https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 22 Apr 2026 12:04:14 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities/page/2#post-989285 Mon, 05 Aug 2013 07:32:25 +0000 kjpugs 989285@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree with @MrsKoala: ! I lived in Taormina- a small Sicilian city- for a summer and it was amazing. Great food, NOT super touristy, and close to lots of stuff. Easy to get to many beaches and other cities. Mount Etna was cool- we hiked it, it's an active volcano- and agree, Agrigento is beauitfullll. Ruins that rival Greece. I found the arabic influence really interesting - in food and architecture. I also visited the island of Vulcano- I'd probably suggest a different island in that chain (maybe Lipari) because of the sulfuric smell from the natural springs- but there's just an amazing culture in that part of Italy. If you do anything with southern Italy try to hop over to Sicily for a few days. It's very easy to get over from Calabria.</p> <p>ETA: OH YEAH- Palermo! It's very old-world Italy and just GORGEOUS. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities/page/2#post-989187 Mon, 05 Aug 2013 04:00:14 +0000 lil owl 989187@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@tequiero21: I'm really bad with names, so I don't really remember... sorry. But in Italy it really depends what you want to eat. In “normal” restaurants they expect you to eat at least a primo and secondo (usually pasta and then meat/fish) That's usually too much for me. So we ended up with just a trattoria most of the times. The best ones in Rome and Florence have always been downstairs in ugly looking houses, but inside everything was nice and clean... Last time in venice DH managed to have lunch for 90€.... (he ordered a grilled fish and seafood platter) no idea how we ended up paying over 100... for our lunch.... they often don't have prices in the menu.... Also drink your coffee standing or else you pay at least double. We once ended up paying 60€ for coffee and cake in Rome because my father is old and needed to sit down... this is very different from where we live. Here the prices need to be fix and it doesn't matter if you sit down, stand at the bar or take your food home. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-987712 Sat, 03 Aug 2013 22:05:28 +0000 tequiero21 987712@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lil owl: recommend any restaurants in Venice, Florence or Rome?</p> <p>@illumina: we are going to Rome, but I'm afraid it will be like Athens. I was totally unimpressed w Athens. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-937458 Wed, 17 Jul 2013 03:04:55 +0000 illumina 937458@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@tequiero21: Ahh so soon then! The Italians will probably be on their holidays by then, as per the rest of Europe, so it'll be pretty busy. It's still a great time to go, we've been in July twice and finding accommodation etc. wasn't a problem even last minute.</p> <p>I guess one of the main things to consider with where to go is how are you planning to get around? The Italian's are crazy drivers and a lot of the roads pretty narrow, especially around the coast, so I would recommend getting the train. It's relatively cheap and easy and will take you into the centre of most cities.</p> <p>If you want a couple of destinations, I'd recommend the Amalfi coast and either Rome or Pisa/Florence. Venice is a bit further away on the other side of the country and requires a bit more travel. Also, I have only been to Venice in the Autumn... I've known a few people go in the hot summer months and haven't liked it because of the rubbish/sewage smell etc. and generally how crowded it is. </p> <p>As others have said, the Amalfi coast would be my top pick. It's absolutely stunning. From Naples, it's very easy to take a boat or the train to Sorrento, which we have always used as a base when visiting the area. From there you can make day trips by boat, train or bus to Amalfi town itself, Positano, Capri island, Mount Vesuvius and the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. (I'm going to PM you a link to my photos from my last trip there so you can get an idea of what these places look like).</p> <p>From Naples it's not far on the train to Rome, or further up to Pisa. If you want to visit Florence, I'd recommend staying in Pisa as it's less crowded and probably cheaper. It's about 30mins on the train from Pisa to Florence so you can make a day trip. Also nearby towns of Siena and Lucca are worth a visit. </p> <p>I personally would skip Rome if you had little time. I just didn't find it particularly interesting... apart from the Colosseum and the old ruins of the city. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-935753 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 13:05:30 +0000 GrapeCrush 935753@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we loved rome! we also really liked Pompeii/mt Vesuvius </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-935711 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 12:56:16 +0000 greenebee 935711@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LMOG47: YES! Anacapri is where we stayed and the food was fantastic! (DH and I would make noises as we ate because it was so good). </p> <p>@808love: Glad to bring it back into focus! You should definitely go if you get the chance!</p> <p>DH and I are just pining to go back!</p> <p>@tequiero21: Feel free to let me know if you want any recs on where to go/where to eat/where to stay if you end up going to Capri! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-935582 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 12:19:54 +0000 808love 935582@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@greenebee: I've always wanted to go to Capri from when I first learned about it in geography in eighth grade. Thanks for triggering my memory! