cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/2652265
Me and some friends are leaving in a month’s time, maybe two.
Give me suggestions down below. I’m asking on Discord, Twitter, etc.
I went through a few Italian places back in 2016.
You gotta see Venice, that’s a must see. It’s just such a unique place. Same with Rome, you just have to.
Besides that, Cortona was wonderful (it’s in Tuscany where you’re going already). Nice little small town. Very dope.
Trieste was really interesting and not far from Venice, you could visit it. Lots of different cultures all kind of melted together there.
Naples was cool - other backpackers gave me a hard time about seeing southern Italy because of the crime, but it was more like any run down post industrial North American town than some crime den. If you’re going to see Pompeii chances are you’ll be in or near Naples anyway. It was cool, lots of art.
Ravenna was also really cool. I was surprised so many other backpackers didn’t seem to know about it? It’s quite an old and cultured city.
Naples is near Pompeii… Gotcha. Already going to Pompeii.
Yes, I am going to Tuscany; didn’t know about Cortona though.
Ravenna
I know about it and a lot of rich houses lived there.
Where should I go here in particular?
San Vitale has a famous mosaic, the mausoleum of theodoric contains a certified goth icon
Oho, Gothic iconography is up my alley.
Ravenna is small enough to see all it has to offer in one day tbh.
Rimini, Cesena and Bologna are also neat in the area. San Marino (city state woo) and Urbino too, but that’s further away. Make sure to stuff yourself with Piadina (the origin of the word being “poor people’s bread”) and Cascioni/Crescioni if you go to Romagna. (though be aware of the ingredients used in the dough if applicable to you)
Ah, forgot about Urbino. Worth a visit.
Triese
What else is here? Any sites or places in particular?
Trieste is close to Venice the same way Boston is close to NY. You’ll spend a day on the train getting there and back. Just be mindful that Italy is not as small as one would think.
Trieste is close to Venice the same way Boston is close to NY. You’ll spend a day on the train getting there and back. Just be mindful that Italy is not as small as one would think.
Understood.
What should I look for in Trieste?
I’ve never been there, so I can’t say about Trieste, but it’s on the Slovenian border - so a good place to go to Slovenia or Croatia from. Carinthia (mostly in Austria) is stunning.
Carinthia? Never heard of it. Now I’m interested.
Naples is very beautiful and there’s mount Vesuvius, Pompeii and Herculaneum to see there, though if you’re going to visit Pompeii leave a full day free for it and bring plenty of bottled water because (at least when I went as a kid) hardly any of the water fountains there work. Also the pizzas they make are literally incredible
Bring plenty of bottled water (water fountains don’t work).
Gotcha.
The same goes for Vesuvius because there’s also no shade and no water sources on the way up
gotcha, gotcha
No shade… Bring lots of water… Okay, putting that in my Google Doc.
This is the case anywhere south of Rome, if you’re in Rome or northwards big cities will have little water fountains called nasoni
Oho, like everything in Italy, they had to make it sound like a type of pasta.
Florence was my favorite. The medicis had a shitload of money and weren’t shy about splashing it around. The cathedral is sick. Ponte Vecchio is very beautiful at night. Food is awesome, and great museums (see the David in person it’s worth it)
also, thanks
What about Il Duomo?
Yeah that’s what I meant by the cathedral I havent been in a long time
Oh nice
Get your tickets ahead of time (online), and go early, most tourists don’t like waking up early, especially to climb a ton of stairs.
Noted.
Italy isn’t real
It’s a fake country from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, I know.
Too bad for you; I’m going there anyway!
You’ll know what to do.
I’d rather not…
Why go to Italy when little italy is in nyc and there’s obese italian mobsters?
Hell, why even go to NYC when New York, New York is in Las Vegas and you can support the mobsters directly through charitable donations at the nickel slots?
If Las Vegas is so good, why isn’t there a whole New Vegas, huh?
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klewl
Why go to Little Italy when I go to Big Italy?
Of the parts of Italy I’ve seen (can’t list them, sorry) I liked Milan the most for urban design, and Florence the most for museums and sightseeing.
