Places to visit?

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tomjc43

Italy is definitely a good choice for a European holiday. Unless you are from a warm climate I would avoid July and August as the travel period. It is very hot and much of the country is on vacation. However here are some musts when going to Italy.

Must visits
1. Rome 3-4 days as a minimum for first time visitors.
2. Florence. 2-3 days for first timers.
3. Venice at least once in everyone's life.

Recommendations if time is available
1. Pompeii
2. Beaches (Adriatic, Ligurian{Riviera})
3. Alps
4. Milan

Attractions
1. Rome
a) Colosseum and Ancient City
b) Vatican
c) Fountains
d) Bourghese Museum
etc.
2. Firenze (Florence)
a) Duomo
b) Ufizzi
c) Academia
d) Pitti Palace
3. Venice
Just walk any where and get lost the city is a delight around every corner or across every bridge.

Eat everything it is all delicious and exciting. But I would definitely recommend the Bruschette any where. Every cook is proud of there own recipe for this simple treat. And the Gelato is to die for anywhere.

Enjoy.

Lalla

Ciao I'm Italian... you need to see florence, pisa, rome and venice, but to visit those cities well you should stay at least 2 weeks in italy... you should try pizza in pizzerias, lasagne and pasta, and in every place you go there are some specialties: for example in Liguria there's the best focaccia of italy...
and some phrases are:
non parliamo/parlo italiano= We/I don't speak Italian
Dove si trova...?= Where is...?
grazie=thank you
per favore=please
prego=you're welcome
buon giorno= good day(morning or afternoon)
buona sera=good evening
oh and you should go to the sea, it's very beautiful specially in Sardinia... :)

bananaman65074

FLORENCE

Rodney H

Commute via trains in the evenings. Plan out your sights and avoid four star money pits. You are sleeping in a hotel room and not looking for luxury. Small restaurants are great and will save you money.

Here is a two week visit for maximum viewing:
1. Rome (3 days)
2. Florence (2 days)
3. Venice (2 days)
4. Trieste (2 days)
5. Milan (2 days)
6. Lake Region or Rivera (3 days)
--------------------------------------...

perrilicious

I went to Italy at this time last year for two weeks, and we ended up going to Venice, Florence/Tuscany, and Rome, taking the train from place to place. It is quite expensive to go, but its incredibly worth it.
If you could only go to one place, I would go to Florence and Tuscany. Venice has lost its homey charm--it is alot of tourists and nobody really lives there anymore, although its GORGEOUS and theres alot to do, like taking a tour of the famous glass blowing shops. Rome is also very touristy but history packed and really interesting, the colesseum is great, as well as all of the ancient ruins. Florence has lots of museums and fun opportunities. Make sure to see the statue of david! (Im 16, so art museums typically arent my thing--but these museums are amazing. the shopping there is amazing too) I have also heard the rest of northern italy is lovely.
The food is great, everything is amazing. go to any restaurant and pick out anything, it will be great. Try the little family owned restaurants though, they're the best.
As for the language barrier, it is kind of a pain. My aunt speaks italian so she made it easier when she was around but when she wasnt it was very hard. If you want to have a touristy kind of vacation, i would recommend a tour guide (once again, expensive, but we had one and it helped alot.) or i would take up some italian. learning just the basics would be a good advantage.
One more piece of advice--look up what people wear in italy, and pack clothes like that. americans stick out like sore thumbs in italy, and tourists are very targeted and taken advantage of. also bring backpacks and purses that are anti-pickpocket....italy is one of the places in the world with a high pickpocket rate.

hope this helps!

Deacon Dan

Here is a sample 10 day itinerary for Italy that hits the major sites and cities.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art53494.asp

Sign-up for the Italian word of the day:

http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/italian.htm

Erin

Hey! I went to Italy for a week in April. Here is what we did:

We flew into Rome, and then took another plane to Naples. In Naples, we went to the National Archealogical Museum, which was very impressive. After, we drove to Sorrento, where our hotel was. Sorrento is about an hour from Naples. Our hotel was very nice (I provided a link in the sources section to the hotel). The next day, we went to Pompeii and climbed Mt. Vesuvius. I really reccommend doing these things! The following day, we went to the Isle of Capri, which is a must-see! It is absolutly goregous, and I fell in love with it. We ate dinner and breakfast in the hotel every day.
After spending time in Sorrento, we traveled to Rome. Our hotel there was terrible, so I cannot help you out with that. We saw all of the major things in Rome, such as the Coliseum, the Forum, Castel Sant Angelo, the Vatican, and all that good stuff. We ate at the hotel there most days too, but we ate in a resturant one night.
I had such an amazing time in Italy, I would do the same itinerary over and over again!
Also, when in Italy, try any food! I am such a picky eater, but the food in Italy is so good that you forget what you don't like! Everything was delicious, even the hotel food! Make sure you go out for some gelato when you go, too!
Some simple words and phases I learned were:
+Ciao----Hello/Goodbye
+Grazie----Thank You
+Por Favore-----Please

deny

Hi! I'm Italian and I want help you. I live in Lecce and it's a beautiful city! many people come here and many people are American. I suggest you to come here because there are so many monuments and so many restaurants where you can eat a typical foods: Rustico, Pasticciotto, Calzoni etc. there are the trains that brings yourself for the city to visit all the characteristic places. Lecce is found in Puglia come here.

Silvia

ciao io sono italiana and i can try to help you for the italian phrases..actually I don't know what kind of phrases you need but..
come arrivo a ..? =how can I get to...?
dove si trova...? = where is the...?
c'Ã¨ qualche buon ristorante nei dintorni? = Is there any good restaurant near here?
cosa mi consiglia di mangiare? =what do you suggest me o eat?
vorrei provare cibi tipici. = I'd like to try any typical food.

I don't know what else you'd need...if you need to know some other thing in italian, just ask! oh and anyway, here everybody speaks english, so I think you're not gonna have any problem..
spero di esserti stata di aiuto! ciao ciao!

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