So we decided to make this Italy travel guide because I fell in love with Italy many years ago. We have family that lives in Italy, and I used to go every single year. Whenever I was catching up with my friends or new colleagues, they kept asking me for an Italian travel guide and recommendations on where to go, and I just kept sending the same list that got bigger and bigger.
We have been to so many towns in Italy. That includes the north of Italy and the south of Italy, plus Sicily. I thought I really should document this a little bit more and explain exactly what I did, because I was sending all the recommendations on where to go, but there was not much context. So that is why I decided to build this blog as an Italy travel guide.
Where to stay in Italy
First of all, one of the first things in this Italian travel guide is where to stay in Italy. So far, I have been to over 21 towns and cities around Italy. So wherever you are flying into, the north, the south or the centre, the chances are I have either been to a major place or a small hidden town.
I have told my friends about a few of these towns, and here is a list of all the best hotels and where to stay in these cities.
Then I thought about all the various things to do. That is the next thing in my Italy travel guide that people are asking me about. So they had a base for where to stay, but they also mixed it with the best things to do.
A lot of this experience came from my family. Our family lives all over Italy, and they have been to all these places and recommended them to us every time we went to a different city. We had this long list where we could explore more.
Then, looking for where to eat in these towns, we again relied on local recommendations. We looked at trattorias, and we looked at Michelin-starred restaurants throughout these various towns. What we noticed is there were a lot of places for tourists around the piazzas or the cathedrals. That said, near the Palermo Cathedral, we found one of the best Michelin restaurants there, but it was expensive.
So a lot of this Italian travel guide is about where we have gone down various cobbled streets. We have driven half an hour outside of a town to find a restaurant with a view, and we have dined at all these places.
Then we talk about parking in Italy and the various ZTLs. Just a quick note on parking and driving in general in Italy. You will find a lot of the rental cars that are well known in the major towns around the area, but in smaller towns it is more local places, so you really need to compare when it comes to rentals.
You also have to think about driving. When I first came to Italy, I was driven around by my family, and now being older, we drive ourselves. So we had to adjust to driving on the right-hand side of the road. In the smaller towns, we did not have too much difficulty on the roads, but we noticed the roads were a lot smaller, so we knew we needed a smaller car.
It was a little more relaxed in some of these towns, but then you have some really big cities like Milan or Rome, and even Palermo, where the traffic was just ridiculous. You really had to keep an eye on everything; people were turning into lanes, and one lane was actually three lanes. It was terrible, but that is what I love about Italy, and this Italy travel guide talks a little more about this as we go along.
The ZTL in Italy
I think the major thing to call out is the ZTL in Italy. In a lot of these towns and cities, in the historic centres, you usually cannot drive your car through there at certain times, or maybe 24 seven. Meaning if your hotel was in the centre, you would have to park outside, potentially.
So I have actually gone and drawn up a map of the ZTLs in Italy for you to take a look at, so you do not get fined. I found this really important. It was my family who gave me a bit of an idea, and I had to do a lot of research when I was walking around, taking pictures of the borders. This was something that really helped me, and it was amazing.
A lot of people I spoke to got so many fines. So I have started collating them, and if you are going to a town and I do not have that ZTL, please let me know so I can add it to my Italy travel guide. But it is very hard to find this information.
Here is a list of the towns that I have made a ZTL map for, and just know to always verify the information, because they might have changed since I made this map. In a nutshell, they put this in place so they are not ruining the historic centre of these towns.
The towns are Trapani, San Vito Lo Capo, Agrigento, Syracuse, Siena, Lucca, and Verona. You can find the ZTL maps here.
I will also talk a lot about transport within Italy, like the high-speed trains, which mainly operate across mainland Italy. You will also notice that I have taken a trip a couple of times around Sicily, which is absolutely incredible, and I definitely recommend it, so take a look at all my pages around there and things to do.
The train network is obviously a little more limited in Sicily. Some of the towns you cannot actually get to by train, so make sure to read about those before booking into Italy. You might also want to check the trains from Pisa to Florence and the travel essentials for Europe before you go.
So I hope you like my Italy travel guide, and as I go to more places throughout the years, I will just keep adding to this, so feel free to subscribe so you can see more. This takes a long time to make, so if there are areas that you want to know more about, please get in touch, because I can ask my family, even if I have not been there, so I can give you some ideas.
Italy Travel Guide FAQ's
What I wish I knew before going to Italy
I think some of the most important things were:
Zona traffico limato
One, the ZTL in Italy. I had no idea that you could not go into some towns without getting either permission or parking outside the area, so that really made me think about where to stay within the various towns.