Also every restaurant that the Italian family I stayed with recommended was bad. Every time I went somewhere else, picking essentially at random, the food was great. I don’t know how well that generalizes.
Oh damn, I should be careful with the food.
What museums in Florence should I see?
@TraschcanOfIdeology@hexbear.net
Here.
This is what I have so far:
San Secondo
See - What To Do
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Get to ancestor’s birth-place.
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Get the document that says you are registered at the Comune: as Italian. This is your town now.
Meals
- Best gelato in Italy?
Bologna
See - What To Do
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Oldest university
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Visit Piazza Maggiore
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Basilica di San Petroni (the library with frescos)
Venice
See - What To Do
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Gondola trip (80)
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libreria acqua alta.
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Plaza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square)
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Daytrip Murano/Burano
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Don’t miss the Leonardo DaVinci museum (5 euros)
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Trieste is close to Venice the same way Boston is close to NY. You’ll spend a day on the train getting there and back. Just be mindful that Italy is not as small as one would think.
Lodging/$
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4 beds in Airbnb is about $334 a night.
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3 beds about $377
Pompeii
See - What To Do
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Pompeii/Herculaneum
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near Naples
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Caserta if you’re in the environs of Napoli, Pompeii too (there’s old Greek ruined cities in the south too if you’re into looking at foundations and broken colonnades)
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the Villa of the Mysteries is walking distance from Pompeii and has secret rooms where a cult communed with Dionysus
Naples
See - What To Do
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whole bay of Naples area is nice
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go hiking in the mountains
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Mount Vesuvius (no shade; bring lots of bottled water as there’s none going up)
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the Naples museum, where a lot of the stuff from Pompeii/Herculaneum went to
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Secret Museum
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“A really cute city down the road from Naples is Salerno. The whole Amalfi coast is just very picturesque and beautiful.”
Umbria
See - What To Do
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Assisi
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Perugia
Tuscany
See - What To Do
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“Umbria is next door to Tuscany, so it’s an easy mistake to make.”
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Val d’Orcia
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Cortona
Lodging/$
- Assisi is cheaper than other places.
How To Get There (Transportation)
- Buses from airport to Perugia (3 hrs. 45 min. and $25/person)
Florence
See - What To Do
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Ponte Vecchio
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Il Duomo (get your tickets ahead of time (online), and go early, most tourists don’t like waking up early, especially to climb a lot of stairs)
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great museums (see the David in person it’s worth it; also book tickets for the david musuem IN ADVANCE! (2h30 queue if you don’t…))
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visit the Belvedere
Verona
See - What To Do
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the coliseum there
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the castle there
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also has the Romeo and Juliet tourist traps
Ravenna
See - What To Do
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Lots of history here; old city
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“San Vitale has a famous mosaic, the mausoleum of theodoric contains a certified goth icon”
Sardinia
See - What To Do
- “I’ve only been to Sardinia, but I can highly recommend it, great nature and beaches, the food is hardy and pastoral, lots of goat cheese and heavy pasta dishes. One standout dish was Zuppa Gallurese, which is a stew/lasagna based on bread soaked in a rich broth and baked with tonnes of cheese. Their limoncello is also insanely good.
We did have the advantage of an italian friend who’s from there and we rented a car to drive around the island which made things a lot smoother, so your mileage might vary, but check out some of the farm-restaurants and the old castles if you get there.”
The Dolomites
See - What To Do
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Go hiking here.
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Highly recommended, but in the north-east of Italy so sort-of out of the way.
Use:
Looks like a great trip, I wish it was me going.
One more tip: if you go somewhere and they have an audio guide, get it. They point out cool details you otherwise wouldn’t notice and provide a lot of history and context for the place you are visiting.
Audio guide… Get it. Alright, I’ll get one whenever I can.
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We’re still planning it out.
Probably a month… at least.
Which is why we need things to do.
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I’m going with my family to celebrate me and my older brother passing university and getting a prestigious certification respectively.
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Thank you so much!
