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Florence vs Rome

March 1, 2022 by Liz Picurro Leave a Comment

Rome vs Florence Pin — *Pin it for Later!*

These two famous Italian cities are incredible, unforgettable destinations that everyone should visit at least once. But sometimes, depending on what else you’re hoping to do and see in Italy, you have to choose between Rome and Florence, and can’t do both in one trip. Whichever one you choose, you’ll find incredible food, plenty of history, and some famous sites paired with classic Italian dolce vita. But how do you decide? If you can only fit one into your trip here’s a little guide to help you find the perfect fit.

LENGTH OF STAY

Let’s face it, neither of these cities can be fully experienced in just one day. You could spend weeks or even months in them and keep finding new amazing discoveries. But what is the minimum amount of time you need to enjoy the city and see the most famous sites?

Depending on how long you have to dedicate to your city, it may determine which one you visit.

Rome
In such a big city, it’s best to spend 4-5 days. Ideally, you’ll have 3 full days dedicated to Rome in addition to your arrival & departure half days.

Florence
To see the top tourist sites you need a minimum of 2 days, though 3 days is more ideal. Florence is a much smaller and more walkable city so if you’re short on time you’re more likely to “see it all” in Florence.

Best Time of Year

Another external factor is seasonality. What time of year are you planning on going? Depending on the weather, you may want to skew your trip further south or north.

Rome:

Best Time: Late Spring
Winter: Average: 47°F – cold winds and occasional rains
Spring: Average: 67°F – warmer, a mixture of sunny & rainy
Summer: Average: 87°F- very hot and dry, lots of sun.
Fall: Average: 70°F – the wettest season, starting in Mid-October.

Florence

Best Time: Early-Mid Fall
Winter: Average: 45°F- cold & cloudy with high humidity
Spring: Average: 59° F – sunny with chilly evenings
Summer: Average: 80°F- sunny, hot and humid
Fall: Average: 66°F – brisk and cool until November when the chill starts to set in and the rainfall increases.

Overall Vibes

Rome– The capital and largest city in Italy, it is a sprawling megalopolis. Even with its ancient ruins, impressive architecture, and historical sites on every corner, it feels like a city. You’ll have to use the metro, bus, or taxi to make your way around. But it’s still a city with a clear Italian feel. Rome is famous for street food, slow espresso mornings, and late evenings. Rome has a vibrant nightlife and because of its size, there’s a huge variety. If you’re traveling with a group, you are sure to find a little something for everyone, from top fashion, to tourism, cuisine, and cinema. You’ll find everything a modern city has to offer, in addition to the ancient ruins.

[Photo Credit: Caleb Miller via Unsplash]

Florence- The cradle of the Renaissance, Florence is a large but very walkable city that has managed to keep its medieval and Renaissance feel. With winding streets, elegant palaces, and lots of beautiful Renaissance architecture, it’s a very cultural city with some of the most famous artworks in the world. Every corner of Florence oozes that old-world charm and you won’t have to worry about taking public transport. Florence gives you the quintessential Italian city feel, plus those Under the Tuscan Sun vibes. You won’t find as much variety in the nightlife or activities, but whichever corner you turn down, you’ll feel as if you’ve stepped into a romantic Italian film.

[Photo Credit: Herr Bohn via Unsplash]

Amazing Foods

If you’re a foodie, deciding between Rome and Florence is entirely down to personal preference. Both of these cities have incredible local/regional food, quality ingredients, and innovative chefs. Rome will have a bit more variety and more street food. You’ll find simple but delicious dishes like cacio e pepe, pizza, pastas, and stews. Florence has embraced the slow food movement, with tiny cafes and earthy restaurants. You’ll find pappardelle with wild boar sauce, tripe, gelato, and of course Bistecca Fiorentina!

