Map: Top Destinations in Italy
Traveling as a Temporary Local
This book will help you make the most of your trip. It breaks Italy into its top destinations—offering a balanced, comfortable mix of exciting cities and cozy towns, from brutal but bella Rome to tranquillo, traffic-free Riviera villages. It covers the predictable biggies and stirs in a healthy dose of “Back Door” intimacy. Along with marveling at Michelangelo’s masterpieces, you’ll enjoy a snack of bruschetta (fresh garlic rubbed on toast) prepared by a village boy. I’ve been selective, including only the most exciting sights and experiences. For example, after visiting many hill towns, I recommend just my favorites.
You’ll get all the specifics and opinions necessary to wring the maximum value out of your limited time and money. If you plan a month or less in Italy, and you have a normal appetite for information, this book is all you need. If you’re a travel-info fiend like me, you’ll find that this book sorts through all the superlatives and provides a handy rack upon which to hang your supplemental information.
Italy is my favorite European country. Experiencing its culture, people, and natural wonders economically and hassle-free has been my goal for three decades of traveling, tour guiding, and writing. With this book, I pass on to you the lessons I’ve learned, updated for 2015.
The best of Italy is, of course, only my opinion. But after spending half my adult life researching Europe, I’ve developed a sixth sense for what travelers enjoy.
Use this legend to help you navigate the maps in this book.
Rick Steves Italy 2015 is a personal tour guide in your pocket. This book is organized by destinations. Each is a mini-vacation on its own, filled with exciting sights, strollable neighborhoods, affordable places to stay, and memorable places to eat. In the following chapters, you’ll find these sections:
Planning Your Time suggests a schedule for how to best use your limited time.
Orientation includes specifics on public transportation, helpful hints, local tour options, easy-to-read maps, and tourist information.
Sights describes the top attractions and includes their cost and hours.
Self-Guided Walks take you through interesting neighborhoods, with a personal tour guide in hand.
Sleeping describes my favorite hotels, from good-value deals to cushy splurges.
Eating serves up a range of options, from inexpensive cafés to fancy restaurants.
Connections outlines your options for traveling to destinations by train, bus, plane, and cruise ship. When describing car-friendly regions, I’ve included route tips for drivers.
The Italian History chapter gives you a helpful overview of Italy’s history, art, and architecture.
Practicalities is a traveler’s tool kit, with my best advice about money, sightseeing, sleeping, eating, staying connected, and using transportation (trains, buses, boats, car rentals, driving, and flights). There’s also a list of recommended books and films.
The appendix has nuts-and-bolts information, including useful phone numbers and websites, a festival list, a climate chart, a handy packing checklist, and Italian survival phrases.
Browse through this book, choose your favorite destinations, and link them up. Then have a great trip! Traveling like a temporary local, you’ll get the absolute most out of every mile, minute, and dollar. As you visit places I know and love, I’m happy that you’ll be meeting some of my favorite Italian people.
This section will help you get started planning your trip—with advice on trip costs, when to go, and what you should know before you take off.
Many people travel through Italy thinking it’s a chaotic mess. They feel that any attempt at efficient travel is futile. This is dead wrong—and expensive. Italy, which seems as orderly as spilled spaghetti, actually functions quite well. Only those who understand this and travel smart can enjoy Italy on a budget.
This book can save you lots of time and money. But to have an “A” trip, you need to be an “A” student. Read it all before your trip, noting holidays, specific advice on sights, and days when sights are closed. A smart trip is a puzzle—a fun, doable, and worthwhile challenge.
When you’re plotting your itinerary, strive for a mix of intense and relaxed stretches. To maximize rootedness, minimize one-night stands. It’s worth taking a long drive after dinner (or a train ride with a dinner picnic) to get settled in a town for two nights. Hotels are more likely to give a better price to someone staying more than one night. Every trip—and every traveler—needs slack time (laundry, picnics, people-watching, and so on). Pace yourself. Assume you will return.
