The Challenge: 20 Things to do in Italy

Last year I managed to head to Europe (yet again) for a short adventure. An opportunity came up 6 weeks before the travels and it didn't take me long to decide to go on the trip. I did the maths and sums, and could even afford a business class trip on the way home with my American Express Membership Rewards. Sweet! So a trip to Berlin, Italy and Paris was planned for a short 18 days. An andante pace trip it was not – hectic yet completely optimised amazing racing it turned out to be.

Prior to heading to Italy, I stumbled across this article whilst doing my trip planning and research:

20 Things Everyone should do in Italy. I read it and thought it would be novel to do it, but completely forgot about it when I went full steam ahead mapping out the itinerary and doing flight & train & hotel bookings. Whilst searching for other travel emails in my inbox recently, I found this link again, so thought it would be worthwhile to assess and review my amateur 11 day trip to an Italy-travel expert!

1. Take a night ride on the #1 vaporetto in Venice - Yes...and No

Did I take a ride on the vaporetto? Yes! I didn’t do it at night though and I didn’t sit on it for a full trip but it’s the experience that counts right? I did take an evening sunset ride on a Gondola with my travel partner along with 2 Japanese Tourists on a honeymoon though! I don't think they minded us crashing their romantic holiday (I hope?). One way to save on the pricey EU80 Gondola Ride is to just find other travellers that are willing to share the cost with you. As cheesy as it sounds, a ride on the Venice waters on a gondola is a must if you only plan to see Venice once.

2. Spend 15 minutes with “The Last Supper” in Milan – No to Last Supper. Yes to Milan

By the time I decided to take this trip, I would have been on the waiting list to see 'The Last Supper' in time for maybe Christmas. I did however go to Milan for half a day and saw the stunningly gorgeous Gothic Duomo. It’s incredible to see it as you surface from the metro station. I wandered around the Milanese streets in search of lunch and hit quite a few cool spots, and took snapshots of cool ‘design things’ I spotted. Milan is after all the design capital of Italy. I did see drafts and copies of da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’ whilst in Venice though - there was an exhibition dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings at the Academia - 'The Universal Man', so I saw at least conceptual drawings and sketches of ‘The Last Supper’. The best part of my Milan visiting was actually the opportunity to meet up with my parents for an hour or so to have tea at the stunning Park Hyatt Milan where they were staying for a few nights.

3. Overdose on Renaissance art at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence - Yes!

I think I overdosed before I even entered Uffizi! The queues for the Uffizi were unlike anything I have seen. And under that strong Tuscan sun in early October (I can only imagine how the summer would have felt), it’s not the best place to be standing in Florence. Even with pre-purchased tickets, we had to queue at our allocated time slot to get inside the museum. Actually, just be prepared to queue in Florence wherever you go if it is not winter. I LOVE art museums, but I can’t say Uffizi was my favourite museum I have visited in the world. But a mighty collection of Renaissance art it is - all the big names can be found here - Michaelangelo, da Vinci, Botticelli etc. Where else to better understand and appreciate this art style which pioneered western paintings but in the Renaissance birthplace of Florence. And in an old Medici palace! My favourite painting in the entire Uffizi would have to be Botticelli’s ‘The Birth of Venus’ - something captivating about the long wavy blonde hair and the curves of a woman’s figure!

The queue to get in!

4. Get a guided tour of the Vatican Museums - Yes...and No

I did go to the Vatican Museum not on a guided tour but with an audio guide. I would highly recommend pre-purchasing tickets to the Vatican Museum to ensure you get in on the day you would like to visit. I’m sure a guided tour would have been fantastic had I remembered to book it prior to going on holidays. The audio guide is still a good alternative and worth your money. The Sistine Chapel was definitely the highlight, so make that your last stop so you can fully appreciate everything in this museum. There are multiple tour groups that are on a tight schedule and race through this museum just to get to Michaelangelo's masterpiece, and unfortunately race out again. My advice is to take your time to appreciate the incredible detail in Michaelangelo's art (and not to lose your travel partner in the crowds!). You cannot take photos inside the Sistine Chapel so you may as well take it all in.

