Italy: Tips for Travelers

Traveling to a foreign land is suppose to be enjoyable, relaxing, and a way to take in the surroundings.  Keep these things in mind to have an enjoyable Italian vacation.

Touring

  • Wear comfortable shoes as walking is to be expected.
  • Dress appropriately when visiting museums and churches. Many expect shoulders, knees and midriff areas to be covered.
  • Wear stylish clothing to fit in with Italians as they take much pride in their appearances
  • Be aware that not all places allow pictures to be taken since flash photography can over time fade and damage masterpieces
  • Keep cell phones off and refrain from eating during museum and church tours
  • Be mindful of business hours as many close between 1 and 4 pm for leisure lunches
  • Italy is predominantly Catholic, so many stores and businesses are closed on Sunday
  • Museums are often closed one day a week, usually on Monday
  • Serious crime is not a norm, but pickpockets and purse snatching is common. Keep valuables safe and secure at all times.

Shopping

  • Keep track of your purchases as US Customs will inquire upon return to the states. Goods under $800 can be brought in duty free.
  • Know your size ahead of time because shops don’t allow trying on shirts and blouses.
  • Italian stores frown upon returns and exchanges even if the item is flawed

Dining

  • Reservations are required for most fine dining experiences
  • Don’t ask for water unless it is bottled due to high chlorination.
  • Italians take their food as served, so asking for dressing on the side is uncommon.
  • Don’t wait for you check, you must ask for it.
  • Expect to pay a 10%-15% service charge which is added to your restaurant bill
  • Include a small tip on top if the service was excellent

Italy: A Tour of Rome

Picturesque Rome is the capital of Italy, the country’s largest city, and the location of the world’s greatest civilizations. This extraordinary city is filled with historical, artistic, and architectural treasures and is home to the Pope.

Rome is the city of romance with attractions accessible by walking, biking, or renting a scooter. Tourists enjoy the vast number of piazzas, Roman relics, and beautiful Roman churches. Other spectacular attractions include the Vatican, the Colosseum amphitheatre, the remains of the Roman Forum, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain at night, and the Pantheon.

A visit to this city must include the Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani) with the richest collection of art found in the world. The 12 museums require at least two days of attention to view the full 4 miles and over 1400 rooms of sights including Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and Raphael’s four fresco rooms.

Located dead centre Rome is the Capitoline Museums which are composed of three main buildings (Palazzo Senatorio, Palazzo dei Conservatori, and Palazzo Nuovo) surrounding the Piazza del Campidoglio. The museums were conceived from plans by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1536 and the execution took more than 400 years to complete. The vast space focuses on beautiful Greek and Roman paintings and sculptures.

Requiring a reservation in advance, but an extreme pleasure for art lovers is the Galleria Borghese. Located north of the centre, it houses a collection of sculptures and paintings include Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne.

Enjoy the local cuisine at Piazza Navona with its beautiful fountains, artists, and cafés. Stop by Campo dei Fiori open air market and for a real Roman night dining experience try the Trastevere area on the left bank of the river known for interesting, evocative, and local tiny eating establishments.

Rome’s weather of 59F and 86F is spectacular for May through October travel, but due to overcrowding and hot tempuratues in July and August it is not the best time for visiting tourists.

Italy: The Wonders of Tuscany

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

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Tuscany is the most popular place for visitors to see when taking a tour of Italy. It has two distinct and diverse faces; rich art cultural cities such as Florence, Pisa, and Sienna and beautiful landscaped country sides made of small villages, villas, and vineyards. Tourists come for the Renaissance art located in Florence, enjoying the beach in Viareggio, and eating Tuscan foods and tasting magnificent wines from the local wineries.

Museums and Monuments

Tuscany is the birthplace to the Italian Renaissance and home to some of the most prominent individuals in the history of arts and science. It has an immeasurable cultural and artistic heritage which is expressed through the region’s vast amount of churches, museums, galleries, palaces, and piazzas.

  • Leaning Tower located in Pisa
  • Michelangelo’s masterpiece David located in Florence’s Galleria dell’Accademia delle Bella Arti
  • Uffizi Gallery located in Florence
  • Institute and Museum of History of Science located in Florence

Parks

Tuscany’s parks are naturally beautiful and many are the subject to fascinating archeological, artistic, and cultural discoveries.