Reread this book as you travel, and visit local tourist information offices (abbreviated as TI in this book). Upon arrival in a new town, lay the groundwork for a smooth departure; get the schedule for the train, bus, or boat that you’ll take when you depart. Drivers can figure out the best route to their next destination.
Update your plans as you travel. You can carry a small mobile device (phone, tablet, laptop) to find out tourist information, learn the latest on sights (special events, English tour schedule, etc.), book tickets and tours, make reservations, reconfirm hotels, research transportation connections, and keep in touch with your loved ones. If you don’t want to bring a pricey device, you can use guest computers at hotels and make phone calls from landlines.
Enjoy the friendliness of the Italian people. Connect with the culture. Set up your own quest for the best piazza, bell tower, or gelato. Slow down and be open to unexpected experiences. Ask questions—most locals are eager to point you in their idea of the right direction. Keep a notepad in your pocket for noting directions, organizing your thoughts, and confirming prices. Wear your money belt, learn the currency, and figure out how to estimate prices in dollars. Those who expect to travel smart, do.
Six components make up your trip costs: airfare, surface transportation, room and board, sightseeing and entertainment, shopping and miscellany, and gelato.
Airfare: A basic round-trip flight from the US to Milan or Rome can cost, on average, about $1,000-2,000 total, depending on where you fly from and when (cheaper in winter). Smaller budget airlines provide bargain service from several European capitals to many cities in Italy. If your trip covers a wide area, consider saving time and money in Europe by flying into one city and out of another—for instance, into Milan and out of Rome. Overall, Kayak.com is the best place to start searching for flights on a combination of mainstream and budget carriers.
| Day | Plan | Sleep in |
| 1 | Arrive in Milan | Milan |
| 2 | Milan to Lake Como | Varenna |
| 3 | Lake Como | Varenna |
| 4 | To Dolomites via Verona | Bolzano / Castelrotto |
| 5 | Dolomites | Bolzano / Castelrotto |
| 6 | To Venice | Venice |
| 7 | Venice | Venice |
| 8 | To Cinque Terre | Vernazza |
| 9 | Cinque Terre | Vernazza |
| 10 | Pisa, then to Florence | Florence |
| 11 | Florence | Florence |
| 12 | Florence, late to Siena | Siena |
| 13 | Siena | Siena |
| 14 | To Assisi (by bus) | Assisi |
| 15 | To Orvieto and Civita | Orvieto |
| 16 | To Sorrento | Sorrento |
| 17 | Naples and Pompeii | Sorrento |
| 18 | Capri or Amalfi Coast | Sorrento |
| 19 | Morning to Rome | Rome |
| 20 | Rome | Rome |
| 21 | Rome | Rome |
| 22 | Fly home |
With limited time: Skip the Dolomites.
To modify for drivers: The big sights of Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice, Sorrento / Naples / Capri / Amalfi, and Cinque Terre) are inconvenient by car and easy by public transportation. Those wanting to drive will find a car most helpful for the hill towns of Tuscany and Umbria and the Dolomites. I’d start by touring most of the country by train, then use a car to explore a region or two (even if it means backtracking a few extra hours by train or car).
Surface Transportation: For a three-week whirlwind trip of my recommended destinations by public transportation, allow $550 per person for buses and second-class trains ($750 for first-class trains). If you’ll be renting a car, allow $200 per week, not including tolls, gas, and supplemental insurance. If you’ll be using the car for three weeks or more, look into leasing, which can save you money on insurance and taxes for trips of this length. Car rentals and leases are cheapest if arranged from the US. Train passes normally must be purchased outside of Europe, but aren’t necessarily your best option—you may save money by simply buying tickets as you go. Don’t hesitate to consider flying, as budget airlines can be cheaper than taking the train (check www.skyscanner.com for intra-European flights). For more on public transportation and car rental, see “Transportation” in the Practicalities chapter.