The beautiful spiral staircase inside Vatican Museum

5. Climb Florence’s Duomo - No...but

I didn’t climb it, but certainly did enjoy a view of the Duomo from my accommodation. My first Airbnb experience was pretty awesome. And I didn’t even know the apartment had a view at the time of my booking! Bonus! To be honest, I didn't even walk into the Duomo during my 2 nights in Florence. Refer to point 3 regarding crowds and queuing in Florence. I did take in a sunset view of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo - stunning!

Yep, that was the view!

6. Eat pizza in Naples – Yes!

Naples is the birthplace of the world famous pizza. Not many people actually put Naples on their itinerary if they are on a 11 day trip of Italy. I did out of necessity to connect us to essential travel points (airports). The Naples I saw was rather grungy and dirty, and frankly dirtier than places I’ve visited in parts of Asia! However the pizza I ate in Naples was the best ever. Full stop. Head to Pizzeria Starita for a meal you will remember forever! By sheer luck we managed to get a table immediately even though there was a queue!

7. Visit the Greek ruins in Sicily – No

I didn’t make it that far south in Italy. I think I'd need to prepare lots of Euros too! (See point 8 & 9 below)

8. Tempt fate driving along the Amalfi Coast - Sort of

I think just by heading to the Amalfi Coast you are tempting fate whether you drive along the coast or not! Our holiday adventure was going almost exactly to plan until we hit Sorrento. From then on we experienced the southern Italian chaos as well as torrential rain which is a rare occurrence. (Thankfully it cleared up on Day 2) We didn’t drive by ourselves along the Amalfi Coast but we did take various forms of transportation along the Amalfi Coast - buses, ferries and taxi rides. Bus is by far the cheapest way to get around, that is IF you can get on the SITA bus or IF it turns up! I have admiration for the drivers that drive along the Positano-Amalfi coast route, especially the bus drivers that are able to reverse 20m up a hill if required for traffic to flow. And for tourists that attempt the driving, you are brave! I'd much rather have a relaxing time on my holiday than tempt fate, or at least, have plenty of Euros handy to take very expensive taxi rides on the Amalfi Coast. View wise, still spectacular and I can see why honeymooners like to flock here.

Picture perfect Amalfi Town

9. Sunbathe on Sardinia – No...but

We did see the rocky sands of Positano and get my dose of the sun and get a Mediterranean tan whilst taking a boat cruise around Capri! It’s an interesting paradox where the southern part of Italy is economically less wealthy than the northern parts, however my Euros disappeared rapidly in this part of the country. Capri is beautiful, and I will remember the fantastic weather we experienced with the clear blue skies, deep blue coloured ocean, and wind blowing in my hair. However, I will also remember the experience of entering the blue grotto (which is also stunningly beautiful), and watching my Euros sink to the bottom of the Mediterranean sea. If you want to see anything South of Rome in Italy, come with Euros, in cash!

Blue skies at Capri

10. See an opera in Verona – No

Where art thou Romeo? I would have visited Verona just to find that balcony of Juliet’s.

11. Find all the “David” statues in Florence – Yes!

Technically we didn't actually set out to find all the 'David's in Florence, I think they find you. Florence city is not large and all the tourists attractions are just at your footsteps (along with the crowds). But do head to the Accademia in Florence to see the 'real' David, there is a 'fake' one in there too. The real David is pretty awesome. You can either wake up super early and head to the Accademia to queue (see point 3 & 5 on Florence queuing), or you can do what we did, pay people to take us on a guided tour and skip the queues.

