Aah, Italia! The country to which you can return over and over again and there will still be more to see, new cities to explore and more food to indulge. In Denmark most companies are closed during the summer months, thereby making it mandatory to go on vacation for some weeks. Having these three weeks of vacation and not using them seems to be a waste of precious days to me. Therefore, wanting to exploit our total of three weeks summer vacation we decided to turn it into a small “Around-Italy”-trip last summer beginning with Florence, from there taking the train to Rome, taking the train further south to Naples and completing our trip at the legendary Amalfi Coast.
1. Florence
The beauty of Florence is incomparable to any other city. Honestly, I don’t know where to begin with a city like Florence, it’s a beautiful city from all angles, the details in the architecture are beyond compare and the history of this city flourishes still in every detail. If you reward yourself with a visit to the Giotto’s Bell Tower you will have a magnificent overview of the cities’ signature red tile roofs and also the best view of the dome of the cathedral ‘Santa Maria del Fiore’; and it definitely is a stunning view of the dome. This is a perfect city to get lost in while wandering the very “Italian” streets, grabbing a gelato every now and then and getting lost in the renaissance art and architecture.
2. Rome
Roma! A city you never feel done exploring. The city has so much history to offer and there is always something more to see next time. This was my second visit to Rome and I’m repeatedly amazed by the many hidden gems around the city. For example, we walked past this very old-looking building and went inside out of curiosity. The on the outside “old-looking” building turned out to be this astonishing beautiful church on the inside. We spent a total of 3,5 days in Rome which is merely enough to see the city’s iconic sites. You can spend everything between 2 days and 2 weeks in this city and will still have more to discover.
3. Naples
Naples is probably not the first city you have in mind when thinking Italy, but I do think it deserves more attention and should be on your list to be explored while you’re in the ‘Campania’ region of Italy, after all Naples is the capital of this region. Naples seems for many at the first look to be messy and chaotic, but I’d rather call it lively and vibrant. The city's cars don’t seem to have a break and the scooters honk constantly while navigating through tight gaps between cars and narrow streets mingling with pedestrians – this is as Italian as it can get. There is a lot going on in this city even though it might not seem this way and sometimes you may have to look for the happenings. The city also makes for a great base to explore the nearby Vesuvio Mountain, the Herculaneum and Pompeii which can be easily reached by public transport.
4. Amalfi Coast
We completed our Italy trip at the legendary Amalfi Coast, an outstanding, breath-taking Mediterranean landscape with a string of small, fabled villages following the coastline. Amalfi Coast is a compilation of small towns each having their own character. There is the jet-set favourite ‘Positano’ with pastel-coloured houses clinging to the cliff, empty bottles of Dom Perignon left under the sunbeds and chic boutiques hiding in the narrow streets. Further east is ‘Amalfi’, an ancient city that combines city and nature equally, the city in the foreground with its medieval cathedral in the heart of the centre and the ‘Valle delle Ferriere’, a lush valley to the north with crystal clear water, spectacular waterfalls and ruins of ancient water mills giving a hint of Amalfi’s history. Even further to the east is Ravello which tops at the mountain with its distinctive villas. To the west lays Sorrento, which was our base and springboard to explore the rest of the Amalfi Coast. Sorrento is an attractive resort and well-located for regional sightseeing as most cities are only a short trip away.
Tips:
1. No need to rent a car if you plan to visit the different villages at the Amalfi Coast. There is a very limited amount of parking spaces along the whole stretch of the coast, making it close to impossible to find a vacant spot. Instead, I’d recommend you to take the bus to drive you safely to the different towns; the bus drivers are experienced navigating on the narrow, winded roads and you get to enjoy the full view stressless.
2. If you want to stay at the Amalfi Coast but don’t have the budget for staying in Positano or other posh places, I’d recommend you to look for smaller, less known villages. Everything is in close proximity to each other and therefore makes no difference if you stay in the east, west, north or south of the coast in bigger towns or smaller towns.
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