Italy

Venice

We arrived into Venice airport, after collecting our bags, we headed to the water taxi stand stand to purchase tickets, which is located inside the terminal.

Tip: If you have a lot of luggage, the walk to the water taxi is about 5 to 10 minutes, so If you need to use the carts, they are 1 euro and you can return at the dock where the water taxi departs. We took the Agilguare for 15 euros per person from the airport to San Marco Square. There is a faster way to get there for 110 euros for a private water taxi.

Once we got off the boat, we took an immediate left and it was a path right next to the water, we then took our first right and at the next T-junction took a left. The rest of the directions to Hotel Torino were very good off their website. There was no sign, except on the ground of the entrance, but it is situated in a corner between a lovely mask shop on the right and glass shop on the left. Hotel Torino was a great steal in a good location. Venice is expensive, so we shared a family room, that could have fit 5 people snuggly with 1 bathroom, breakfast included. Italy is great when it comes to Wi-Fi, it’s almost offered in all hotels and most restaurants. The first day we arrived we just wandered around the streets of Venice, just taking in all the water alleyways, Rialto Bridge and San Marco Square. The next day we took water taxi line 4.1 to Murano Island to spend a few hours. We didn’t go in the museum but saw a free demonstration of glass blowing. So one thing we realized later was we didn’t validate our tickets to Murano, so we ended up using the ticket the next day to the train station. We didn’t see the validating machine, but I do recommend doing it as the fines as hefty if you don’t. All four of us did a 30 minute Gondola ride for 90 euros, we took the ride right outside our hotel.

When we departed from Venice, we took a left from hotel and we got on the water taxi at the Giglio stop, you take line 1 to the train station through the lovely Grand Canal. We got off the Ferrovio stop for the train station. I would recommend if you are going to Cinque Terre buy your tickets ahead of time to get the time you want. A friend of mine later told me they bought tickets the day before from a stand in Venice somewhere, we didn’t see that, but I am sure your hotel concierge could point you in the right direction.  The other option would have been to purchase them online on the Trentalia website.

Overall in Venice restaurants were decent enough. Osetria al Duomo on Murano was yummy! Ask for garlic oil and take your own CRP if you eat there.  Rosa Rossa was the best restaurant we went to in proper Venice, actor Johnny Depp went there too! Rossopomodoro was another option but it was like the OG of Venice. We loved the house wine and in Venice red wine is even chilled slightly, wine is cheaper then beer and water, so drink up!

If you plan on buying glass items from Murano, some of the expensive items are lovely, but some of the smaller items you can get on mainland Venice for a few euros more. Look for the “made in murano” logo.

Cinque Terre

We took the train from Venice to La Spezia which was 240 euros for all four of us, once we arrived there I found the ticket stand and bought tickets to Monterosso Al Mare. Just to orient one, train track 3 goes usually from north to south, and not all trains will stop at each of the five towns. We got to Monterosso and walked 15 minutes up hill to Hotel Porta Roca, there online directions were to the T, I would however recommend calling ahead for a ride, which they do for free. That’s where pre-purchasing train tickets gets you into the town at a specific time so they can pick you up. This hotel was great, amazing views and staff along with a newly installed swimming pool where we spent out afternoons. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant the night we arrived as we were too exhausted to venture back into town. The next day we hiked from Montero to Corniglia. I would recommend getting an early start a nd take water! The path literally starts from the hotel. It took us about 1.5 hrs to get to Vernazza where our sister and brother in law met us, we then kept on route to Corniglia which was another 1 hour or so. To enter the national park of CT, tickets were 6 euros/person, you can buy train tickets here too but its best to do that from the station. We hiked the Blue Trail. It is still closed after Corniglia, but there is another route you can take if you want to keep hiking to the last two towns. We ended our hike here and took a train back to Monterosso. The next day we took the train to Riomaggiore, just to explore. Just a side bar, always validate your tickets, or it’s a hefty fine if they catch you.

I totally recommend lunch at Batti Batti in Vernazza, along with Gelateria Vernazza for dessert, they are both situated on the main path in Vernazza. Once you leave the train station they are on the right hand side ~200 yards down. We had dinner one night at Cantina di Miky in Monterosso, very yummy and lovely place to sit outdoors to enjoy the views! I recommend buying water from the grocery store in town near the church, and if you want the local made Pesto, buy it from Entonca International, which is also near church. Pesto makes a great souvenir gift!

We bought our train tickets to go to Florence the day before at the main station in Monterosso as sometimes the ticket agents aren’t always there. You can always buy them from the kiosk but I had trouble with my credit card with those machines sometimes. Otherwise credit cards (Visa) were widely used in Italy. CT is a must, for future travelers, I recommend doing Rome and Florence first as those are busy cities and you can relax in CT and Venice.

Our friends Margi and Rucheet are in CT right now and highly recommended A Pie De Ma restaurant in Riomaggiore, esepcially the honey pear cheese platter! Thanks guys so much!!

