Italy Trip (All Over)

I have been to all of these places. If you have any specific questions I will try to answer them. Venice - One of the most beautiful and unique places on earth. Vernazza - Our favorite restaurant was Gambero Rosso. It is on the square by the harbor right across from the church. Hike from town to town. The Mediterranean scenery from the trails is spectacular. San G - We are going back to Tuscany and Venice next spring. We stay at a place about 15 minutes from San G. Positano - We spent a week there in 2014. Fabulous place. If you want to plan a big, blow out dinner, my wife says the most romantic restaurant she has ever been to is La Sponda in La Sirunise Hotel. It has large windows overlooking the Mediterranean and is lit with 400 candles. And the food is delicious.

In Capri, go to La Capannia Restaurant and tell them you know Chef Andrea. They will roll out the red carpet for you. He set us up with several restaurants on the Amalfi Coast..

great itinerary. bellagio on lake como is spectacular area to see also but your choices impressive. venice is unique for sure.

seeing rome in 3 days is pushing it. can see capri in one day and florence in 2. try to time your venice trip when a cruise ship not in port if possible. perhaps the internet can tell you if ships not in port on certain days. enjoy. stay alert in naples and rome and when on a train. gypsies pose as porters. no wallets. get a neck wallet or body wallet.

Venice:

Favorite place I have ever been. Weather was beautiful while we were there. Loved sitting in Piazza San Marco and having drinks while listening to the orchestras. Drinks were extremely expensive, though. The Rialto Bridge, Basilica, and Doge's Palace where all really cool. We also headed to the islands of Murano and Burano while there. Got to see the glass blowing and the cool colorful houses.

Pisa:

We were originally scheduled to go to Pisa, but audibled to Siena, which was awesome.

Florence:

Uffizi is a must. Try to get into the Vasari Corridor. Really neat and hard to do. It exits into the Boboli Gardens, which are beautiful. Basilica of Santa Croce is really cool. Tombs of Dante, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Michelangelo. The actual statue of David is in Galleria dell'Academia. Skip it. Line is huge and it is the only must-see thing there. There is an exact replica somewhere else in the city. Donatello and a lot of Medici are buried at Basilica di San Lorenzo. Worth swinging by if you are chasing Ninja Turtle tombs.

Rome:

Rome is cool, but it is A LOT more spread out than the other places, so seeing things in a timely fashion is very difficult. An under the radar thing to check out is Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, which is a church made of skulls. Vatican is an absolute shitshow. If you are claustrophobic in the slightest, you will have a panic attack on the way to the Sistine Chapel. St Peter's Basilica was much less crowded, though. Coliseum, all the fountains, Villa Borghese are all cool spots, as expected.

You will be swarmed by migrants trying to sell selfie sticks. It gets really annoying and kind of takes away from the luster. Really bad in Venice, Florence, Rome. Didn't see as many in Siena or Orvieto, which leads me to believe that you won't have as much of an issue in the smaller towns.

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seeing rome in 3 days is pushing it. can see capri in one day and florence in 2. try to time your venice trip when a cruise ship not in port if possible. perhaps the internet can tell you if ships not in port on certain days. enjoy. stay alert in naples and rome and when on a train. gypsies pose as porters. no wallets. get a neck wallet or body wallet.

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All of this.
Having been to all of these places, I'd be most interested in going back to spend more time along the Amalfi coast and in wine country.

I'd go back to Amalfi and chill in a heartbeat. So beautiful.
I'd love to go do some more wine tours and ride around in Tuscany.

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Venice: Favorite place I have ever been. Weather was beautiful while we were there. Loved sitting in Piazza San Marco and having drinks while listening to the orchestras. Drinks were extremely expensive, though. The Rialto Bridge, Basilica, and Doge's Palace where all really cool. We also headed to the islands of Murano and Burano while there. Got to see the glass blowing and the cool colorful houses.