  • The Livorno Hills Park (aka The Lost Island)
  • The National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago
  • The Zoological Park of European Fauna in Poppi
  • The Parks of the Val di Cornia

Vineyards

Located along the axis formed by Florence and Siena, Tuscany is the most famous and influential wine producing region in Italy.

  • Chianti
  • Montalcino
  • Mentepulciano

Cuisine

Each region has its own culinary specialties and versions of common Italian cuisine based largely on the olive groves and wild herbs found throughout Tuscany.

Tourists can now also experience the foods of the region by taking an afternoon lesson or a week-long course. Villa Dianella in Vinci organizes groups in the villa’s kitchen to prepare Tuscan dishes later enjoyed with the farm’s select Chianti wines.

Italy: Touring Lombardy

Lombardy is the most populous and richest region in the country due to the population numbers and level of gross domestic products produced in the region. While often identified as an industrial and economic powerhouse, Lombardy has many cultural and artistic places of interests.

It has over 330 museums of different types: ethnographic, technical-scientific, historical, naturalistic, and artistic. The most famous include:

  • Museum of Santa Giulia
  • Volta Temple
  • Stradivari Museum
  • Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci
  • National Museum of Science and Technology
  • Sacred Art of the Nativity Museum
  • Palazzi Te

Lombardy is characterized by high-quality nature offerings including mountains, lakes, and rivers for both sport and leisure aficionados. Water enthusiasts enjoy lake destinations including Garda, Como, Maggiore, and Iseo. For the hiker, Lombardy has a sequence of lands, places, and paths which are each differentiated by unique natural and cultural elements both renowned and undiscovered.

Tourists also enjoy taking day trips viewing places of interests:

· Cathedral of Milan

· Teatro alla Scala

· Villa Reale in Monza

· Certosa di Pavia

· Basilica of San Lorenzo

The wine of the region is Lombardia and is known particularly for its sparkling wine selections made in the areas of Franciacorta and Oltrepò Pavese. It also makes still rosé, red, and white wines prepared from a variety of local and international grapes.

The cuisine of Lombardy is rice found in popular dishes including soups and risottos. Regional cheeses include gorgonzola, grana padono, robiolo, crescenza, and taleggio. Most dishes are single pot for easy preparation. Due to intensive cattle raising butter and cream are a main kitchen staple and cooking ingredient. The typical food offerings include polenta, pizzoccheri, cassoeula, osso buco, cotoletta, and panettone.

Italy: Visiting Florence

Snow-capped view of Florence (Santa Maria del ...

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Florence lies on the River Arno and is known for its rich history and importance in both the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a major impact on architecture, education, fashion, cuisine, philosophy, and religion.

The climate is Mediterranean which is characterized by hot and humid summers from June to August with little rainfall. The winter is cool and wet with some snow in regions.

Florence was the birthplace and chosen home of many notable historians including Dante, da Vinci, Boccaccio, Pucci, Gucci, de’ Medici, Machiavelli, and Michelangelo. In proportion to its size, Florence has the largest concentration of art in the world.

Tourism has become the most significant industry and often times tourists outnumber the local population from April to October.  Florence has more than 35,000 hotel beds and 23,000 other facility accommodations allowing for the potential of 10 million visitors each year.

World-renowned museum the Uffizi sells over 1.6 million tickets a year and is regularly sold out. Due to the amount of visiting tourists, Florence’s convention centre facilities were restructured to host exhibitions, concerts, events, conferences, and meetings all year round.

The historical center contains elegant piazzas, palaces, churches, gardens, academies, and museums.

  • Religious architecture
    • Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral
    • San Giovanni Baptistery
    • Basilica of San Croce
    • San Miniato al Monte
  • Museums
    • Uffizi
    • Vasari Corridor
    • Bargello
  • Palaces
    • Pitti Palace
    • Palazzo Vecchio
    • Palazzo Medici Riccardi
  • Parks and Gardens
    • Boboli Gardens
    • Giardino Bardini
  • Villas
    • Villa Le Balze
    • Villa Medici at Carreggi
    • Villa La Petraia
    • Torre del Gallo
  • Piazzas
    • Piazza del Duomo
    • Piazza San Lorenzo
    • Piazza Santa Croce