I am hitting the road again! This time, I will spend 12 days in Italy. Follow my shenanigans on the road, discovering the beauties of Italy in the off-season. How does it feel to tour Italy’s busiest cities in winter? How many tourists are there? How are the opening times? And what about the weather? Discover Italy with me:
Scroll below for highlights of the day.
I will also try to post the most beautiful pictures on Instagram and share some of the thrills through Instagram Stories. Follow my Instagram to not miss it.
Travel diary from the Italian road trip:
Day 0 – I am constantly running out of free space on my iPhone – the phone solves it once and for all by freezing – restoring the phone from the back up at 4 am – leaving for Italy in 5 hours – number of applications in my phone when leaving home = 4.
Day 1 – arrival to Treviso – buying Italian sim card in Afro shop in Treviso – transfer to Venice – accommodation in Ville del Lido – heart attack because Amoma.com cancelled the reservation without refunding or informing me – solving the accommodation problem – dinner hunting in Lido – exploring Venice – getting lost and found in the Venetian street maze – searching for shop and buying some wine to have a blame for getting lost – going to the cinema – taking the boat back from Rialto to Lido – having a refreshing sleep.
Day 2 – waking up is hard – energizing breakfast at the hotel – taking the boat to Ferrovia – messing up twice with the boat – running through the packed streets of Venice – arriving to the train station Santa Lucia JIT – taking the train to Florence – accommodation in Airbnb on a lovely square – late lunch (why do the restaurants close in the afternoon!) – exploring around Duomo – searching for copies of David – buying food for breakfast – deadly tired – resting at home – writing blog – going to sleep early
Day 3 – my feet hurt – but there is more walking ahead of me – David hunt – can I see all three David statues in Florence before leaving? – seeing the first David at its original spot in front of the Florence town hall – even more tourists – the city is really packed – long queue for Accademia Gallery and for the Duomo too – lunch in Foccaceria – waiting in the toilet queue for 15 min, but nobody came out – going for a free walking tour – enjoying sunset at the Piazzale Michelangelo – seeing the second David statue, bronze edition – resting at Airbnb home – playing with Lilly – dinner time in Osteria Santo Spirito – sleeping time again.
Day 4 – getting up early to see the original David statue in Galeria Accademia – standing in a queue for 2 hours – to just spend 50 minutes inside – falling in love with the real David – Michelangelo was a genius – picking up luggage – getting lost in Florence – finding the new market hall of Florence – eating quick lunch at the first floor of the market hall – divine pizza – incredibly pulsating and busy place – catching train to Arezzo – writing a blog post about Florence – trying to find a place to eat – everything is fully booked, surprisingly – enjoying the New Years Eve with the locals – going to sleep before 1 am with a good feeling.
Day 5 – getting up before alarm clock – having a lovely Panettone for breakfast done by my host – exploring the old town of Arezzo – getting a lovely wire brooch with my name from a local artist – catching a train to Rome – Tuscany is so beautiful! – arriving to Rome – the city looks like after a hangover – arriving to Cohome – grabbing a coffee – walking downtown to see Fountain of Trevi and Spanish steps – catching heaps of Pokémon – eating in il Mercato Centrale – drinking some red wine – making my own bed – zzz
Day 6 – sleep in day – getting advice on Naples from Elisabeth – discovering San Lorenzo – meeting my friend – chilling in park – catching train to Naple – arriving to the train station – walking through streets blocked with cars – first impressions are terrible – never judge a city based on the experience in the dark – grabbing fantastic Neapolitan pizza
Day 7 – it is raining! – change of plans – discovering catacombs of Naples – getting wet several times a day – spending 50 minutes waiting for a bus – I am an internal optimist – changing clothes – discovering Vomero – doing laundry – eating Arancine – chilling by the roof top thermal pool at the Renaissance hotel – getting annoyed by American teenagers who come to join – it was like 10 giggling girls and one guy who was the only one to swim – power cut made them leave – watching seagulls and enjoying the view
Day 8 – sunny day again – failed to go make a picture of Vesuvius from the roof of the hotel – picking up the rental car – heading to Pompeii – finding a non-paying parking spot – spending three hours exploring the ruins – feeling amazed by the power of the nature and advancement of humans – trying to grab pictures without any people in it (impossible) – heading to Amalfi – arriving just in time for the sunset – small creepy windy roads – luckily I got the full coverage rental – doing some shopping – giving up on finding a parking spot – deadly tired
Day 9 – day in car – it is raining again – so no picture of Vesuvius from the roof top – I just have to return to Naples – I really love the city – headed to Pisa – driving on the highway is worse than riding in Napoli – going crazy from all those bad drivers around – taking breaks and pictures – soooo many pictures – having fruits de mer in Civitavecchia – arriving to Pisa – checking the Leaning tower – nobody there just few soldiers with machine guns – making lovely night pictures – arriving to the hotel – it is festive period so nothing is open – going to sleep hungry
Day 10 – waking up to discover that it is again a national holiday – finding out I am not able to return the car as the car rental office is closed – agreeing to return it one night later – making an ad hoc decision to go to Cinque Terre – exploring Pisa during the daylight – surprised at how many people are there all of a sudden – everyone tries to make a picture holding the tower or correcting its inclination – it is funny – getting angry that you cannot enter the grass – getting even angrier that the closest ticket to go to the tower is in 1 hour – deciding to hit the road instead – churches should be to pray, not to pay – riding through La Spezia – getting down to Cinque Terre – would somebody please explain me why this is such a popular place an a UNESCO site? – do not have this aha feeling – feels like any other Italian coast city – Amalfi was nicer – sorry – the sun sets right into the sea here – leaving before it gets terribly dark – arriving to Genova – finding a parking spot – checking in the Nologo hotel – exploring cold Genova – grabbing a lovely pesto pasta – feeling cold – nonstop
Day 11 – bit of drama – rental office closed again – although it should be open – changing plan and going to the Genova airport to drop off the car – taking the bus to the train station – waiting for the devil train IC 666 to go to Milan – arriving to Milan – loving the train station – never seen a more beautiful one – grabbing an old school tram with wooden seats – arriving to hotel Leonardo – resting a bit – going to the city centre to see Duomo before it gets dark – being surprised again with all the crowds – everybody shops in Milano for clothes – I shop for books – grabbing a panini and Aperol as a good-bye with the trip – buying some Sicilian red wine and olives to call it the day