Must-try Dishes in Rome

Suppli- rice croquettes
Trapizzino- stuffed pizzas
Jewish-style fried artichokes
Cacio e pepe- pasta with a creamy cheese sauce
Carbonara
Allesso di bollito – simmered beef
Saltimbocca –veal wrapped in prosciutto and marinated in wine
Maritozzi –candied buns filled with lightly sweetened whipped cream
Torta Ricotta e Visciole –sour cherry cheesecake

Must-try Dishes in Florence

Pappardelle al cinghiale- pasta with wild boar
Tagliatelle Porcini e Tartufo- porcini and truffle pasta
Pici- dense hand-rolled pasta
Ribollita- vegetable soup
Coniglio con umido- rabbit stew
Bistecca Fiorentina
Lampredotto- a street food sandwich made with thinly sliced tripe.
Schiacciata Fiorentina- a soft sponge cake covered with powdered sugar
Panforte- a thick florentine containing fruits and nuts

Rome is Perfect for…

History Buffs

a couple in front of ancient roman ruins in italy

Both cities have deep historical roots on display around every corner. But for history buffs, Rome comes out ahead. Florence’s history is undeniably concentrated in the Renaissance. In Rome, you’ll find everything from ancient Roman ruins to the Medieval period, the Renaissance, and a modern city. Rome is full of ruins, churches, and museums from every era that might interest. It’s also just a day trip away from archaeological wonders like Pompeii.

[Photo Credit: Dana via Shared Adventures Travel – read all about her anniversary trip to Rome here! ]

Top Historical Sites in Rome:

Colosseum
Roman Forum
St. Peter’s Basilica
Castel Sant’Angelo

Baths of Diocletian
Palazzo Venezia
Galleria Borghese
The Appian Way

Fashionistas & Shopaholics

Being a big city, Rome offers numerous shopping opportunities. With huge brands, big fashion centers, and lots of shops this is a shopaholic’s paradise. While Florence is known for some key shopping opportunities (leather, hand-made paper), Rome offers everything from top luxury designers to incredible vintage shops to stunning antique markets. Some of the famous shopping streets are like an art gallery of fashion – perfect for a day of window shopping!

Top Shopping Spots

Campo de’Fiori
Via dei Coronari
Chez Dede
L’Archivio di Monserrato

Artisanal Cornucopia
Masion Halaby
La Gallinelle
Palazzo della Civilta Italiana
Via dei Condotti

Bucket-listers & First Timers

Florence does boast some incredibly famous sites, like Michelangelo’s David and the impressively huge Duomo. But if you’re the type of person who likes to see the most famous and well-known sites in a destination, or it’s your first time in Italy, Rome has more bang for your buck. So many of the most famous Italian sites are located in and around Rome. You can see the places that spring to everyone’s mind when they picture an Italian vacation.

[Photo Credit: Dana via Shared Adventures Travel – read all about her anniversary trip to Rome here! ]

Top Bucket-List Sites:

Sistine Chapel
Trevi Fountain
Spanish Steps
Colosseum

Pantheon
Piazza del Popolo
The Mouth of Truth
Vatican Museums

Florence is Best for…

Art Lovers

a panel of the Gates of Paradise on the Baptistery in Florence Italy

Being the cradle of the Renaissance, Florence is the best place for art lovers. With famous works from Michelangelo, Donatello, Boticelli, and Leonardo Da Vinci, Florence has incredible galleries and art museums! You could easily spend entire days taking in all the amazing works of art around the city. While Rome has plenty of galleries, Florence can’t be beaten in this respect.

[Photo Credit: Liz via Shared Adventures Travel – read about her trip to Florence here!]

Top Sites for Art Lovers:

Michaelangelo’s David at Galleria Academia
The Uffizi Gallery
Boticelli’s Birth of Venus
Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise

Donatello’s David
Museo degli Argenti
Nazionale del Bargello
Palazzo Strozzi
Medici Chapels

Taking it Slow

If you only have three days to see all of Florence, you will have some very full days fitting everything in. But once you pass the three-day mark there’s a feeling of being able to slow down. From hidden side streets and gelaterias to the extremely popular slow flood movement, Florence encourages taking your time to enjoy its wonders. Because the city is so walkable, the more time you have to spend here the more you feel like you can relax into enjoying the city at a slow and mindful pace. You get a chance to enjoy the little details without feeling like you’re missing out on the “big sites”. Taste your way through the Mercato Centrale, wander through the Boboli Gardens, and catch the sunset from Piazzale Michelangelo.

