First Trip to Italy - Help me avoid "overdoing it"

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > First Trip to Italy - Help me avoid "overdoing it"

Beachcomber: May 21, 2007; Another day in paradise.; Slippery Tilde

Hi! Hope this isn't too thread necromancery.

My wife and I are taking our first trip to Italy in early September. 8 days in Rome, based out of Trastevere.

So far, we've got:

1. Diy Full day trip to Pompeii
2. Diy full day trip to Naples
3. Early access Vatican
4. Colosseum with arena floor access, plus the other things there.
5. Maybe a day trip to Sperlonga to do the whole beach thing.
6. Other "must see" tourism things: Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Capitol Hill. We can probably do some of these on other days.
7. Maybe a day trip to Tivoli to see the villas.

Are any of these massive mistakes? Are there things off the beaten path that are worth doing? Because we love those.

Also! We love street foods and food markets. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

# ¿ Jun 21, 2018 08:00

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 13:04

Beachcomber: May 21, 2007; Another day in paradise.; Slippery Tilde

Saladman posted:

You're overnighting between Day 1 and 2, right? Otherwise you're going to and from Naples twice two days in a row which is a lot of money (and a fair amount of time and hassle) lost. What you could also do is do Day 1-3 in Naples and instead of Sperlonga do Ischia or Amalfi Coast. I've never been to Sperlonga though. Everything else sounds good.

Not really off the beaten path, but the Aventine Keyhole is really cool and just next to Trastevere.

Eataly is not really a "food market" per se, but it is definitely worth checking out if you like food.

It wasn't really a sequential list, but I hadn't really considered that plan. We wanted to base out of one city because we didn't want to get into the trap of moving all the time and just enjoy one place.

I'm going to look into maybe getting an airbnb if its not much more than the extra tickets, so thanks!

# ¿ Jun 21, 2018 18:52

Beachcomber: May 21, 2007; Another day in paradise.; Slippery Tilde

webmeister posted:

Yeah I agree with Saladman, I wouldn't do two separate day-trips to Pompeii and Naples. Do a day-trip to Pompeii, stay overnight in Naples and then head back to Rome the following afternoon.

One spot to consider is Ostia Antica, Rome's old harbour about 40 minutes on the train west of the city. It's not as large or well preserved as Pompeii, but there's maybe 10% of the tourists there so it's quite a nice spot.

Spend a whole day at the Vatican, enjoy the museum and the basilica itself.

Your Colosseum day, spend the rest of it at the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill area.

Don't forget the Piazza Navona! It's probably my favourite square in Rome. I personally wouldn't bother with the Spanish Steps but I guess if it's your first time in Rome you might as well.

I don't have specific food recommendations, but try and eat Roman-style food. One of the biggest joys of "Italian" food is discovering that Tuscan food is completely different to Neapolitan food to Latin food to Sicilian food and so on. In Rome their specialities are things like artichokes, bruschetta, scaloppini, saltimbocca, and tripe as well. Pasta carbonara is a Roman dish as well but it's probably different to what you've had before, ie no cream. Just avoid places with spaghetti bolognaise, pictures on the menus, lots of tourists or anywhere within about 500m of a big tourist attraction.

Yeah! We've decided to get an airbnb in Naples and it will be cheaper than 2 separate day trips, which was the original plan.

Our must eat list for the trip is, so far, Neapolitan pizza, roman pizza, roman carbonara, and Jewish artichokes. And now saltimbocca. Bruschettas just a good idea everywhere, in my experience. Thanks for the tip about menu pictures!

Apparently one of the better places for Roman pizza is only a 7 minute walk from our lodging, and it's open late night. :getin:

# ¿ Jun 22, 2018 03:27

Beachcomber: May 21, 2007; Another day in paradise.; Slippery Tilde

Shibawanko posted:

gently caress yeah I'm going to Bologna then. When it comes to travel I basically stopped giving a poo poo about buildings and landmarks (except maybe museums...) and care only about food and drink.

# ¿ Jul 21, 2018 07:30

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