The Garda Lake area is stunning, though it’s big and a hassle to get around without a car. I definitely recommend Sirmione in the area. Verona is nearby and pretty. The city itself is very fash, but you are unlikely to encounter any harassment - there’s lots of tourism either way. Nearby are Mantova, Bergamo and Parma. I have not been to the first two, but I heard good things. Parma is a smaller city, but is not unpleasant to visit to. Then there’s Venice. Absurdly overcrowded, but much like Kyoto, worth seeing at least once.
Verona’s fash, eh? I’ll be careful…
Well, unfortunately most of northern Italy (and southern
are nowadays. But like I said, there’s enough tourism that they probably won’t bother you.sure sure
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Caserta if you’re in the environs of Napoli, Pompeii too. there’s old greek ruined cities in the south too if you’re into looking at foundations and broken collonades.
Rome is nice, has all the hits, probably the most balanced between modern and ancient attractions in one place
Venice is very crowded and smells bad most of the time
there’s old greek ruined cities in the south too if you’re into looking at foundations and broken collonades
Jotting down Caserta and Greek foundations in my notes. THanks!
A really cute city down the road from Naples is Salerno. The whole Amalfi coast is just very picturesque and beautiful.
Salerno and the Amalfi coast… Gotcha. Picturesque and beautiful. Putting that down.
Capri… maybe. I have not been south of Perugia in spite of living in Italy for 12 years (too poor/not enough time lol), but that’s a famous island near Naples.
Capri, eh? I’ll consider it.
One thing I would say is you should be planning lodging already if you haven’t yet. I went in like April so I could do it last minute, but if you go in summer, stuff fills up fast, especially the cheap lodging.
You can use hostelworld.com as a search engine, but I like to look up their website afterward and book directly. It saves the hostel runners money.
thanks, I’ll use that link
I have some plans…
San Secondo, Bologna, Venice, Pompeii, and Tuscany.
Bologna is dope. Most leftist city in Italy. I have a list of places to go eat somewhere.
If you’re into art, the Venice Biennale just opened, and it’s curated by a Brazilian artist. Highly recommend. I have some places to eat there, too.
Where in Tuscany will you be? And will you have access to a car? Best spots there are reachable by car because public transit and trains outside of big cities is not great.
NOICE
Leftism. Good. Where should I go as a leftist?
Of those places I’ve only been to Venice. Don’t miss the Leonardo DaVinci museum. They have small models of a bunch of his inventions/designs, including a large one of his flying machines. Also they have some cool old instruments in the Viol family that I thought were interesting. Entry was like 5 euros when I went.
And of course, Italian Gelato is pretty special.
I did Venice as a day trip out of Verona so that I wouldn’t have to deal with finding lodging actually inside Venice.There are a few nice B&B/hostel spots in Verona. I don’t remember Verona being that interesting though aside from the coliseum and the castle there. And it’s pretty.Verona also has the Romeo and Juliet tourist traps and some small but good museums.
Edit: Verona isn’t as close to Venice as I remember! Read this article for better information!
What museums? Can you specify?
The one in Verona I was misremembering. It’s actually quite far away from there in Florence, the Museo Casa de Dante.
So I don’t actually have any museum recs for Verona.
I just think it’s a nice city to stay in to avoid paying for a hotel in Venice.I was mistaken about this, it’s not practical for a commute, especially not a multiple day Venice stay. Although it would be a cool follow up spotBtw I didn’t dislike the Romeo and juliet stuff but of course, they weren’t real people and so it’s all just “fake” history.
the Museo Casa de Dante
In Florence, eh?
Gotcha.
5 euros
Verona’s near Venice, right?
The DaVinci museum is in Venice. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187870-d1963369-Reviews-Museo_Leonardo_da_Vinci-Venice_Veneto.html
Tickets are now 10 usd, but that’s still pretty cheap.
I may have been wrong about lodging prices being different in Verona. At least they’re not different enough to offset a 2 hour train ride. Transportation can add to it. I wouldn’t do Verona to Venice unless you only want one day in Venice. There are places closer to Venice that would be better if you want to be in Venice for multiple days. Like Marghera.