Top Hidden Gems:

San Marco Museum
Todo Modo Bookstore
Oltrarno Neighborhood
T orrigiani Gardens

Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy
Via Toscanella Street Art
Fiesole
Orsanmichele

Day Trips

a smiling honeymooner on a wall with beautiful rolling Italian hills

If you like to get out of the city or are keen to spend some time in the incredible Italian countryside, Florence is the best city for you. With the beautiful Tuscan rolling hills just outside the city, taking day trips is extremely easy. Visit nearby towns like Siena, Pisa, and Lucca; hop on a train to Bologna; book a cooking class in Chianti; or you can even head to a country villa or farmhouse to see how they make wine and olive oil!

[Photo Credit: Jamie & Matt via Shared Adventures — read about their Italian adventure here!]

So which city is perfect for you? The best part of custom travel planning is being able to pick the perfect experiences for your interest and your style of travel. Inspired to visit Florence or Rome? Or do you have time to see both? Let us know and we can start planning!

A First-Timer’s Feedback

May 19, 2019 by Ann Petronio

My friend Clare recently asked me to help arrange a family trip to Italy — for her and her husband, and their high-school-age son, visiting her older son who is spending a semester in Florence. It was their first trip to Europe, and they had an ambitious wish-list, but we hammered out a pretty fantastic itinerary that included something for everyone.

From the feedback below, it sounds like it was a hit. And I very much appreciate her sharing all these details/tips that will be of interest to other first-timers!

Hi Ann-

I am finally sitting down to write something up for you. This is a lot of information, but hopefully it can help someone who is thinking about Italy for the first time.

Rome:

When we arrived in Rome, the driver you set us up with was ready and waiting and delightful! He dropped us off at Capo d’ Africa around 11 am. The individual at the front desk who checked us in was very friendly and said our room would be ready in about 15 -20 minutes. They also recommended a local restaurant and, though they encouraged us to make evening dinner reservations, we knew we would not make it to start dinner at 7:30!

We had a wonderful lunch that fueled us for the day. We took some time and walked down the Colosseum and some other areas – we basically explored and walked a lot until we were done. It did rain on us but that was okay – we were just happy to be outdoors. After walking around we settled in at the hotel a little more, went out to get some drinks and gelato and then hunkered down for a good night’s sleep!

Sunday we were off for the day and did a lot of walking before the mid-day Colosseum Tour. The surprise of having Brett join us in Rome for Dillon’s birthday was outstanding – he was shocked and SO SO happy to see him. The Colosseum Tour was really great. Our guide was excellent – great information at a nice pace. Half of our group was an extended family with young kids so they left half way through – which actually made it a small group tour. We finished our day at a restaurant Dillon had picked before we went (from Trip Advisor). Food and drinks were good and it was a nice atmosphere.

Monday Morning we were out early to the Express Sistine Chapel Tour. Your ears probably were ringing b/c you picked the PERFECT tour for us. Loved the small group – there were 5 of us. Rosa – our tour guide – was great. Her pace was so fast – but it really worked for us! Since Dillon and I don’t love museums – this was a fabulous way to see the Sistine Chapel, Vatican and St. Peters Square. I think LivItaly Tours does it right! After that were were back to the hotel to check out and head to the train station. We had plenty of time and opted to walk – which took us about 25 minutes.

NOTES: The hotel was great – room was oversized and we did not feel crowded with a cot. We did have to ask at the front desk how to keep the lights on. Clearly we were rookies! No A/C – had to open windows – which was a little strange with no screens! The included breakfast was good and service excellent. We also loved the location.

LaSpezia/Cinque Terre:

The train ride to La Spezia was beautiful – so much to take in. When we arrived we took a cab to the hotel and our room was ready. We were surprised by the size – Dillon’s cot was in a living room area – so we definitely did not feel crowded. It also had a beautiful view and we saw a few ships come in and out. Again, needed to open windows to cool down the temp! The hotel recommended a local favorite for dinner where we arrived at 7 pm and were their first customers! We walked along the water and just enjoyed the sites and made plans for the following day.