Florence

In Florence we stayed in an apartment located on the corner of Aprile and Nazionale St, we booked through VRBO (reference # 401691) and were not disappointed. It’s a 15 minute walk up Nazionale from the train station, and its located where the Picadilly Hotel is. Matilda was always responsive to emails and questions and she arrived at the appointed time to give us instructions and the keys. The apartment is HUGE especially for European standards and was lovely. If you plan to stay in Florence for a few days, this is a great option as hotels get pricey.

Things we did in Florence included vising the Uffizi Museum, which we bought a tour through Viator. The highlight of the trip for me was the Tuscany sightseeing Tour which was also purchased through Viator. The meeting point was the train station and tours were conducted through Walk-About Tours, our guide was great! I highly recommend this, it’s a all day excursion. Lastly, we did get to see the amazing David, which is at the Accademia Gallery, which was really close to the apartment. We didn’t end up getting a tour for this but got there at 9:00 am and stood in line for ~45 minutes, if you don’t get tickets get there early as the line gets long quickly. We otherwise wandered Florence, going through the Ponte Vecchio, seeing Santa Croce and the gorgeous Duomo. We didn’t end up going inside the Duomo because of the lines. Another tour we bought was a pizza making class, again through Viator. So the experience was loads of fun, the pizza, not the best, something funky about the cheese.

I do recommend going up to Piazzalle Michelangelo for a gorgeous view of the city you can see in the pictures below, but pick a prettier day, we just didn’t have time, apparently it is also stunning at night time. One day we rented a car from the airport to visit the Lamborghini Museum. From the train station it is 20 euros flat rate to the airport. Luckily we got a GPS unit last minute otherwise we would’ve been even more lost. Lamborghini is located outskirts of Bologna. The Ferrari Museum is located in Modena which is about 20 km from Lamborghini. Modena is also known for its balsamic vinegar, we did not end up going here. I would recommend booking in advance if you want to the factory tour, we it wasn’t available when we arrived. The museum is 10 euros and the tour is 40, discount available for students. Lambo is located in a very remote town and there wasn’t much there, so food wise either eat before or pack snack.

Restaurants in Florence were probably our favorite in all of our city travels. I recommend La Maremma, Casalinga, Quattro Lioni, Havelli indian restaurant and Tijuana Mexican. Another great lunch spot was All’antico Vinaio, fresh made focaccia sandwiches. Definitely make reservations at La Maremma and Quattro Leoni, and if you take any of my suggestions, GO TO LA MAREMMA, it was recommended to us by a friend and we ended up going twice because it was amazing!

It’s hard to get taxis from the city center, look for light on for a free taxi.

Some tips:

Museums and churches generally have a charge to enter, if you wear short sleeve or short shorts/skirt you have to wear a cover up or bring a shawl.

Shopping: right near Central Mercado there are a bunch of stalls, we ended up buying a purse for our bestie from the venders near the Merry-go-Round. My sister in law and I bought clutches from Cocinelle Leather Store which originated in Parma, Italy. We bought cute bracelets from Marinelle, located at the end of the Ponte Vecchio bridge on the right hand side, when going towards Piazzale Michelangelo.

We walked mostly everywhere, took pictures of locations/maps we wanted to visit on the iPad to help navigate. My husbands trip advisor app he downloaded before leaving was great and it does not require wifi. It isn’t always 100% accurate but it would get us in the vicinity and then we would usually figure it out.

Rome

In Rome we stayed at the Hotel Una, located 2 blocks from Termini Station. Book this hotel properly, apparently they sent me a cc confirmation email and I never got it, luckily they still gave us the original rate.  Of all the boutique hotels we stayed in Italy, this franchise one gave us a headache, but all in all it was a lovely hotel, and had a great breakfast. I always pre-map our hotel locations on Google maps and take a picture on my ipad or print it out before we leave home.

Upon arrival into Roma get the Roma Pass, which is now 34 euros, available at news stands or in Termini Station. It gives you unlimited train access for 3 days and two museums for free listed on the map.  It will also get you into the Colosseum and Roman Forum, and through the faster line. We did the Viator and I don’t recommend it, with the Roma Pass you can get in and then purchase for audio tour for a few euros. I do highly recommend the Vatican tour, the one where you get to go through the museum and Sistine Chapel. Don’t take any backpacks otherwise you have to check it in and it’s a pain to retrieve it if you want to continue the tour to St. Peter’s basilica. The tour doesn’t actually take you inside St Peters, you can do that on your own. We didn’t end up going into it as the line was long. We did go to the capuchin monk museum, don’t get the audio tour, it was boring, but the crypt was cool! Its 1 block from the Bernini train stop.

We loved the Trevi fountain, so much that we visited it 3 times, and I recommend seeing it both during the day and at night. We also went to the Spanish Steps and Piazza Novona, both lovely and busy tourist spots!

The train system is easy to figure out, also very busy so once you get to the platform go to the ends as it’s less crowded.

Restaurants in Rome we suggest Chianti Winery next to Trevi fountain. Colline Emmanuel is another popular place, definitely make a reservation, food was decent and typical for the region.

We had the hotel book our cab to the airport, 65 euros for four people. If you get a cab at the train station it is about 50 euros, but not sure if all four people and luggage would fit. Cheapest option is train but our flight was at 11 am and weren’t sure how long it would take. The faster train is 15 euros a person and the slower train between 8-11 euros a person.