Sorry I was remembering poorly, it’s been a while since I went.
Da Vinci museum in Venice… Gotcha.
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Ah, Venice being near Verona could work for us.
I was wrong it’s like 2.5 hours. There’s much closer spots. Sorry.
nah, it’s fine
@TerminalEncounter@hexbear.net
Okay, so far, I’m going to:
San Secondo (go to the Comune and get registered as an Italian through some distant relation; I know, it’s pretty cheap of me to do that, but a relative wants me to get Italian citizenship and, by extension, certain European travel rights)
Bologna (visit Piazza Maggiore)
Venice (Gondola trip, 80 euros or so)
Pompeii (see Herculaneum)
Naples (see bay area; presumably mountain-hiking as well)
Tuscany (witness Assisi; Porugia; Cortona)
Florence (Ponte Vecchio; Il Duomo)
Verona (the coliseum there; the castle there; also has the Romeo and Juliet tourist traps)
Ravenna (Lots of history here; old city; don’t know what to do here yet)
Look to what this comment is replying to to see how my plans have so far been added up.
witness Assisi; Porugia;
Assisi and Perugia are not in Tuscany though, they’re in Umbria, about 200 or 300 km away, depending on where in Tuscany you are (Tuscany is biiiig)
Oh, they’re in Umbria… Gotcha. I don’t know why my Mom thought they were in Tuscany…
Umbria is next door to Tuscany, so it’s an easy mistake to make.
ic ic
They’re very beautiful, regardless! If you can squeeze them in, go for it.
Yeah, I’ll squeeze that in.
Big thing we’re skipping is basically Rome.
What’s in Tuscany, in the meantime?
Siena
Wat dat
Great medival City that nearly completly left in its old structure and is divieded into quarters … and all the Quaters have their team competing… Absolutly a Blast of a City… I see you skip out on rome so i dont know what you even want in Italy…
Like Rome … is Rome … You dont skip on Rome … you skip on London , New York ,Dubai … but not Rome .
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Think about and research transportation costs within Italy before you plan a sprawling trip with upwards of 5 cities.
When I was there, train ticket prices within Italy were scaled with the distance traveled. I only visited 3 or 4 cities and I was blown away how much I spent on train tickets. It was an unbudgeted “surprise” expense.
My advice would be that unless you’re backpacking/hitchhiking (which gets harder the more people you have), either pick two or three or even fewer locations and really really explore them thoroughly, or consider picking up a Eurail pass, which will for a flat rate allow you to take pretty much any train for free after the initial cost. Or, if one of you is older than 25 + you have 3 or 4 people going, it may make sense to split the cost of a car rental among your friends.
Think about and research transportation costs within Italy before you plan a sprawling trip with upwards of 5 cities.
When I was there, train ticket prices within Italy were scaled with the distance traveled. I only visited 3 or 4 cities and I was blown away how much I spent on train tickets. It was an unbudgeted “surprise” expense.
Alright, I’ll try to aim for 6 or 7 since it’s meant to be a big trip for all of us.
Just do yourself a favor and price it out beforehand. A single-country eurail flex-pass will almost certainly be cheaper than individual tickets if you want to use trains extensively:
https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-passes/one-country-pass/italyBasically, the way these passes work is that you have a limited number of “travel days” where you can do all the train trips you want. And you have to use those up within a month. If you are there for several months, you can choose the number of days per month you want to use.
For me, it was easy enough to board with the pass without booking in advance, but I wasn’t traveling in peak season and I only had one or two travelers. I think you’ll want to book reservations in advance for peak travel season, even with the eurail pass.
Eurail is for non-eu residents. Interrail is what the service is called for EU residents, and I believe that is somewhat cheaper.
The more people you have, the more a car rental/multiple short car rentals starts to make sense. However, keep fuel prices in mind; if you’re used to US fuel prices, it’s not gonna be half that cheap.
And for long-distance travel, train is obviously superior from an experience standpoint.
sure sure
Not much to add. I hope you have fun and enjoy your trip
yay