Room and Board: You can manage comfortably in Italy in 2015 on $125 a day per person for room and board (more in big cities). This allows $5 for breakfast, $15 for lunch, $25 for dinner, and $80 for lodging (based on two people splitting the cost of a $160 double room). Students and tightwads can enjoy Italy for as little as $65 a day ($35 for a bed, $30 for meals and snacks).
Sightseeing and Entertainment: In big cities, figure about $15-22 per major sight (museums, Colosseum), $7-10 for minor ones (climbing church towers), and $30 for splurge experiences (such as walking tours and concerts). An overall average of $35 a day works for most people. Don’t skimp here. After all, this category is the driving force behind your trip—you came to sightsee, enjoy, and experience Italy.
Shopping and Miscellany: Figure $3 per postcard (including postage) and $5 per coffee, soft drink, or gelato. Shopping can vary in cost from nearly nothing to a small fortune. Good budget travelers find that this category has little to do with assembling a trip full of lifelong and wonderful memories.
So much to see, so little time. How to choose? Depending on the length of your trip, and taking geographic proximity into account, here are my recommended priorities:
| 4 days: | Florence, Venice |
| 6 days, add: | Rome |
| 8 days, add: | Cinque Terre |
| 10 days, add: | Civita and Siena |
| 14 days, add: | Sorrento, Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, Paestum |
| 18 days, add: | Milan, Lake Como, Varenna, Assisi |
| 21 days, add: | Dolomites, Verona, Padua |
This includes nearly everything on the map on the previous page. If you don’t have time to see it all, prioritize according to your interests. The “Italy at a Glance” sidebar on here can help you decide where to go.
Italy’s best travel months (also its busiest and most expensive) are May, June, September, and October. These months combine the convenience of peak season with pleasant weather.
The most grueling thing about travel in Italy—particularly in the south—is the summer heat in July and August, when temperatures hit the high 80s and 90s. Most midrange hotels come with air-conditioning—important in the summer—but it’s usually available only from June through September.
Peak season (roughly May-Oct in the north and May-June and Sept-Oct in the south) offers the longest hours and the most exciting slate of activities—but terrible crowds. During peak times, many resort-area hotels maximize business by requiring that guests take half-pension, which means buying a meal per day (usually dinner) in their restaurants. August, the month when many Italians take their summer vacations, isn’t as bad as many make it out to be, but big cities tend to be quiet (with discounted hotel prices), and beach and mountain resorts are jammed (with higher hotel prices). Note that Italians generally wear shorts only at beach resort towns. If you want to blend in, wear lightweight long (or Capri) pants in Italy, even in summer, except at the beach.
Between November and April, you can usually expect pleasant weather, and you’ll miss most of the sweat and stress of the tourist season. Off-season, expect shorter hours, more lunchtime breaks, and fewer activities. However, spring and fall can be cool, and many hotels—thanks to a national interest in conserving energy—aren’t allowed to turn on their heat until winter. In the winter, it often drops to the 40s in Milan and the 50s in Rome (see the climate chart in the appendix).
Your trip is more likely to go smoothly if you plan ahead. Check this list of things to arrange while you’re still at home.
You need a passport—but no visa or shots—to travel in Italy. You may be denied entry into certain European countries if your passport is due to expire within three months of your ticketed date of return. Get it renewed if you’ll be cutting it close. It can take up to six weeks to get or renew a passport (for more on passports, see www.travel.state.gov). Pack a photocopy of your passport in your luggage in case the original is lost or stolen.
Book rooms well in advance if you’ll be traveling during peak season (spring and fall) and any major holidays (see here).
Call your debit- and credit-card companies to let them know the countries you’ll be visiting, to ask about fees, request your PIN code (it will be mailed to you), and more. See here for details.
Do your homework if you want to buy travel insurance. Compare the cost of the insurance to the likelihood of your using it and your potential loss if something goes wrong. Also, check whether your existing insurance (health, homeowners, or renters) covers you and your possessions overseas. For more tips, see www.ricksteves.com/insurance.
