Places to go and Things to do in Italy

Every year, millions of people come frolliking from all over the world to visit all the areas of this beautiful country. Of course if they are unfamiliar with the country and only have a certain time there, the most popular tourist places are the best to visit and see. However, if you want to adventure out of your comfort zone and see some really cool small towns in addition to the popular sights, then continue on reading for pieces of advice.

Although I have traveled to Italy about 8 times in my life and to numerous places, I still haven’t seen all of the places I would like. I also don’t remember some of the cities and towns I visited when I was a lot younger. Because of this, I will only talk about the places to go and what to do in the places I have been to that I remember. I’ll also include some places that I know about even though I haven’t been to. I’m going to start with southern Italy and make my way up.

I’m not familiar with Southern Italy past Rome because I have never been there. However if you wish to travel there, I do know a slight bit about some places that are worth visiting.  I recommend Capri for some gorgeous beaches, a fairly expensive place to go. It is a volcanic island where ancient Romans vacationed.

Naples is an ancient Roman port city in southern Italy which evolved to a big port. It is a very crowded place, and it is where pizza came from. Pompeii is an ancient town north of Naples near the sea that is situated beneath a volcano. It erupted during ancient Roman times preserved the whole city as it was. This town is super touristy and an anthropologist’s delight.

Moving up north you come to the famous, massive city of Rome. Home to the vatican, Colosseum, countless museums, and other sights, Rome is an extremely popular tourist destination. If you wish to travel to Rome in the summer, be aware that it gets extremely hot and crowded; lines and crowds everywhere you turn. Be extremely careful of thieves who target lost tourists to pit pocket! Keep your eye or a hand on your possessions at all times.

If you don’t have too much time to explore Rome, there are a couple of must see places to visit. The trevi fountain is the famous fountain in Rome where you toss a coin over your shoulder and it’s supposed to bring you back to Rome again in the future. The colosseum and the Vatican are worth visiting as well. In the Vatican, be sure to check out the Sistine Chapel, one of Michelangelo’s most famous pieces of art. Other things to see include the Roman Forum and the Pantheon. Make sure you cover your shoulders whenever you enter a church/chapel.

Moving up north from Rome is the towns that make up Tuscany including the famous city of  Florence. Tuscany is a beautiful countryside, very picturesque filled with wine vineyards and scattered with small towns including Siena, Lucca, San Gimignano, Pisa and more.

San Gimignano is a beautiful town on a hill with many old, tall towers. The history of the town was that the wealthiest people would build the tallest towers (in the medieval times) which left San Gimignano preserved with many tall towers. It is surrounded by fencing and overlooks the beautiful countryside. Pisa is home to the very famous and touristy Leaning Tower of Pisa. You know that place where people take a picture and it looks like they’re pushing up a tall building? That place. The views from the top are breathtaking but the climb made me feel dizzy.

Florence is a very popular tourist destination. It is a very romantic and popular place to travel due to the many museums and culture of art and fashion. Some famous places worth visiting in Florence include the famous Statue of David, the one inside not the fake one outside. Make sure you book a tour that allows you inside to see him or else you’ll probably be waiting in a 2-3 hour line.

Other places in Florence worth touring include the famous Uffizi Gallery. Inside this massive museum you will find many, many recognizable and famous paintings that were probably in your history textbooks. These paintings include the Birth of Venus (2nd most famous painting in the world, first being the Mona Lisa). Other famous places in Florence to tour include the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio, and a piazza you can go to and watch the sunset with views overlooking much of Florence.

North of Tuscany, you reach the Italian Riviera. This is the best place to go to visit some towns and spend time at the sea. The most famous tourist places along the Riviera include Cinque Terre and Portofino among some lesser known places such as La Spezia, Sestri Levante, and Genoa.

Cinque Terre is a beautiful, picturesque place along many beautiful beaches. Definitely worth including in your trip. You can take the main train to the first of the 5 towns called Monterosso. From there you can get a day pass for smaller trains to see the other towns, or you can take a nice hike to them. In cinque terre, you can relax with an umbrella along the beach, swim in the warm, mellow sea, go cliff jumping, eat gelato, go hiking, kayaking, and much more.

North of Cinque Terre is a famous town called Portofino. This is the place that people park their large ships and yachts because the port is very deep. This place is popular to go to because of the many views to see of the port and the restaurants.

On the other side of Italy is the city of Venice, I don’t remember much of. However, this city with gondolas is a popular place to tour and there are many sights to see. More northern towns in Italy worth checking out include Verona, Milan, and Turin.

Italy is a very beautiful place to visit, and it is definitely hard to visit everywhere I have listed in one trip so it is important to pick out what sounds most appealing to you. Also, to budget your trip make sure you only do what you really are interested in to get the most out of your trip as well, and enjoy!

San Gimignano, Tuscany. Ponte Vecchio, Florence. Portofino