This fall break, I took a tour of Italy! I went with my mom and we travelled to Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, and Milan. I’ve always heard that Europeans dress well, and since I have never been to Europe before, I was determined to step up my outfit game. Besides all the other pictures I took, I also took one of my outfit each day. With the pictures, I also included descriptions of my daily activities, since that’s what I based my outfits around!
Day 1: Exploring Rome
Ciao Bella! We made it to Rome around 7am, checked into the hotel, and then went to explore the city. It was in the 70’s that day, so I went with a grey cropped sweater, white denim skirt, and white snakeskin platform sandals. Although these are platform sandals, they are super comfy and great for walking and looking cute at the same time. We walked through the Villa Borghese garden, to the Spanish steps, and to the Trevi fountain. Then we ended the day with a huge Zara haul and dinner in Trastevere.
Sweater from Nordstrom BP, white denim skirt from Brandy Melville, and Steve Madden platform sandals from Nordstrom.
Day 2: Colosseum and Vatican
I knew today was going to be the most walking around, so I made my outfit around my shoes. Our tour day started with the Colosseum and Roman Forum, then ended with the Vatican, so we spent a lot of time both inside and outside that day. I wore a thin black turtleneck sweater, gingham pants, and black slip-on sneakers. I almost wore my black leather ankle boots, but I’m glad I didn’t because the tours, especially the one in the Vatican, included a lot of stairs. In addition, mainly for the Vatican, I made sure to dress repectfully, i.e avoiding rips or low cut shirts. Both tours were absolutely amazing, and it was crazy to see such old historical ruins. After thirteen years of Catholic school, I definitely appreciated seeing the Vatican!
Pants and top from Zara, belt and Vince shoes from Nordstrom.
Day 3: Florence and Bike Ride
We got to Florence around 9 am, and since we arrived early, our room was not ready yet. I decided to wear what I wore for the train ride over, which was more of a sporty look. I had on a track jacket, leggings, and tennis shoes. We ended up unintentionally walking the most of the whole trip that day, going all around town, through the Boboli Gardens multiple times, the Duomo, shopping, and eating. Someone cue Andrea Bocelli because the Florence Duomo was the most beautiful church I have ever seen! Later that day, we went on a scheduled bike tour that took us up to the hills overlooking the city. I would 100% recommend the bike tour, mainly because of all the interesting stories we were told about Florence that helped to understand certain aspects of the city that we wouldn’t have known otherwise!
Jacket and leggings from Lululemon, and Nike tennis shoes.
Day 4: Sam Gimignano and Wine Tasting
This was one of the BEST days! Our travel agent had arranged for a driver to take us to two towns near Florence and a wine tasting to experience Tuscany. I wanted to look nice since the towns were so picturesque. I wore a white sweater, black frayed-bottom jeans, and leather heeled ankle boots. The two towns we visited were San Gimignano and Siena, which were both super cute and medieval! This was the first time I have done a wine tasting and it was so much fun! I would totally recommend trying it, especially the place we went, which was called La Marronaia. The sparkling rosé was delicious!
Sweater from Nordstrom BP, pants from Zara, and the shoes are Blondo from Nordstrom.
Day 5: Florence Museums
This day in Florence was nice and warm out, so I decided it would be best to wear layers in case it got hotter. We visited both the Academia and Uffizi museums (the David is beautiful!!). Fun fact: The David is actually disproportional and is intended to be so it looks more recognizable from a distance. Crazy genius right? I once again wore my white snakeskin platform sandals with black frayed jeans, a white tank top, and a leather jacket.
The snakeskin sandals are Steve Madden from Nordstrom and the pants, top, and leather jacket are from Zara.
Day 6, 7 & 8: Hiking Cinque Terre
We left on day 6 for Monterosso al Mare via train. When we arrived, it rained for a few hours, but then the rest of the day and the following two days on the coast were beautiful and sunny. Day 7 and 8 were spent hiking to the various five towns that make up Cinque Terre. The trails were made up of stone steps through the steep terraced gardens that connect the five towns. We made our way down the coast from Monterosso where we were staying, with each town more stunning than the next. I wore running shorts, a workout top, and tennis shoes. I did dress up one night for dinner because it was still so warm outside. My dinner outfit consisted of a gingham skirt, a black long sleeve shirt, and leather ankle boots.
(1) Shorts and shirt from Lululemon, and Nike tennis shoes.
(2) Skirt from Brandy Melville, top from Zara, and Blondo boots from Nordstrom
Day 9: Milan
For our final day, we saw Milan! I dressed up as fashionably as I could, sporting black ankle boots, black jeans, a white top, black leather belt, and my black leather jacket. Because black leather is the new black amirite? Our activity for the day was seeing The Last Supper painting by Leonardo da Vinci, as it is the 500th anniversary of his death. The painting was incredible, but our tour guide explained that it would probably need to be put behind a glass panel very soon to better preserve it, which made me even more grateful that I was able to see it by itself on the wall. And later of course, we did a lot of shopping!
Blondo shoes from Nordstrom, belt handmade in Florence, and, top, pants, and leather jacket from Zara.
For the most part, I felt like I did a pretty good job of dressing nicer than I usually do! I felt like I brought the perfect clothing for the weather, layers were definitely a good choice since it was warm during the day and cooler at night. I would also highly recommend Zara to anyone, as it is affordable, super cute/trendy, and they have stores in the U.S. I was a huge fan of Zara even before going to Europe, but the stores in Italy were definitely better. My overall rating of Italy was definitely 14/10. Best wine, best cappuccinos, and best pizza! As someone who had never been to Europe before, this was easily the best place I have had the privilege to visit!!
Image Sources: All images belong to the author