Planning a trip on your own gives you the autonomy to see, do, and enjoy whatever you want. The downside is that if you miss any step, you could hit a serious snag in your travel plans. No pressure, right?
Italy is a great country to visit, and so we want you to have the best possible time there. That’s why we’ve written this article to help you iron out any wrinkles to your self-made Italy travel plans.
The Essentials: Picking the City (or Cities)
Italy has lots of great cities that are well-visited by tourists. Here are some of the top choices and what they have to offer.
Rome
Italy’s capital, Rome, is filled with amazing sites to see.
There’s the Coliseum, of course, which was built in 50 AD and held 50,000 seats. It was the site of gladiator matches and wild animal battles, but now it remains one of Italy’s top tourist spots.
There’s also the Pantheon for those who like Roman mythology. It’s a temple, now a church, built to honor ancient Roman deities. The Pantheon has been around since AD 125, and it remains of the largest unreinforced concrete structures ever built. Engineers could marvel at it too!
The Vatican Museums are also can’t-miss attractions to see in Rome. There’s the beautiful spiral staircase to ascend and descend at your leisure, seeing all the old, beautiful artworks. If you come on a good day, you could also attend an event held at the museum, mostly exhibition openings and closings.
The Vatican Museum was founded by Pope Julius II toward the beginning of the 16th century, where pontiffs grew it to be one of the world’s largest art collections we know today. The museum holds 7 km of halls and corridors, ranging from Egyptian mummies to ancient busts to contemporary paintings.
Some highlights from the Vatican Museum include classical statues from Museo Pio-Clementino, a suite of Raphael frescoes, and the Michelangelo-painted Sistine Chapel.
Finally, you should make time to check out the Museo e Galleria Borghese. If you planned only a short time in Italy and can only see one gallery, you should make sure it’s this one. This museum houses some of the best private art collections, such as paintings by Titian, Raphael, Caravaggio, as well as sculptures by Bernini.
While there’s a lot to see and pour over, you’ll only be allowed to visit for two hours at a time. You’ll also need to pre-book tickets as early as you can to get an entry time.
Of course, there are lots to see in Rome just by walking around the city squares, especially when it’s a warm and sunny day outside. Be sure to keep these tips in mind though:
- Find the best way to get from the airport to the city. The airport in Rome is about 20 miles from the city. You can take the touristy Leonardo Express Airport Train to Termini Station, which will cost you a little under $20. You could also take the regional train for half the cost, which is what locals use.
Taxis are also an option, and more convenient when you have luggage, but it could cost you triple the amount of the Leonardo train.
- Bring your own bottle of water. Buying water from street vendors is the most expensive way to hydrate in Rome. You can save your wallet and the environment by bringing your own bottle. There are often free water fountains around the city. Just be sure to avoid “aqua non-potabile” or non-potable water.
- Don’t accept roses from people on the street. People will try to give you a rose then demand money from you. A firm “no” and refusing the rose is often all you need to stop people from trying to get money from you. Unless you want to carry around a rose for the city, then go for it — just know you’ll be up charged tremendously.
- Be prepared to pay to pee. It’s pretty much the standard practice to have to pay to use a bathroom in Europe. Be sure to have Euros on-hand to get access to a restroom in case you have to go.
Venice
Venice is perhaps one of the most romanticized cities in Italy — thanks to the intricate canal system spanning the city. You might even take a water taxi upon entering the city to get to your lodging faster.
Venice might just be one of the most beautiful cities in Italy thanks to the intensive canal system and multicolored buildings that will line your path when visiting the city. Here are some top things to do while visiting Venice.
Go on a Gondola Ride
We’ll say it right off the bat — a gondola ride won’t be cheap. They can run around 40 euros for an hour during the day to double that at night. But a gondola ride is also the most iconic activity in Venice, so you have to go on at least one ride.
Since there are no roads in Venice and biking isn’t allowed, your only other option to get around the city is to walk. After a long day, you might simply want to sit down, enjoy the gentle rocking of the waves around you while an expert gives you a ride around the city.