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Cool to go see once, but you you've been there, you don't ever have to go back. We did all of this. And there were a few more museums and places we probably could go see, but it's not as special to me as BOD seems to perceive it. Just a ton of tourist shops. Few people even actually live in the city anymore.
Florence and Rome were easily better.

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Pisa: We were originally scheduled to go to Pisa, but audibled to Siena, which was awesome.

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I'll second this. Siena was much better.

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Florence: Uffizi is a must. Try to get into the Vasari Corridor. Really neat and hard to do. It exits into the Boboli Gardens, which are beautiful. Basilica of Santa Croce is really cool. Tombs of Dante, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Michelangelo. The actual statue of David is in Galleria dell'Academia. Skip it. Line is huge and it is the only must-see thing there. There is an exact replica somewhere else in the city. Donatello and a lot of Medici are buried at Basilica di San Lorenzo. Worth swinging by if you are chasing Ninja Turtle tombs.

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This is all great advice, except the David. His comments are bullshite. You have to see that thing in person. The real one and not just the fake they have in the Piazza della Signoria.
Just get a tour guide with a fast pass. Don't be cheap and just skip the line. If you are spending two weeks in Italy, you can afford to do it right.
Also, the Santa Maria del Fiore (Il duomo/ Giotto's bell tower/ St. John's baptistry) is a MUST - absolute priority.

Other cool things to see:
Santa Maria Nuova, Santa Maria Novella, Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria (Palazzo Vecchio), Loggia dei Lanzi, Walk around Pitti palace while seeing the Boboli gardens, buy some leather goods while there (they make shoes, jackets, and most of the super high-end name brand purses are made here... so just buy the same thing from one of the workers just without the branding). Mercato del porcellino is cool along with the il porcellino fountain (brass pig).

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Rome is cool, but it is A LOT more spread out than the other places, so seeing things in a timely fashion is very difficult. An under the radar thing to check out is Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, which is a church made of skulls. Vatican is an absolute shitshow. If you are claustrophobic in the slightest, you will have a panic attack on the way to the Sistine Chapel. St Peter's Basilica was much less crowded, though. Coliseum, all the fountains, Villa Borghese are all cool spots, as expected.

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Take taxis. Don't be worried about the cost. They aren't that expensive and your time is more valuable in Rome. Go see the hallmark items. Coliseum, trevi fountain, Spanish steps, Victor Emanuel, Trajan's Column, and Pantheon, etc. You have to see the Vatican. It would take you 21 years to see it all if you spent 8 seconds on each item 24/7/365. SO, yeah... you can't see it all. But the pure talent and craftsmanship on display is overwhelming. And I personally liked St Peters more than the Sistine. The sheer size still blows my mind.
Again, small private tours are the way to go. You can get some cool back door tours and skip most of the herd. If you are wanting fine dining, this is the city to do it. Lots of 3-star Michelin places about.


In super rural Italy, they don't speak alot of English unless they are running the hotel/lodging. But everywhere else, everyone speaks English. However, if you make a half-assed effort to try Italian, they really respect you and we got more free shite and superb service just by not being the typical assholes they usually see.

Oh. and bring back some Grappa if you can. You have to hand import it, b/c it's the only way to get it in the US. If you don't want it, I'll buy it from you and have you ship it to me! Lol.

We got an Air BnB in Capri for those 2 nights and it's really only a day and a half.

First half day will be to chill on the beach and the whole day will be used to visit the grottos and cruise around the island. I rented a boat for a day.

We're in Rome now and much of our trip is similar to yours. If you're not claustrophobic and this kind of stuff interests you, then look into the excavations tour beneath St. Peter's Basillica. It was incredible.

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We're in Rome now and much of our trip is similar to yours. If you're not claustrophobic and this kind of stuff interests you, then look into the excavations tour beneath St. Peter's Basillica. It was incredible.

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They were closed for tourists the times we were in Rome.

Same advice for you. If you can bring back Grappa, Do it!
And if you don't want it... i'll take it off of your hands.