Consider buying a rail pass after researching your options (see here and www.ricksteves.com/rail for all the specifics). If you’re taking an overnight train and need a couchette (cuccetta) or sleeper—and you must leave on a certain day—consider booking it in advance through a US agent (such as www.ricksteves.com/rail), even though it may cost more than buying it in Italy. Other Italian trains, including the high-speed ES trains, require a seat reservation, but for these it’s usually possible to make arrangements in Italy just a few days ahead. (For more on train travel, see the Practicalities chapter.)
If you’re planning on renting a car in Italy, bring your driver’s license and an International Driving Permit (see here). Driving is prohibited in some city centers; if you drive in restricted areas marked with signage and monitored by cameras, you can be fined without a cop ever stopping you (see here).
While you can stroll right in at plenty of sights, the famous ones come with long lines. These lines are often avoidable if you follow the strategies in this book, often by buying tickets or making reservations in advance. Book as soon as you know when you’ll be in town for Florence’s Uffizi Gallery (Renaissance paintings) and a few days ahead for the Accademia (Michelangelo’s David)—or buy a Firenze Card when you arrive in Florence (see here). For Milan, try to reserve several months in advance for da Vinci’s Last Supper (see here); for Padua, book at least two days in advance for Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel (see here); and for Rome, at least a week ahead for the Borghese Gallery (Bernini sculptures; see here). Reservations let you skip the line at Rome’s Vatican Museum (see here), as do advance tickets or the Roma Pass for the Colosseum (see here) and Forum (see here).
If you plan to hire a local guide, reserve ahead by email. Popular guides can get booked up.
If you’re bringing a mobile device, download any apps you might want to use on the road, such as translators, maps, and transit schedules. Check out Rick Steves Audio Europe, featuring audio tours of major sights, hours of travel interviews on Italy, and more (via the Rick Steves Audio Europe free app, www.ricksteves.com/audioeurope, iTunes, or Google Play; for details, see the sidebar).
Check the Rick Steves guidebook updates page for any recent changes to this book (www.ricksteves.com/update).
Because airline carry-on restrictions are always changing, visit the Transportation Security Administration’s website (www.tsa.gov) for a list of what you can bring on the plane and for the latest security measures (including screening of electronic devices, which you may be asked to power up).
If you’re planning some Riviera beach time (such as in the Cinque Terre), be aware that many Italian beaches are pebbly or rocky rather than sandy. In addition to your swimsuit, you may want to pack (or buy in Europe) a pair of water shoes for wading.
We travel all the way to Italy to enjoy differences—to become temporary locals. You’ll experience frustrations. Certain truths that we find “God-given” or “self-evident,” such as cold beer, ice in drinks, bottomless cups of coffee, and bigger being better, are suddenly not so true. One of the benefits of travel is the eye-opening realization that there are logical, civil, and even better alternatives. A willingness to go local ensures that you’ll enjoy a full dose of Italian hospitality.
Europeans generally like Americans. But if there is a negative aspect to Italians’ image of Americans, it’s that we are loud, wasteful, ethnocentric, too informal (which can seem disrespectful), and a bit naive. Think about the rationale behind “crazy” Italian decisions. For instance, many hoteliers turn off the heat in spring and don’t turn on the air-conditioning until summer. The point is to conserve energy, and it’s mandated by the Italian government. You could complain about being cold or hot...or bring a sweater in winter, and in summer, be prepared to sweat a little like everyone else.
While Italians, flabbergasted by our Yankee excesses, say in disbelief, “Mi sono cadute le braccia!” (“I throw my arms down!”), they nearly always afford us individual travelers all the warmth we deserve.
Judging from all the happy feedback I receive from travelers who have used this book, it’s safe to assume you’ll enjoy a great, affordable vacation—with the finesse of an independent, experienced traveler.
Thanks, and buon viaggio!