Imagine the site when dusk settles, stars poke through the night, and you see the city light up with nightlife — that’s certainly an idyllic memory to hold on to.
Basilica Di San Marco
You can do a gondola ride pretty much any time you’re in Venice, but you can only visit the Basilica Di San Marco during the day.
This site has a plethora of domes and more than 8,000 sq miles of beautiful mosaics, making this Venician cathedral one to remember. The Basilica Di San Marco was founded in the 9th century to store the corpse of Saint Mark after merchants from Venice smuggled the body out of Egypt in a barrel of pork fat.
The original building burnt down in 932 (perhaps due to all the flammable fat lying around), so Venice built the basilica in a cosmopolitan image — one rife with Byzantine domes, Greek cross layouts and walls with marble from Egypt, Syria, and Palestine.
The works inside the basilica are nearly as impressive as the basilica itself. You’re bound to find mosaics that are as tall as the ceiling, lots of them made with 24-carat gold leaf fused into the back glass to mimic divine light. You’ll find the oldest mosaics, Apostles with Madonna just inside the vestibule, where it stood by the main door for more than 950 years.
Be sure to check out the three golden domes inside the Church proper. The images in the church are meant to be read from altar end to entry, so the first dome you see will actually be the last one you encounter. That dome is the Pentecost Cupola; it has imagery of the Holy Spirit depicted with a dove shooting out tongues of flames onto the heads of nearby saints.
With so much to look at in such a large building, you can find yourself spending hours looking up at the beautiful imagery.
Palazzo Ducale
You might not expect this gorgeous Gothic building to be the setting for a political and administrative site for Venice, but that’s what it was at one point in history. Now, it’s a museum depicting the life of a building that’s been through it all — fires, repurposing, and the fall of the Venetian empire.
Also called the Doge Palace, the Palazzo Ducale still has the historic apartments and a large series of courts, council chambers, and prisons. You can even see some artwork on display on the Palace grounds. For those into Italian or Venetian history, don’t pass up the opportunity to see the Doge Palace.
There are other cities in Italy that we couldn’t mention, such as Milan, Sicily, Florence, and Naples, so feel free to do your own research to see which ones pique your interests.
Once you’ve found your city — or cities — of choice, next is onto a crucial step: finding where to stay while abroad.
Finding the Best Hotels in Italy
Italy is a hot tourist destination, so there are bound to be lots of sites that will help you find the best deals on where to stay. With such helpful service, though, comes the chance that sites or companies are trying to rip you off.
Use YouTube to Your Advantage
Review ratings on hotels can be deceiving. They’re automatically biased to include comments from people who tend to be more opinionated anyway, so this could mean that the reviews are more or less critical than the actual experience you would get at the hotel.
And as with every review, you can’t be sure if what you’re reading is actually the truth or someone’s bad luck — or worse, misfortune caused by their inherently bad attitude.
That’s why you need a better way to get a feel for a hotel before you actually stay in it. YouTube is one of the best places to do that. Since Italy is a popular destination location for tourists, there are bound to be lots of videos, including the hotel where you wish to stay.
For example, the Messner Palace in Venice is one of the city’s top-rated hotels. You can find YouTube reviews of the hotel for free online, as well as a short video of someone filming their walk through the hotel and into their room.
From these videos, you can get a sense of how large the rooms will be and what they’ll look like, so you can gauge if you actually want to stay there or not.
Since lots of people have visited Italy from all over the world, you’re likely to find a video about a hotel you’re interested in. While you should be Googling reviews for every hotel before you click “book,” it’s a good idea to see videos of the place before committing as well.
Consider a Hostel
It’s true that not everyone can stay in a hostel — those with disabilities who need more space and accommodation might not want to do it. Families traveling with small kids might not like the idea of sharing a room with strangers as well, further putting off the idea.
But if you’re a small group of relatively young and able travelers, hostels can save you a lot of money in lodgings — which frees up your wallet for more museums, food, and other excursions throughout the day.