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-935431 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 11:30:54 +0000 regberadaisy 935431@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@birdofafeather: I would love to visit Tuscany. </p> <p>I totally think Florence can be a day trip. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-935427 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 11:29:32 +0000 birdofafeather 935427@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lil owl: wow, i haven't heard of anyone else studying in siena except the people in my program! i was there for a semester as well! i LOVE siena!</p> <p>i also recommend florence, venice and rome are kinda must dos, but traveling through tuscany and staying at a house there would be my ideal! capri is pretty amazing, milan you can skip.</p> <p>you could easily spend 3 weeks in venice, florence/siena/tuscany and rome. easily! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-935411 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 11:25:09 +0000 pui 935411@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Visit Capri island!! It was my favourite place when I went to Italy.</p> <p>Rome is a must go. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-935373 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 11:06:32 +0000 MrsKoala 935373@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm going to go against the grain and say Sicily. It's beautiful. A friend and I traveled there on spring break 10 years ago and I lived there for a brief time when I was a kid. The food was delicious (North African influences and some of the most amazing pastries I've ever had), travel was easy, and prices were reasonable. There were amazing Greek ruins at Agrigento and some more in Catania and Taormina. The countryside is just gorgeous and there are beaches, too! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-935371 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 11:05:59 +0000 Charm54 935371@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Venice was amazing! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-935369 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 11:05:17 +0000 lil owl 935369@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I lived in Italy for a while and went back for 6 month to study there, sooo I'd say:<br /> -Rome (history, museums, vatican, food, fashion, and like 100.000 things that impress)<br /> - Florence (history, museums, markets, tuscany flair)<br /> - Pisa (only if you want to see the tower...)<br /> - Siena (where I went to study.... food, not as expensive as the rest, romantic, history...)<br /> - Lucca (romantic, rather small, towers with trees on top...)<br /> - Perugia (chocolate)<br /> - Venice (just unique, but it looks like there're only tourists in the city over summer, you can get an one day boat pass and go out to the islands, thats really nice)<br /> - cinque terre (so beautiful)<br /> - amalfi coast/capri (to relax)<br /> - Apulia or Calabria (if you want to go south, great food, lots of history and beautiful landscape (different from the north))<br /> - Milan (if you want to spend a lot of money, but there's a lot of the things I want to spend money on.... (I mean: they have amazing fashion, but it is terribly expensive....) I once ate the best pizza there, and they have great sweets and little cakes, but you have to get them as take away or they triple the price....)</p> <p>They used to have bus and/or train passes for a week or more with which you could travel the whole country on a budget.... don't know if they still have them....</p> <p>sorry this was long :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-935343 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 10:56:02 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 935343@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>A friend had the most wonderful three-city Italian vacation: Venice, Florence and Rome. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-935325 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 10:50:39 +0000 Caly 935325@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@greenebee: *sigh* Your talking about Capri makes me desperately want to go back! It was sooo beautiful &amp; relaxing. You're right about the great people &amp; amazing food.<br /> I would recommend not eating at the main tourist shopping area in Capri, we had awful experiences eating there but had amazing food off the beaten path elsewhere. If I remember correctly, Anacapri had some great places. Just be ready for a heck of a lot of stair climbing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-935224 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 10:17:58 +0000 justdarling 935224@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I just went to Italy last month!!! The highlight of my trip was sorrento and the almalfi coast. I seriously loved sorrento!!!! We also saw Capri (which is beautiful!!! and my DH's favorite part of the trip), Rome, Florence (with a side trip to Pisa and Lucca) and Venice. On past trips I have also been to Cinque Terre. I think that if you have never been, you have to see Venice. There is no where else like it in the world. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-934849 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 08:41:06 +0000 greenebee 934849@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If you can get there, I highly HIGHLY recommend going to Capri. It's off the coast of Naples and DH and I had our honeymoon there and like @LMOG47: says, it is AMAZING. Each day was gorgeous, there are so many beautiful cultural spots to visit, delicious food and the people that live there are so nice. DH and I loved it so much that one of our goals in life is to retire there someday. It's the most beautiful place in the world to me! :heart: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-934741 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 07:59:58 +0000 Caly 934741@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Love Italy! Rome, Venice, Pisa (we actually spent a day/night there &amp; really enjoyed it)'and definitely Capri! We spent several days in Capri &amp; it was amazing. I would imagine the time of year you go makes a difference as well...we went in April &amp; the weather was nice &amp; very little crowds. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-934689 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 07:37:50 +0000 regberadaisy 934689@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sunny: wow - that's so crazy.</p> <p>@tequiero21: @TheSwissWifeStyle: I read that the Italian Riviera is the "budget" version of the Amalfi coast! hehe </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-934686 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 07:35:35 +0000 Mrs. Jump Rope 934686@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@tequiero21: um, no. He brought me back pasta and coffee. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-934684 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 07:34:50 +0000 tequiero21 934684@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jump Rope: I hope he picked u up a bag, at the very least! Lol </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-934679 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 07:33:24 +0000 Mrs. Jump Rope 934679@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@tequiero21: my family lives in Trento, so even thought I've never been to Italy ( :sad: ) my cousins would say northern Italy and the Alps!</p> <p>My husband spent ten days in Milan last summer and had nothing but good things to say. I was jealous! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-934643 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 07:13:12 +0000 tequiero21 934643@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Maysprout: sans kids! Woo!</p> <p>@T.H.O.U.: I'd rAther go to Spain, but hubby would rather go to Italy. I've always wanted to go to Italy too, so I'm good either way.</p> <p>@illumina: ummm, we are thinking THREE weeks!?!!? Crazy, eh? Was last minute.....any tips greatly appreciated! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-934594 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 06:40:27 +0000 T.H.O.U. 934594@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@tequiero21: PS - Why not spain? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-934591 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 06:40:07 +0000 T.H.O.U. 934591@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went to Florence but actually stayed in a small city outside called Sienna. It was so much less touristy and more "real italian". We did a day trip into Florence. I would highly recommend that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-934496 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 04:02:23 +0000 808love 934496@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I also went to Venice in early April a few years ago and loved it. Florence is for art lovers, decided to skip Rome. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-934478 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 03:09:39 +0000 illumina 934478@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@tequiero21: YES! Definitely choose Italy over Spain! What time of year are you going, I'd recommend different places depending on the season, but in general you can't go wrong with; Venice, Naples (for Capri, Sorrento &amp; the Amalfi coast), Florence (&amp; Pisa as it's so close) and maybe one of the northern Lakes. I wasn't that impressed with Rome. We backpacked Italy for 3wks recently and have been there several times on shorter trips. Let me know if you want any more tips! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-934466 Tue, 16 Jul 2013 02:28:16 +0000 TheSwissWifeStyle 934466@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Def. anything on the Amalfi Coast! Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, etc. My parents lived in Naples for 2 years and I got to see a lot of it. Feel free to skip Naples actually. Although I think you have to get to Capri from there. Capri is worth going to if you're going to see the Blue Grotto, it's pretty amazing! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-934326 Mon, 15 Jul 2013 22:24:51 +0000 sunny 934326@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@regberadaisy: It happened in 2011. It looks like much of the towns has been rebuilt and things are back to normal for the most part.</p> <p><a href="http://www.ricksteves.com/news/cinque-terre/cinque-terre-disaster.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.ricksteves.com/news/cinque-terre/cinque-terre-disaster.htm</a></p> <p>You can see the extent of the devastation to Vernazza on this photo that is high up on the trail. </p> <p><a href="http://savevernazza.com/updates/" rel="nofollow">http://savevernazza.com/updates/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/italy-what-cities#post-934305 Mon, 15 Jul 2013 22:11:31 +0000 Maysprout 934305@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Are you going with kids?</p> <p>I was meh on Florence, it was nice to see but I would have rather spent more time elsewhere, especially with LO in tow. LO loved biking around Lucca, which is a small town in Tuscany, and I wish I would have gotten to Cinque Terre. </p>