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Check Rick Steve’s Italy guide.
If you had to pick only two cities Rome then Florence would be 1 and 2
August 27 for my birthday 😅
One of my favorite cities in Italy is Bologna! Less touristy than other cities. Amazing food!
I have been to Italy six times. Still haven’t seen all of it, and several cities are always on my itinerary. I make sure to return every few years, even amongst lots of other travels.
Rome and Florence are musts.
Milan is just a big city that doesn’t feel particularly Italian as compared to any other financial center, and I am personally not a huge fan of Venice.
Smaller cities worth visiting to get a real sense of Italy are Lucca, Bologna, and Verona.
The Puglia region (above the heel of the boot) gives you a sense of being in Greece - gorgeous, beach, great food.
Tuscany as a region is, indeed, special - worth a road trip of 2-3 days to just explore, check out vineyards, etc.
You are going to love it.
As an American who has been living in Italy for work for some time now, and has had a chance to scope out a lot of the country, I would say my favorite cities are Rome, Merano, Venice, and Trieste. I have a love / hate relationship with Florence. Milan and Torino are great places to live but maybe not the most impressive to spend multiple days as a tourist. Napoli is a roll of the dice and depends on the person IMO, whether they would love or hate it, which is probably also the case for Palermo. Merano and Trieste, a big selling point is the surrounding countryside. Rome and Venice, though, you have to do your homework, preferably using feedback from locals or people who have spent a lot of time in those cities. If you just show up with plans of completing the standard tourist circuit, you are probably going to have a bad time. IMO the average tourist experience in Rome and Venice is brutal and I would not recommend it to anybody.
I could probably name 100 cities / towns that are worth traveling to. Just accept that you won't be able to scrape the tip of the iceberg being here only 12 days.
Honestly, if you're a seasoned traveler with 12 days to spare, a strong contender for me would be to fly into Catania, rent a car, and do a road trip around the coasts of Sicily. I did that over a two-week stint and it was one of the best vacations I ever had. Rome, Venice, Florence, etc. will always be there and could be good options if you have 3-5 days to spare on another trip.
What time are year are you going? What are you interested in? I’ve been twice. I would go back again!
Yeah both times that I have been were either in October or November. I would pick another location for August. Scandinavia maybe?
I thought Florence was lovely, literally my only knock is that lots of restaurants traditionally don't use salt in their bread due to an old tax protest.
Otherwise, the food was A+, history was great, walkability, prices, basically everything. It was our favorite out of Rome, Venice and Praiano (Amalfi). It was touristy, nowhere near the level of the others.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions.
Venice literally has no locals, so it's 100% tourists. You can even walk some places because tourists sit on the bridges and block paths. Postiano was similar. Rome is just a much larger city, so the tourism infrastructure is much more intense. Call it 99% tourists in the historical spots. There's buses everywhere and walking tours at every site.
Florence just felt less than that. Fewer buses, fewer walking tours. Even if it had the same number of tourists as Positano and Venice, it had more space. Call it 98% tourists, it still felt less so than Rome, Venice and Positano.
I had fun in venice, but was younger. Ancient history buffs can't miss Pompeii/Herculaneum (as a day trip, not a city to visit per se).
Agree, Pompeii is amazing
Many of the artifacts are in a museum in Naples - worth seeing if you’re into history.
Milan to me seemed all about designer shopping.
Rome is a must - be careful of pickpockets and other scams (don’t use public transportation)
Florence if you appreciate art
Lots of fresh lavender (sachets, etc) and wonderful olive oil can be found in local markets
Pisa is a 10 minute oh I saw the leaning tower
Capri is lovely
Why are you avoiding position and como?
Hands down —> Florence. So underrated compared to Venice and Rome.
I NEVER miss Florence when in Italy - doesn’t matter how many times I have been there. It is so much more than art. It’s just the feel, the unique cuisine, the cobblestone streets, the views from various overlooks, the shopping, the soccer. One of my favorite cities in the world.
Definitely skip Como as the line to get a ferry was ridiculous. I would definitely do Venice & Rome my two favorite spots in Italy as Venice has great restaurants and is very laid back with a nearby beach and Rome is just beautiful architecture with so much history. I just came back as I was there for 10 days in June and that was actually my second time going
Add cinque terre if you would like to coastal. Sunsets are just amazing!
I actually thought that this was a great distillation of the Amalfi area: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMInJ1IRGx-/?igsh=MWN6OW91b2dsb2Jp
I think that’s exactly this guy’s point. The majority of the Amalfi coast hot spots are over run and a mess. If you hunt around (or are willing to go someplace a bit more off the beaten path) you can find equally charming options with far fewer people.
If you want to relax, eat great food, be on the coast and have plenty of things to see and do go to cinque terre and Santa margherita. You won’t regret it. Fly into Florence.