We decided to take the train from La Spezia to the farthest town in Cinque Terre (Monterosso) and make our way back. We had read a blog that recommended the hike from Vernazza to Corniglia – and decided that we would take that one. The blog indicated there were places along the way to stop for food and drinks. Unfortunately, we found out after climbing the stairs to the hiking trail, that it was closed. In fact, the only trail that was open was Monterosso to Vernazza. That was a bit of a bummer, especially since we purchased the hiking/trail pass. Instead we went back into town in Vernazza and enjoyed pizza and beer by the water. We made our way to each town by train. Corniglia we explore along the water, did not walk the 350 stairs to the town. Manarola was our favorite shopping town and we spent a bit of time exploring the shops. We returned to the hotel after a great day, played some cards and went for a walk to find something to eat. Much to our surprise, most places were closed for the night (8:30 or so), and by the time we got to a grocery store – it was closed as well. So we headed back to the hotel and had some snacks that we had in our bags and got a good night’s sleep!

One thing we hadn’t planned for was having Euros for this location – we needed 15 for each trip to and from the train station.

NOTES: Next time I think we might opt for the boat transportation from town to town instead of the train. We thought it might be too chilly, but the weather was delightful. Loved being in La Spezia, but if we went back we would probably opt to stay in one of the towns for something different.

Florence:

We arrived on time and Brett met us and walked us to the hotel. The room was not to be ready for a while, so we checked our bags and hit the town, It was so fun to be in Florence and I am glad you said to let Brett show us the town since that is where he has spent his semester. We saw many sights and Brett helped formulate our plans for Thursday morning while he was in class.

Brett made reservations for a nice dinner for the four of us and his girlfriend. Probably in our top 3 meals of the week. Thursday we got up and explored a little earlier at Brett’s suggestion, to see the Duomo without the square being packed. We walked around and went up and enjoyed the views from Piazzele Michelangelo. We met Brett for lunch – he took us to his favorite sandwich shop where the owner knows him and then we saw where he lives. We had picked a pizza and gelato making class b/c Brett only had the afternoon and had already done a pasta class with school. This was a disappointment. The food was good and the boys and I enjoyed our time together, but we felt very rushed. Of the 3 hour experience, we probably only prepared and cooked for just over an hour. It was warp speed. Mark shopped and explored while we were in class.

We did end up making reservations for our train to Bologna for the next day. Brett was looking online and everything was booking up b/c it was Good Friday. In hindsight, we probably should have booked in advance.

NOTES: Hotel De La Ville – This probably was our least favorite hotel. The room was very cramped with the pull-out couch. And the temperature was hot, with no window to open. I think we also just felt like we were in a cave b/c there was no outside light. The breakfast was good and the service friendly.

Bologna:

Hotel location was perfect for our stay. After checking in we took a walk to the main square area and found a cafe. We sat outside, enjoyed some drinks and snacks and played cards. There was live music on the square, and the church across the way had a choral group perform for Good Friday. Brett had selected a place for dinner, and we headed there on our walk back. It was a small local place. The food did not have “plate appeal” – but Mark said it was his favorite of everything he ate during the trip.

Again, your ears should have been ringing all day Saturday – that Food and Ferrari Tour you booked for us was SO FUN! It ended up being a 10 hour day – but it was relaxed and so enjoyable. Our guide was excellent – very funny and very knowledgeable. We had 18 people and it was a great size. We opted not to drive a Ferrari – 150 Euros for 10 minutes seemed crazy. Although if all 4 of us could have gone in one car we would have done it! The family restaurant where we had the meal at the end was great – delicious food at a relaxed pace. The location was beautiful farmland. This was definitely a highlight of the trip!

NOTES: Unahotels Bologna Centro – this hotel was fine – and they turned on the AC for us! woohoo! The guy at the front desk must have been used to angry Americans b/c he was flustered and apologizing through our check-in. We just kept smiling and telling him there was nothing to apologize for. Rooms were clean and basic. I would compare to a Fairfield Inn. The size of the rooms was generous and the breakfast was good.

Venice:

The high speed train to Venice was fantastic! Very comfortable and kids were happy for WiFi! Again, we arrived early and the hotel checked our bags – it was going to be a few hours until our rooms were ready. We left the hotel armed with a map and walked around the city. We checked the menu at the place we had made dinner reservations at and the kids said to cancel it. Ha ha. We made our way to where we knew we needed to be Monday morning and hit a lot of dead ends – but enjoyed ourselves walking around. We grabbed a bite to eat in the main San Marco square (tourist trap!), enjoyed some live music and relaxed. We headed back to the hotel and checked in, and got settled. After that we walked around some more and picked a place for dinner. This probably was our least favorite meal of the trip, but the service was good.