For those who don’t know what a hostel is, they essentially work like this: you stay in a room filled with bunk beds that sleeps about six, eight, sometimes twelve people. There are usually all male and all female options, but most hostels offer co-ed lodgings in case your travel group has a mix of genders. Most have options to upgrade to a single room for a slightly higher price.
Lots of hostels offer lockers so you can safely store your items, as well as kitchen and dining areas for those who like to cook. Most, if not all, offer wifi. The people who work at hostels tend to be the cosmopolitan friendly type, so they’re eager to help give you the best directions to a destination or offer up fun things to do in the city.
Hostels can be a third of the cost of staying at a hotel. The Hostel Trastevere in Rome, for example, only costs about $30 a night while giving you top-quality security, comfort, and accommodations, according to the site HostelWorld at the time of writing.
So if you want to save money and don’t mind sharing sleeping space, a hostel is a great way to save money while traveling around Italy.
Use Discount Travel Sites If You Want a Hotel
Travel booking sites like Kayak, Expedia, Booking, and Agoda stay up-to-date on hotel deals and special rates. They look at a hotel’s website to compare that rate with the rate of other sites, as well as letting you know which hotels offer free breakfast, free wifi, and other nice accommodations.
Since these sites make a commission through your booking with them, they want to make sure they provide you the best deals. Therefore, check with these sites first before going onto a hotel’s official website to find a room. You never know what deal you might find.
If you use these websites, though, be sure to clear your computer cookies regularly. Since sites store your visitation data, they’re likely to jack up the prices the more slowly you continue to look since it signals to them that you’re desperate for good lodgings.
They’ll try to sneak in higher priced deals as a result. To save money while looking for Italian hotels, take a second to clear your cookies every couple of hours.
Always Quadruple Check Booking Confirmations
Once you’ve found a hotel, you need to check multiple times that you know exactly what to do when you get to the hotel so you can actually stay in your room.
Lots of hotels simply require the credit card you used to book the reservations. Others may require more documentation, such as a picture ID and the booking confirmation number. Every hotel is different and could require a different process when you book, so be sure you clearly understand what your hotel asks of you then deliver.
You don’t want to be caught in the lobby of your hotel with your bags frantically looking through your phone for the buried confirmation email while everyone around you waits. Worse, you don’t want to find that you accidentally deleted that email, or that it went to your partner who constantly forgets their email login.
Be prepared the day you get to your lodgings by having a print out of the booking confirmation, all necessary cards required, and anything else you need. You’ll be tired from traveling all day to get to the hotel — you don’t need any other snag tripping you up.
Getting Around Italy
By Plane
Since it’s the 21st century, you’ll most likely get into Italy by plane. The city of arrival will most likely be Rome or Milan, as those cities have the biggest airports with the most traffic.
While you’ll most likely be visiting the city you flew into, you could also fly between cities. A flight from the Milan Malpensa Airport to Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Airport only takes about an hour and 10 minutes, saving you two hours if you were to go by train.
While a bit more expensive, flying by plane between major Italian cities can save you time if you want to see the most of Italy while on your trip — not the inside of busses or train cars.
Using the Train
If you don’t mind sacrificing some time to save money, Italy’s efficient train system could help you. There’s often a train directly to the city you want to go from the one you’re currently at. If not, you can find a connecting train stop pretty easily.
The official train site for Italy is Trenitalia, where you can find ticket prices and times for all sorts of trains you’d want to take.
Be sure to note the different types of trains offered for travel.
- The Frecce fast train cars look like bullet trains and, well, travel very fast. These trains include the Frecciarossa (the fastest out of the three), Frecciargento, and the Frecciabianca high-speed lines, all of which are available through Trenitalia.
These usually go only between major cities. You have to book a seat in advance, so you can’t come to the station hoping to find a space. Note that while these trains are the fastest, they’re also the most expensive lines on Trenitalia. You’ll be sure to get a clean, reliable, and comfortable surface on these lines, though.
