Last October I was lucky enough to travel around Europe with my boyfriend, Jordan. Italy was an extraordinarily special place to us both: it was the one of the last countries we visited. By the time we entered Italy, we had been traveling for five weeks. We could have crammed as many activities in as possible, but instead we enjoyed wandering around and finding hidden treasures Italy had to offer (and eating as much gelato as physically possible). Three main cities you think of when you think Italy are probably Rome, Florence and Venice, and that’s where we headed. We basically spent one full day in each city and here’s how we checked off as much bucket list items as possible.
We stayed in Airbnb’s for the entire trip. We loved meeting the hosts, learning where we should go, what we should eat and also what to avoid! If you want a personal visit to Italy (or any country really), I highly recommend booking any local Airbnb’s or family-owned bed and breakfasts.
Day One
Most of our day was spent flying from Krakow, Poland to Rome, then taking an hour-long bus ride to the Roma Termini Train Station.
Our first night was a lazy evening: we walked until we found a hidden restaurant stumbled upon the Trevi Fountain—totally by accident. The sky had gone dark and the fountain was magnificently lit. It was a beacon of beauty. We were shocked by two things: how absolutely gigantic the fountain was and just how small the piazza (plaza in Italian) was! The fountain almost went wall to wall in the piazza: it was larger than life and we felt miniscule.
Our Airbnb was in the heart of Rome; 10 minutes from the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and even closer to multiple restaurants. It was hidden in a quiet corner, we felt protected in the quaint area and away from the tourist crowds that were just around the corner.
Day Two
A majority of our day was spent at the Colosseum. I would advise taking your time to enjoy the sites here. We felt pressured by large crowds to push our way through, but we found the best thing to do was walk slowly.
The Roman Forum neighbored the Colosseum. The Forum is a place you can spend hours in, bring snacks with you! By the time we entered the forum, we’d spent our whole morning at the Colosseum and very hungry! The Forum, IMO, is a place best explored without a map. Let yourself get lost among the rubble.
Next on the list was the Pantheon and the Castel Sant’Angelo*. The Pantheon is a building most people know, but the Castel Sant’Angelo was probably my favorite stop of the entire day. It’s a Roman Emperor’s mausoleum, a fortress for the pope and a castle. What more would you need a fortress to do?
Today the castle is a beautiful museum and adventure in itself. As we climbed in circles towards the top of the fortress we kept saying, “Look at that view! It can’t get better!” And then it would. The end of the self-guided tour is at the very top of the castle. There is a 360-degree view of Rome and the best part is that of the Vatican. This was such a gem and it was yet another accidental find.
Tip: I highly recommend booking tickets way in advance for the Colosseum/Roman Forum. We had forgotten to book our tickets and ended up buying them last minute. There’s nothing wrong with booking last minute, but we missed out on the underground tour. The underground tour fills up at least three months in advance!
Day Three
Our third day was spent mainly traveling. We had booked a Trenitalia train from Rome to Florence. The most tedious part was wandering through the cities trying to find train stations and Airbnbs.
Getting to Florence, we walked past gelato shops, the Duomo, multiple artists and made our way to our next Airbnb. Our host, Monica, spent an hour showing us maps, telling us the history of Florence and giving us recommendations for dinner. Monica really sealed the deal for us and this may have been the best place we’d stayed on our entire trip to Europe. We were around the corner and less than a minute away from the Duomo and about 15 minutes away from Michelangelo’s David.
By the time we were settled, we went out to dinner, got lost in the streets until 10 p.m. and worked our way back to our Airbnb.
Tip: If you book Trenitalia tickets last minute, you get a better deal! According to our host Monica, that’s what all locals do!
Day Four
Our day in Florence was spent lazily exploring. I had come down with a cold and was struggling with a sore throat—which meant more gelato for me. We trekked our way up to the Piazzale Michelangelo for a beautiful view of the city, including the Duomo. It took us a couple of hours to work our way there, we spent lots of time stopping in shops and looking at the garden below the lookout. After taking enough photos to fill an Italian museum, we began the journey back.
