy to navigate, (although very hot in the summer months).
I just LOVE Roma, and would return again anytime.!
Florence and Tuscany - (Firenze e Toscana)
Florence was the centre of medieval European finance & trade and considered the birthplace of the Renaissance cultural movement. No better piazza than the Piazza della Signoria with the city hall, David and the open-air sculpture gallery, Loggia dei Lanzi. Not to mention that Tuscany is known as one of the most beautiful wine regions in the world.
One of my favourite cities in the world.
Sorrento and Amalfi Coast
Sorrento is very accessible from Naples, (even from Rome by Train to Naples) and is a good starting point for ferries to the island of Capri, Pompeii tours, as well as the tours along the Amalfi Coast - some of the most beautiful, and treacherous driving on a coastline in Italy.
A more relaxed, vacation-like atmosphere than the big Italian city life.
Venice - (Venezia)
Venice’s Grand Canal, and its spectacular architecture, palazzi and churches lining its banks. Basilica di San Marco and the piazza, but the magic is in the narrow backstreets.
Although it has received a lot of negative press for polluted canals and overcrowding - (especially before the water cleared during the Covid 19 crisis), we found that the criticism was too harsh. Venice is so beautifully unique, that a quick gondola ride from a cruise ship and walk through St. Marks Square just does not give someone the feel of how special a place it is.
Cinque Terre
The Italian Riviera with it’s rugged coastline and romantic towns and villages are five (cinque) fishing communities of the Cinque Terre. The towns still retain a remote feel while out hiking the mountain trails.
This is also a favourite, unique area with the towns hanging on the hillsides.
Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius
During the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried under 6 m (20 ft) of volcanic ash and pumice. Although excavations go back as far as the late 1800s, it wasn’t until the ‘Great Pompeii Project’ starting in the 1950s that excavation became large scale.
Probably the best example of a preserved ancient city you will ever see - so fascinating!
How Romantic is Juliet’s Balcony in Verona.??
This is another one of those fictional places that tourists LOVE to flock to.!!!
Visiting the small Piazza delle Erbe in the beautiful city of Verona - tourists pack into the courtyard to see “Juliet’s Balcony”, the very balcony where Juliet Capulet found her great love, Romeo Montague (or at least the guide love to rave about that). Sorry romantics, but Shakespeare’s play is about completely fictional characters, and this house has nothing to do with it.!!! Even the balcony is a 20th century addition to the building.
Still lovers make the pilgrimage to leave letters for Juliet (even inspiring a Hollywood movie to perpetuate the myth) - and to rub the right breast of a statue of Juliet, to give them good fortune in love...
Maybe that kind of travel works for you...(but personally, I like to search out REAL historical sites)
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