- The Intercity/Plus Trains. The intercity trains are fast and run along the length of Italy. They stop at cities and larger towns, with first and second class services available. First-class coaches have cleaner bathrooms, tend to be less crowded, and offer slightly better seats. You must reserve a seat on these trains.
- Regional trains are often local and run around work or school schedules. They’re usually cheap and reliable, but finding a seat can be hard on them — especially on major routes. Lots of these trains only offer second-class seats, so it’s recommended to buy first-class if you can.
There will be more space, and it won’t cost that much more. Regional trains can also range from comfortable and pleasant to dirty, with bathrooms that need to be cared for. Still, these are often your cheapest option if you want to travel around mid-sized Italian towns.
- Private rail companies, such as Italo, have set up fast train routes between major Italian cities. Since it’s trying to compete with Trenitalia, these private companies offer reliable, modern, comfortable trains at an affordable price.
Renting a Car
If you like autonomy and control over your transportation, you might just want to rent a car and be done with it. The only thing you’ll have to worry about is the filling up on gas.
Renting a car certainly has its perks. Private transportation means you can keep items in your car and carry a lot more luggage than you normally could on a plane or train. But it means having to drive in Italy — which might not be for everyone.
First of all, most cars in Italy will be stick-shift. If you’ve only driven automatic your whole life, you might not know what to do with that type of car, and you could risk stalling the vehicle when you take it out for a test spin.
If you’re from the United States, you will also have to adjust to the speed limit signs. They will be in kilometers, not miles like you’re used to. And just remember that a right turn at a red light is always illegal, even if it’s not the case in the States.
Otherwise, driving in Italy will be just as it is in the States. Just be sure to review Italian road laws. Oh, and be sure to get an international driving permit if you don’t already have one — you’ll need it in the unfortunate circumstance you get pulled over.
Other Tips for Traveling to Italy
We’ve covered lodging and how to get around the country. The only other thing we can give you is some advice for navigating Italy.
Beware of Pickpockets
From New York City to Barcelona, pickpockets populate any major city — and the cities of Italy are not different. Be sure to keep your wallet and phone in your front pockets and avoid keeping them in the back where it’s more likely to pick without you knowing.
Consider keeping a money belt around your waist or neck. You can keep your most important documents and cash there without fear that someone will rob you. Keep bags close to you when sitting on the train, and never let a bag out of your sight.
While walking around on the city is dangerous for pickpocketing, sitting on a train or bus is also prime pickpocketing time as well. Most people fall asleep or stare at their phones for the duration of their trip, so be sure to stay awake and know where your belongings are at all times.
Don’t Try to Plan Too Much
If this is your first trip to Italy, it makes the most economic sense to try to pack as much as you can into a single day. You can just keep yourself going at the next espresso bar, right?
Italian cities are so vibrant and full of life that it’s easy to get overstimulated when you first get there. Along with the stress of traveling, avoiding pickpockets, and ensuring you’re hitting all the spots you want to go to, you can easily get tired and not have the energy to enjoy the cities you visit. The stress of visiting everything on your unrealistic itinerary doesn’t help.
That’s why you need to give yourself some space to breathe and walk around the city — not just see five museums in a row. Some of the best encounters happen unplanned anyway, such as an amusing and enlightening conversation with the gondola man.
Avoid the urge to cross off everything on your bucket list and take your Italy trip at a slow, relaxed pace. You’ll thank yourself when you’re on your trip.
Don’t Forget a Power Adapter
Italian wall plugs will probably look different from what you’re used to. You can save yourself a few bucks by buying an adapter before you go, instead of getting a more expensive one at the airport or tourist store in Italy.
Book a Hotel With AC in the Summer
Lots of European buildings don’t have AC, which helps save tenants money but can be a pain in the summer. For your comfort, choose a hotel with air conditioning if you’re staying in the hotter months.
There are lots to do in Italy. It’s a beautiful city to visit year-round. No matter when you go, keep these tips in mind, and you’re bound to have the best time in Italy.