One of the fake David's

12. Wander the Trastevere neighborhood in Rome - Yes!

It was by pure accident that we wandered around Trastevere on day 1 of Rome. We were walking around Rome without a map (rather, a bad map of Rome) to see where we might end up. It was only until we pulled out the map again that I realised we were at Trastevere. I didn't know anything about this neighbourhood except for the fact that my friend over at Taking to the Open Road met her fiance there near a fountain. So I figured it must be a cool place to be! On our meanderings we stumbled into a really amazing cheese store. People on food and wine tours were dropping in for visits, the store was plastered with write-ups around the world, locals were buying their cheese there too. It's nice to have a travel partner so keen on food stores as I am pretty sure I would have walked right passed it without a beat. There's definitely a nice vibe in this neighbourhood that looks to be somewhat shielded from the flocks of tourists you will spot in Rome. 

This guy knows his cheese!

13. Go back in time at Pompeii - Yes!
Our Pompeii excursion was ruined by heavy rains! But that didn't dampen our spirits to see this 'open air' museum. It is incredible. Blows your mind to think this city existed during Roman Times almost in original form. I wish we had more time and some sunshine. It wasn't too fun to be out in the rain on muddy slippery soil whilst at an 'open air' museum. Yet somehow when the coach took us up to Mt Vesuvius there was sunshine, blue skies and a great view of Naples from above. I'd highly recommend adding Mt Vesuvius to the itinerary if you are doing a Pompeii visit.

The ruins at Pompeii

View from Mt Vesuvius

14. See an Italian soccer game – No

I have seen an English soccer game before – I'm guessing you should really go to see what the crowds are all about rather than the game!

15. Hike the Cinque Terre trail – No

Given the time frame it was a choice between Cinque Terre and Amalfi. If I had chosen Cinque Terre our itinerary probably would not have been so crazy. Next time!

16. Eat two scoops of gelato daily – Sort of

We started well on Day 1 in Milan eating gelato. And it was GOOD gelato. I have no idea why we didn't continue our gelato eating, even though I was sweating so badly in the hot heat in Rome.

17. Get lost in Venice – Yes!

And we got lost multiple times. People say to throw the map out when you are in Venice and just explore. It's a good idea as the maps are rather hopeless anyway. Where else are you going to find a car-less city Island? The only bad thing about getting lost is trying to locate the hotel at the end of the day. Just when you think you are close, you are oh so far away from that bed! If you can check out Venice during the Biennale which is held every 2 years, the temporary exhibitions are definitely worth a look as the standard is extremely high! We were lucky that the Venice Biennale was on, it made getting lost in Venice a lot more interesting...such as scoring a free boat ride courtesy of the Portugal exhibition.

18. Take shelter from rain (or sun) inside the Pantheon in Rome – Yes!

By sheer luck, I managed to find Airbnb accommodation near the Pantheon. We pretty much started and ended each day around the Pantheon. I would say the Pantheon is perhaps more impressive than dare I say, the Colosseum. There is something about admiring architecture that old and strong. To think people from Ancient Rome days walked amongst this monument is mind blowing! Those 2000-year old stones are sure to cool you down during the Roman heatwaves.

19. Go for a drive in Tuscany – No

I've been told a drive through Tuscany and a trip to Sienna is a must. The only glimpse of Tuscan hills I saw on the on the high speed rail from Florence to Rome. But hey, I drove through Provence in 2012...similar...no?

20. Walk in Caesar’s footsteps in Rome – Yes!

I planned out an ‘Ancient Rome’ day to hit all the ‘ancient’ spots and try to imagine life in those times. Start your day at the Roman Forum where you can buy your entry ticket to the Colosseum and avoid that lengthy queue.

Headless statues at the Roman Forum

The impressive Colosseum

My score out of 20, only 5 definite No's! I was pretty impressed with my self assessment, given my itinerary looked like this: Milan-Florence-Rome-Positano-Sorrento-Pompeii-Naples-Venice. Crazy? I'd say so but I had a travel partner willing to go along with the craziness.

Readers, do you have a top 20 or even top 5 or top 10 for an Italy escape? Have you done all 20 items listed above?