Monday morning we were off to the Murano, Burano and Torcello Tour which we really loved. We decided to buy water bus tickets for the day – and that is how we got to the meeting spot. We liked being the first tour group of the day – it meant smaller crowds in Murano. The Glass Blowing was fun and we did some great shopping. After we were done we took the water bus around and saw Venice from different perspectives, and got out a few times and walked. It was a fun way to explore! We grabbed some food and made our way back to the hotel so Brett could pack up and catch his train.

Hotel Santa Chiara – Great hotel (our favorite showers of the trip!). Clean and friendly. It was a nice location. They also were willing to turn on our AC. 🙂 The only person who was not friendly was the person at the desk at 4:15 AM when we checked out. No wonder he is on the overnight shift! ha ha.

We were leaving before the buses started service – so they assured us that taxis are always out front. We waited in the rain for a few minutes and then I asked the hotel to call one for us since it was raining pretty hard. We made it to the airport in plenty of time to get some breakfast and relax.

The flights home were fine – though we were late into London and had only about 25 minutes from when we deplaned to get to our connection – and it was a hike. It took us about 35-40 minutes to get through security and get to our gate. But we made it!

Here are some things that came up that we didn’t expect:

Public restrooms are few and far between in most places. When you have a chance to use one – use it. And make sure you have small denomination Euros on hand to pay for them! (I’ll pay a buck for a bathroom anytime if it is as clean as the ones we used were!)
We planned for 250 Euros – and did have to take more out. I would probably have planned for 350 next time.
The A/C – or lack there of. We found that most hotels do not turn it on until it is 78 degrees outside. We were thankful that our last 2 hotels saw a desperate woman in her 50s! Ha ha.
Hotel rooms were larger than we expected.
Language was not a barrier. In fact, everyone we had to speak to spoke English. That was a relief.

How can we thank you??

The organization of all of the documents for us was amazing. It is just how I would have done it if I planned myself. THANK YOU.
You picked perfect tours/experiences for us – the only one we didn’t like was the one I reserved! Ha ha!
Lots of good advice in the information you sent us that made us feel prepared.
Also – what we loved overall was that each of the places we went felt different than the last place. So we really had 5 different experiences. And while we are not accustomed to that much moving around – it all felt very well planned out. Only an expert could have planned this for us!
It was the perfect trip for a first time to Italy. We know we’d go back to Cinque Terre. And then explore other southern locations next time.

And now we need to start thinking about our next adventure!

It’s All About The Details

September 3, 2018 by Ann Petronio Leave a Comment

Judging from the trip report below, Mia and Matt clearly loved their Italian honeymoon! But here’s what jumps out at me the most — the things that they’ll remember forever (the things that make or break the overall experience) are NOT the hotels. Even though that’s what most clients want to focus on when we’re planning the trip. Instead, it’s the finer details. The fabulous tour guide in Rome, whom they invited to have drinks with them afterwards. The private water taxi that whisked them to the airport on their way home from Venice. The food tour in Bologna that she’s been raving about to anyone who will listen. All of that clearly overshadowed the Rome hotel that she thought was “shady”, and I’ll bet she will have forgotten the name of that hotel before her first anniversary — unless she looks back and re-reads this blog post 🙂

ROME

The hotel {Hotel Cecil} was a little shady. The location, yes, is great, but the hotel itself is weird and they were not very helpful or even nice at this hotel. As for the breakfast in the morning – I spit up the first thing I tried into my napkin… it was disgusting! Thankfully we were not in our room long…..

Now….. as for the guided tour…

OH My Goodness – our guide was AMAZING. yes it was a long day touring everything in 90 degree heat and 90% humidity but wow was it worth it. Matt and I lost at least 5 pounds walking around in all that heat! But she made everything fun and exciting and boy did she know her stuff… We even invited her to drinks after, she was that great we had to take a picture with her!

The train was easy to get to and our car service was waiting for us in Naples and was the nicest guy!

