Italy has never been on my bucket list...but it should have been!! We had the wonderful opportunity to go to Tuscany this year. We found an amazing deal that we just couldn't pass up!!
I get emails from a website called
Travelzoo. If you don't subscribe to them and you love to travel, you really should subscribe!! They have some really great opportunities to travel on a budget. This particular trip caught us by surprise. Next up on my bucket list was England. When the deal for Italy came about I sent it to my husband just joking, but SURPRISE...the joke was on me...he said to book it! So after some research, we did! We did extend the trip by a couple of days so that we could also go to Rome. We ended up visiting Montecatini, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Venice and Rome in 10 days. It was beautiful. The weather was great. We were a little worried going in January/February as it is their rainy season, but it only rained for a couple of hours one day. I would definitely go again during the off season....less crowds, much cooler and still so many amazing things to see!
We rented a car in Milan and drove to Montecatini, Venice and back to Milan. It was fun to see the actual country and make pit stops wherever we wanted. They drive on the same side of the street as we do in America so that wasn't an issue. They do have toll roads and learning to navigate those was a little tricky since we aren't accustom to them in our neck of the woods here in America, but you can pay either with Euros or a credit card. The city streets are a little harder to get around on as they are curvy and the streets aren't well marked in some parts of the country. We didn't drive into most of the cities in Italy. I would definitely recommend taking public transportation. Their transportation system is superb. We took the Metros, the high speed trains and the buses. Its very easy to navigate & using Google Maps makes it simple to know what form of transportation you need & where to pick it up!
We got some of the passes to see things while in Florence and Rome. The Firenze Pass in Florence and the Roma Pass in Rome. They essentially get you into some museums, skip the lines and allow you to take public transit for less money. They both have time restraints so be sure to plan ahead with the things you want to see & do them according to your passes.
We used
Rick Steves ' Italy book ALOT!! He has so much good information and we followed alot of what he says. His maps of the cities were very helpful and just his details of the cities made it much easier to get around and to determine what was a priority to see. I would recommend at least giving it a quick read of the places you are thinking of visiting!!
My favorite city was Venice. There is something about a city on the water. Bridges connecting you to everything. Old buildings and the smell of baked goods wafting through the streets. The old architecture of the buildings and the stories of the infancy of the city. Its rustic and charming and beautiful. Oh and it's where I had my first taste of Italian Hot Chocolate...its sooo good! Thicker than American Hot Chocolate...creamy...mmm...delicious!
My next favorite thing to see was the Colosseum! Its exactly what you see in photos. Its old and run down and missing some of the elaborate details that once made it a masterpiece. But, it is also so massive and solid and has stood the test of thousands of years. Its inspiring, a sign to all that you can withstand even the hardest things in life and still be beautiful....Amazing! The Romans constructed some awesome things!! Rome is filled with a lot of things to see...the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Forum, Palatine Hill (another one of my favorites) and lots of museums and culture to explore. It was more of a city feel than I expected, but the history there runs deep!
Florence is filled with soo many museums and places to shop...and leather...LOTS of leather, very reasonably priced I might add...It's a busy town with lots of wonderful things to see. I loved the stories of the Medici family. They eventually became one of the most influential families in all of Florence, they even produced a Pope...Leo X. Check out the Pitti Palace, which was one of their residences! Incredible!! The other cool place was the Florence Cathedral where you can also climb the Duomo or the Bell Tower. Tickets to the Duomo sell out quickly so check early if you are interested in climbing it. We ended up climbing the bell tower, which is just as exhilarating!! The views of the city are spectacular!! Take a look...
Pisa and Lucca were fun cities as well. Lots of shopping in Pisa and of course the main attraction, The Leaning Tower of Pisa. We climbed the tower, which was fun and gave you a beautiful view of the surrounding city. It was much less crowded than the other cities of Italy. Lucca is famous for their intact Renaissance Era walls that were never breached. It's now a pedestrian walkway which circles the entire city. Its amazing! Lots of families and people using it. Such a quaint little city. We really enjoyed visiting it!
I'm so glad we came across this trip. It was completely unexpected, but so worth it. I loved every second of my time there. 10 days was obviously not enough, but now we have a better idea of what we would spend more time seeing on our next trip there! And since we rubbed the nose of the boar in the Mercato Nuovo we will be returning!!
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Heather