Coperta
Also, the coperta, which is basically a fee that they put on every single table when you are sitting down at a restaurant. They do tip in Italy, but this is like a small cover charge, which is mandatory.
Also, a little tip when asking for the bill. This is something that they love if you actually speak Italian: if you ask for the bill, say il conto, per favore. They will love it; that is, asking for the bill. Many have started speaking to me in Italian from then.
Times that Italians eat dinner
Also dining. When I went to Italy, I was trying to dine at 5 pm, and no restaurants were open. They usually open around 7 o'clock, when they have an aperitif first, some prosciutto, and then dinner is more around 9 o'clock. So you can eat a little earlier, but that was something to adjust to.
Also lunchtime. From about one to 2 o'clock, or even from one until 3 o'clock, a lot of the shops actually shut down. I wish I had known that before I made my Italy travel guide. There were even whole towns, as I was travelling around Italy, that were completely closed except for one little mini store, and I managed to get a sandwich there. That was fun in Sicily.
Gelato tip in Italy
Gelato is also a big thing. Real gelato is usually covered in metal bins; it is kept fresh, nothing goes in, and nothing goes out. If it is not covered, you have got to be a little bit wary. See the picture above in my blog, that gelato was amazing.
Is $10,000 enough for a trip to Italy
Well, that really depends on where you are staying. You could be staying at a 5 star hotel in Capri, which is too grand a night, so 10 grand for 5 days, for instance, and then you have nothing left for transport or car rentals.
But you could stay in a cheaper place for like 200 dollars. Sometimes I do not stay at the fanciest places; I might take a tour as part of this Italy travel guide, so 10 grand will probably last me about 2 weeks in Italy. So definitely enough, and you could even go cheaper.
You could go to 3-star hotels; you can get those for about 100 euros a night, so 100 euros for 2 weeks is 1400, for instance. Then you have got a lot of money to go do things and see things, go on a ferry, go to Ponza. I have also got a whole blog on how to save money, which I think you should read as part of my Italy travel guide.
What are common tourist mistakes to avoid in Italy
Book in advance
I remember going to Rome the first time, and I thought I could just book tickets right there and then, or a couple of days in advance, or at 10 am. No. Somewhere like Rome, you need to book a month or two in advance, especially if you are going in July or August, because people have already booked all the major things to do.
Also, if you are going at 10 am it is already going to be packed; you want to get that morning ticket. That way, the tour guides are going to be fresh, for instance. This was especially true for the Colosseum in Rome.
Research car restrictions in the towns
You have also got the renting a car and ZTL areas that I talked about a little above, do not drive into the centre of towns without doing your research and looking at my Italy travel guide.
Bring cash to Italy
Also, you have toll roads as well, so make sure to bring some cash, because a lot of these toll roads do not accept card; they only accept cash. Make sure to stop; do not go all the way through. You are going to get fined. Make sure you pay in cash there and then, so bring some coins with you.
Take your time
Also, trying to see too much. There are some places you can see in a day, and some places where you need three or four days, like somewhere in Rome. You cannot do everything in one day, and you are just going to get burnt out; you cannot relax, you cannot enjoy yourself. If you are going to Rome, spend about 3 or 4 days there and do things in little bits and bobs, and check out family friendly hotels in Rome if you are travelling with kids.
Toilets in Italy
Also toilets. This is something we do not have where we live in the world, but in Italy, if you want to go to the toilet, they do have really clean restrooms; however, it is not free. You usually have to pay 50 cents to one euro, sometimes two euros. I spend on a public restroom; they are usually really nice though, so it is worth it. Make sure you are carrying a few coins with you at all times so you can go to the restroom.
What is the nicest month to visit Italy
A month that I will probably avoid, if possible, is July. July is the most packed in Italy. It is not so bad for smaller towns, but well-known smaller towns, like Noto, for instance, are packed in July. Going to Rome in July is packed as well.
Sometimes you just cannot get around it; you might have family getting married, your friends getting married, and you just have to go. But try to avoid it if possible. The best times that I have gone are around September, October and around May time.
It is still really busy, I am not going to lie, especially in those really big towns, but compared to July it is much better. Also, towards the end of October it does seem to switch off; the shops start to close as well, and the swimming pools in the hotels might shut too.
So you really want to get there around September, or maybe mid-October, to be honest. I think that is the perfect time, just personally, in this Italy travel guide.
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