SORRENTO

This was the most amazing part of our trip. From the crazy city and walking around we did in Rome, what a relaxing time we had here. And OUR ROOM!!! my god, I couldn’t believe that was ours! it was unreal. It was like I was in a dream. It was the most picturesque place I have ever been to. We even did a day trip to Positano and Amalfi and omg I can’t say enough about this place, the hotel {Hotel Minerva}, the view, the people we met…. Unbelievable

FLORENCE

Ok, not going to lie, we were a little depressed to leave Sorrento for a city but what a lovely place Florence was. Our hotel {Hotel Kraft} was in a great location (right near the American Embassy and walking distance to lots of places) we did some shopping at the Mercato Centrale and had wonderful dinners every night. Our tour to Siena and Chianti was like being in a postcard. Our tour guide was amazing once again and so knowledgeable. Our wine tasting and lunch were delish and it was a memorable excursion.

As for the cooking class – MY FAVORITE!!! I already made a dish we made in Florence at home! I loved loved loved it! and Matt loved it just as much! Check out pics!

BOLOGNA

Our hotel room was HUGE and perfectly located {Al Cappello Rosso}. I loved everything about this city, the people, the food, I would recommend bologna to everyone I meet. That is because we went on the tour of our lives to the prosciutto, cheese and balsamic factories. WHAT A DAY!!! unreal. I’m still telling people about how amazing that tour was. It was one of the many highlights of our trip!

VENICE

Our hotel {Hotel Ala} was very tiny but easy to get to and accessible to everything. I loved Venice. Again, our tour at night was awesome. The lady was a sweetheart and we learned so much about the so-called floating city. And to top it off… our water taxi to the airport was the best way to end our beautiful honeymoon.

I can’t thank you enough and have been giving your praises to everyone I see. You planned the best honeymoon for Matt and myself and every place was better than the next.

If I could suggest two things:

1 – we did an AIRBNB experience in Rome and it was amazing their company is RomaEat

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187791-d6728912-Reviews-Roma_Eat_Food_Experience-Rome_Lazio.html

what a great way to try local roman food

2 – Teatro De Sale – a dinner theater that I would go back to Florence just to go to again. worth looking into!!!!

Also – go on netflix and watch “somebody feed phil” and he does a segment on florence and venice and we went to both those restaurants! and they were amazing!!!

AGAIN…. I can’t thank you enough.

How Do We Top This?

June 1, 2018 by Ann Petronio Leave a Comment

Is there anything more gratifying for a travel planner than to have a client come back from an anniversary trip and say “we have no idea how we’ll possibly top this next year“?? Dana and Kevin clearly loved their anniversary “escape” to Rome and the Amalfi Coast, and I better start thinking NOW about what to suggest next 🙂

Thanks, Ann! We had the most INCREDIBLE trip and definitely feel like we’re having Italy withdrawals now that we’re back at home. We absolutely loved the country, the culture and the scenery, and our itinerary was amazing. All of our transfers, trains, hotel check-ins, etc, went perfectly to plan and helped to make our trip care-free.

When we arrived in Rome the first morning, we were excited but exhausted. Neither of us can really sleep on planes, so we had tried to wake up really early the day of our flight so we’d be tired on the plane. Turns out, we still couldn’t sleep no matter how tired we were. So now we know when we take our next trip to Europe that we’ll just get as good a night of sleep before we leave as possible! We took your advice, though, and powered through / caffeinated ourselves so we could stay up and get on the time zone. We were very happy to not have any specific tours or plans that day so we could just explore and get a feel for the city.

The River Palace was such a great hotel! The rooms and elevators were very small, but we were prepared for that. Everything was beautifully appointed, classy and comfortable. We really liked that our hotel felt like a Roman hotel, and not just any hotel we’d find at home. The complimentary breakfast put those we’re used to at American hotels to shame! It was delicious. They had all sorts of pastries, cheeses, meats, eggs and fruits, made us delicious cappuccinos, and even had a juice bar with complimentary make-your-own mimosas. Definitely a great way to start the day! We found the breakfast at our other hotels to be equally as impressive.

