Traveling to Italy

[DemonDeac]

I studied abroad in Rome, and rarely tell people about this awesome restaurant unless they are a close friend.

I highly recommend this place.

Directions:

Take a taxi and say you want to go to Piazza Tre Lussa (trey loose-ah). Once you are in the small square, go down the street to the right of the stairs. Walk straight, you'll go past two gelatterias. Past the 2nd one should be a street called via della scalla (the street name is in concrete on the buildings). Turn left. The restaurant will be on your left about 3 min down. It's called "La Scala". It has an amazing menu and the house wine is also fantastic. I recommened the lasagne. Trust me.

This is a highly unknown restaraunt located in Trastevere that tourists don't know about and is legit.

If you do end up going, you can thank me later.

[daryn]

if ever in florence near piazza santo spirito check out borgo antico! love that restaurant

[MrWookie]

Man, 2+2's search sucks. I couldn't find my Venice Trip Report to save my life, if it wasn't for Google. Venice is gorgeous, but don't eat there. Stay and eat on Lido, which is nearby and is much cheaper and much better. Your wife will prolly dig the island of Burano and their lace shops. If you go to Venice, you MUST stop at the Friar's Cathedral. It's stunning, perhaps even moreso than the palace or St. Mark's Cathedral.

Lido:



Burano:



Venezia:



Friar's Church:

[nails]

We spent three weeks in Italy in summer 2005. Ours was a small-town Italy trip, so I don't have any knowledge of the major cities. The only big city we planned to visit (besides Milan, where we flew into and out of) was Florence, but we all got a pretty bad stomach flu on the day we were going to go, so we never made it. Next time...

I echo the recommendations for the Cinque Terre. Although more and more tourists are starting to discover the area, it's still a nice, out-of-the-way place. Great hiking, too.

We spent a week in Tuscany at an agriturismo, which is essentially a B&B, cottage, or similar accommodations on a working agricultural property -- in our case, a vineyard/orchard. We had a great time there, and they can be quite reasonable price-wise. (Google agriturismo and Tuscany.)

We were near the town of Montepulciano, which is centrally located in Tuscany and produces a wine variety that is unique to the area. From there, lots of walled hill towns and wineries/vineyards were all within an hour's drive or so.

We also spent a few days up north in the mountains. I have some family ancestry around Lake Garda, which is kind of like an Italian Lake Tahoe -- stunning mountains that rise up directly out of a clear blue lake, surrounded by a bunch of tourist traps. Although the area is beautiful and the people are nice, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it unless you had some other reason to go that direction.

[codewarrior]

I went to Italy my second time in 2005. Based out of Rome, took a day trip to Florence (not enough time), and a day trip to Naples and Pompeii (not nearly enough time). Naples is an extreemly high crime area, and the traffic is beyond description. Pompeii was just awesome, one day is not enough to explore it all.

Rome is great - we spent most of our time in the ancient areas of the city. Be sure to also see the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish steps, and the People's Square. The best food is to be found in the small family type establishments. We mostly ate in the Subura district, which was the ghetto in ancient times. An outdoor dinner from 7PM-10:30 or so is standard. Don't load up on the antipasta - share one. You'll be pretty full after the first and second courses, but leave a little room to tamp down some dessert and an espresso. Wash that down with a shot of Limoncello (they give it to you weather you want it or not). As far as wine, we always just got a couple liters of house red and a liter of water. Lunch is lite - sandwiches or a bowl of pasta. Beer is the lunchtime drink. Great trip.

Look on Flikr for "I the Bold" - I have all of my photos of Florence, Rome, Naples (drive by mostly - we didn't stop for very long), and Pompeii up there, and most of the Rome and Pompeii ones will also be on Romanitas.net once they redo the site.

[Peter Harris]

just wait till adsman drops in on this thread.

[turnipmonster]

the cinque terra is quite popular now so it's not necessarily off the beaten path, but it's a beautiful place. definitely look into it if you are interested in coastal areas, hiking, etc.

[GotRivered?]

Not really sure what your into but heres a quick breakdown

Rome - Very dirty but great if you like roman history

Florence - Great city to just roam around, get a few drinks and have lots of options for dinner. Young area too and the piaza della republica (i think) is so much fun at night... Il duomo is also soooo much bigger than you could possibly imagine and intense when you first see it.

Venice - Beautiful city.. (My favorite in terms of the scenery and the fact that it was the only hotel i stayed at with sufficient air conditioning.)

As far as the smaller cities, rent a car and hit up the outer areas of tuscany. The whole area is beautiful. You can get just about anywhere from small detours off what i think was the A1 or A11 autostrada

Edit: The church up top the hill in bolognia (San Luca i think) is a must if you are traveling around tuscany

[GotRivered?]

[ QUOTE ]
if ever in florence near piazza santo spirito check out borgo antico! love that restaurant

[/ QUOTE ]

sick restaurant... I wanted to go back but didnt have enough time

Coco Trippone (a little far away... past the main road beyond piazza di san marco) was amazing too

[DemonDeac]

for small cities, i would def recommend Sienna

awesomely structured with the 12 little neighborhoods and the daily parades that go on. make sure u buy a neighborhood flag.

also, cinque terre is amazing. if you go, find a place to stay in Riomaggiore, which is where the trail starts (there are alot of trails, but this one is not that difficult to complete). during the hike, eat lunch at one of the towns. there was a small building in the 2nd town, i believe, that did a wine tasting and it was right along the hiking path.