The way we were travelling every couple of days, we’d need to take it easy and rest, otherwise we’d run ourselves too ragged to enjoy ourselves. So as embarrassing as it was, I had to take a nap in the middle of the day instead of truly exploring Florence.
By the time I woke up we had half an hour to make it to the Galleria dell’Accademia. (The site to book tickets is below!) Because we’d booked ahead, we were able to cut the 30-person line and enter the museum. We had the same realization we’d had at the Trevi Fountain: the statue was much larger and the museum unbelievably smaller than we thought.
After our trip to the gallery we went to bed early—we had to get ourselves ready for another day of travel.
Day Five
This was another travel day for us. We took a Trenitalia train Northeast to Venice. Venice is almost always the last stop on the train. The train takes you over a very long bridge out to Venice. I absolutely do not recommend bringing wheeled suitcases here. There are numerous bridges over the canals that have only stairs. We saw countless people dragging rolling suitcases up and down stairs, and none seemed very happy about it. Jordan and I travel with backpacks so we didn’t have any trouble.
Our Airbnb in Venice was beautiful. We had two terraces, were extremely close to a cheap pizza restaurant and had immediate access to the canals. We never met our hosts, but I thought I had lost a ring while I was there and our host spent an hour looking for it for me. Turns out it was in my bag all along…to say I was embarrassed is an understatement.
As per usual, the end of our travel day was spent wandering, finding a restaurant off the beaten path and heading to bed.
Tip: A word of warning, the Florence central station is small, but confusing! There are two platforms hidden off to the left of the rest. We spent the better part of an hour stressing and looping around the station looking for where we were headed. So, if you happen to be stressing about where to go and you can’t find anyone to help you, try going left!
Day Six
Venice, for Jordan and myself, is a place for roaming. We are big on window shopping—we enjoy talking to the shop keepers about life in Venice. Jordan and I didn’t book a single tour in Venice and, to be honest, I’m grateful we didn’t. Instead of rushing from museum to museum, we just enjoyed each other’s presence. We sat by canals, watched ferries shuttle groups of people from one end of the canals to the other, we listened to sound of the water lapping on the sinking walls of the city. We looked at beautiful masks and bought sweaters for our upcoming venture to the rainy U.K. Venice is a city filled with art in every nook. For Jordan and myself, we enjoyed the atmosphere of Venice and that was exactly what we wanted.
Day Seven
This was our last day in Italy. We packed up, had one last meal along the canal and worked our way to the bus station.
Tip: There are two airports in Venice, so make sure you know which one you’re going to!
Venice Marco Polo Airport: You can take a water ferry, train, or bus to this airport (you can also do a water taxi, but starting cost is about 100 euro).
Treviso Airport: A lot of cheaper airlines fly out of this airport. Jordan and I had a Ryanair flight to Scotland from here. We got to the airport four hours early only to learn that we couldn’t even check in for two more hours. Don’t do what we did, that was the longest two hours of our trip since there is nothing to do at this airport. We got here on a ATVO bus. (Link is below for this service).
Italy was a beautiful place, and we barely scratched the surface. If you’re thinking about checking these major cities off your list, this is your sign… go buy that ticket!
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Some Resources to Help You Start Your Trip:
Rome Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/15261654?guests=1&adults=1
Florence Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/plus/15501992?guests=1&adults=1
Venice Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/18955430?guests=1&adults=1
Colosseum/Roman Forum Ticket Official Site: https://www.coopculture.it/en/colosseo-e-shop.cfm
Galleria dell’Accademia Tickets Official Site: https://www.florence-museum.com/accademia-gallery-tickets.php
ATVO Bus Venice-Treviso Airport: http://www.atvo.it/en-venice-airport.html
*We bought our tickets to the Castel Sant’ Angelo in person and I couldn’t find the official website online for where to buy your tickets. There are a lot of scam websites for Rome tour tickets sold online, so to be safe I’d lean towards buying these tickets in person.