We did TONS of walking and exploring in Rome. We explored the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza del Popolo, shops, side streets, countless churches and monuments, and of course ate as often as we possibly could. The food and wine were beyond amazing – definitely lived up to and surpassed the hype. I was just in disbelief that we were actually experiencing such a beautiful city that I’d only seen in pictures before. The only downside to Rome were the flower guys who were overly aggressive in trying to get you to take a flower and popping up from everywhere. But we learned to deal with them and certainly didn’t let them put a damper on our fun 🙂

The Colosseum and Roman Forum tour we took was so amazing! Before the tour, we sat at a little cafe overlooking the Colosseum to enjoy cheese and wine. It was unreal! Our tour guide was interesting, entertaining and funny, and the 3 hours flew by. Going in through the Gladiator Gate was a really cool experience, and I would definitely recommend it! The Vatican and Sistine Chapel tour we took the following morning wasn’t our favorite, although the city, museums and churches were absolutely breathtaking! We found the 3 hour tour here to be longer than we would have preferred, just because there was such an overwhelming number of people at the Vatican, and the tour dove more into Art History than we were really interested in. That said, we are still really glad we got to experience it! If we did it again, we would probably want to do either fully private (so we could customize the tour more), or self-guided.

After the Vatican tour, we headed for the train station to begin the Amalfi Coast portion of our trip. We completely fell in love with the region; so much so that we started looking up real estate! The Hotel Mediterraneo Sorrento was the perfect hotel, and the sea view room was 100% worth it. The hotel itself was gorgeous, the staff was the best I’ve ever seen, and the room was amazing. We had panoramic views of the sea without even having to get out of bed! We really enjoyed the pool, hot tub and pool bar, and the Vesuvio Roof Restaurant was delicious and absolutely perfect for dinner on our anniversary evening. While in Sorrento, we explored the downtown area, which was probably the most charming city I’ve ever seen. The shopping, restaurants and cafes kept us entertained for hours. Our third day there, we took the Circumvesviano Train to Pompeii, where we did a self-guided tour. The city was incredible, and we really enjoyed the self-guided aspect here as everything was really well labeled, so we got to go at our own pace & avoid the largest crowds of the tours while not feeling like we missed out on information.

For the day of our actual anniversary, we decided to have the hotel book us on a semi-private day trip to Capri. This ended up being one of our favorite days on our trip (which is saying something!). We were on a gorgeous, mid-sized boat with 8 people and a captain. We went to the Blue Grotto first which, even though the cost was steep (28 euro for the 2 of us for about 10 minutes total), we are so happy we got to experience it! We got off our boat and into a small rowboat which held 4 of us and a captain. The entrance into the grotto is only about a meter high, so we had to lay in the bottom of the boat while the captain guided us safely into the grotto. Once inside, the height and characteristics of the rocks and the unreal, glowing blue of the water was absolutely breathtaking. Once back on our boat, we were taken on a tour of Capri, which included the Green Grotto, White Grotto, sailing under the Faraglioni arch, and the most amazing coastline we’ve ever seen. We had about 4 hours to explore Capri, which involved a LOT of stairs and a workout, but the views were beyond worth it. The island itself is beautiful, but also unassuming in its own way while being mega glamorous. On the designer shop-lined streets, it felt like we were on a more exclusive Rodeo Drive that, at the same time, managed to be more welcoming and down to earth. Back on the boat, we enjoyed wine and limoncello while we got a tour of the Sorrentine Peninsula, and got back to port around 6:15 pm – just in time to enjoy happy hour and dinner at our hotel. I’m not sure how we’re going to out-do that day for our 5th anniversary!

Back in Rome for our last day, it was fun staying in a different part of town than our first stint in Rome. The Hotel Britannia was lovely and very charming, and was located super close to the train station. The room itself unfortunately didn’t have very good A/C, but the windows opened so it worked out. The room was tiny, but the bathroom was HUGE, so it balanced out and we had all the space we needed for just a one night stay. We spent the last day seeing some more sites, doing some great shopping, and eating as much as possible before we would have to leave the delicious Italian food behind.

All in all, it felt like we were living a dream on our trip. It’s always been #1 on my travel bucket list, and it didn’t disappoint! We can’t wait to go back and explore more of this incredible country. Thank you so much for planning our dream trip! Can’t wait to see what you help us with next!

Dana