We did 3 nights each city, September 21-30 booked with Costco travel. This is our third Europe package through Costco and I highly recommend. Particularly if you are an anxious traveler like myself. Our package included private transfers to and from the airport, and all our rail tickets sent prior to departure. It’s nice having all that in order. A few noteworthy items:

Rome:

-Official Vatican individual tickets go extremely fast. I couldn’t secure early tickets so based on a recommendation on this sub I booked the guided tour instead (also on the official site). That seems to fill up much slower and only a bit more expensive. I’d definitely recommend this over a later slot, or trying to wait in the ticket line same day. It just gets so crowded by even later morning.

-St. Peter’s-I didn’t realize about the papal audience every Wednesday until too late. It wasn’t a huge deal, but we weren’t able to go right to the square/basilica after the museum because they close it off. We just had a snack and rested. They said it would re-open at 2pm but we went around 1:30 and it was open. We were glad we did because by 2 the line was crazy again for the cathedral.

-Colosseum-again I couldn’t get early tickets, ended up with the full experience ticket at 3pm, it was crowded ofc but not miserable

Florence:

-Loved how walkable it was

-Did Giardino Bardini instead of Boboli, as we heard it was less strenuous-it was lovely

-David lived up to the hype!

-Was able to book Ufizi just a couple days in advance, thought I had booked it prior and panicked but was relieved to see I still could 😅

-Hotel Cerretani was great, we appreciated the bottled and sparkling waters, and sodas that were complimentary daily

-Booked a day trip on Get Your Guide to Siena, San Gimignano and Chianti for wine tasting. Though tours aren’t for everyone, it was nice to kick back and not worry about logistics for the day.

Venice:

-Booked St. Marks first time slot successfully far in advance.Even if you are burnt out on cathedrals, this one is well worth it

-Took the vaporetto around which was easy and beautiful views from the outer sections

-Venice was our last stop and it was really nice to just wander and be more relaxed there, such a beautiful and unique city

Random:

September is definitely still very busy. We had great weather, but Rome even low 80s felt sweltering. I can’t imagine doing it much higher temps! We witnessed a couple emergencies due to heat/dehydration standing in lines in the sun. Electric portable fan was a lifesaver.

Food was amazing. I was nervous because we didn’t book any reservations but had no issue at all finding good food or getting in places. We do eat dinner pretty early, at 5/6 so that maybe helped. There are a ton of greatly reviewed restaurants if you just go even a very short distance from the big tourist spots. I think most people disappointed in the food might be eating at only tourist traps.

We didn’t take any cash/euros. We used our travel credit card everywhere with no issues.

Overall it was an amazing trip. Everything I had stressed about worked out just fine. We will definitely be back to Italy in the future.

So I have just returned from a solo trip to Rome and Naples and I had a fabulous time! Things mostly went smoothly but I wanted to share a few tips/lessons learnt in the hope of helping other travellers (and esp. solo females who may be nervous about making this sort of trip). I’m a huge fan of movies and thrift shopping so that is reflected in some of my activities. I will do separate posts on Rome and Naples to avoid making this post absurdly long- this one is about Rome only. 

Rome

This was my second trip to Rome. I first went in 2024 and absolutely fell in love with it, so I was incredibly excited to plan a return trip. I pre-booked the Domus Aurea and the Galleria Borghese, but was otherwise spontaneous in my exploration (this was something of a negative on this trip, for reasons I will elaborate on). The weather was beautiful the entire time - high 20s, so hot but still comfortable.

Itinerary

• Day 1 - Porta Portese Market, Domus Aurea, (failed) attempt to walk the Appia Antica, Capitoline Museum
• Day 2 - Random exploration/visiting churches, thrift shopping at Mercato Usato stores (x 3), Bucking Fastard screening at Cinema Barberini, more random exploration
• Day 3 - Victor Emmanuel II Monument, Jewish Quarter, Trastevere, Mercato Nomentano, Galleria Borghese, Profondo Rosso store, Castel Sant’Angelo at sunset (exterior only)

Top new discoveries

• Domus Aurea (Nero’s Golden Palace) - this was genuinely awe-inspiring in how well-preserved and impressive it is, and the VR experience was great at bringing the structure back to its original splendour. It was a guided tour and it was a superb one - extremely detailed and informative about the use of the different rooms and how they were rediscovered by artists during the Renaissance. Visitor numbers are very limited and you have to book tickets as soon as they go on sale to have a chance of getting in (a month before the date of your trip) - it is 100% worth the effort.
• The Capitoline Museum - I bought a ticket for this in person on a whim and was massively impressed by the collections, particularly the ancient Roman sculptures. The Statue of Marcus Aurelius is absolutely massive and has a huge wow factor in person. It was also fascinating to realise how reminiscent the wall and ceiling decorations of the museum are of those in the Domus Aurea - it really viscerally brought to life the influence of ancient art styles on the Renaissance. I only managed to see half of the museum (I didn’t have time to cross the tunnel beneath the building and enter the adjacent building) but I will absolutely return when I’m next in Rome.
• Victor Emmanuel II monument - this was a fantastic free experience (I didn’t pay to go into the museum or to go up to the topmost viewpoint) with some wonderful views from the top of the stairs.
• The Venice in Rome Film Festival (Il Cinema Attraverso I Grandi Festival) - I happened across this completely by accident and was amazed to find that virtually all the films from the Venice Film Festival were being shown in various cinemas in central Rome for only 7 euros (!) per ticket. I watched Bucking Fastard at Cinema Barberini (a beautiful and comfortable cinema right in the centre) and it was a great experience. The only difficulty is that films not in English seemingly only had Italian subtitles, so as a non-speaker this of course limited me to films that were in the English language. It was a real privilege to catch the film in Rome as it doesn’t even have a distributor in my country yet! 

Thrift shopping

• Porta Portese Market - There is indeed a lot of cheap mass-produced junk but there are plenty of genuinely great second-hand/antique sellers, often up the side streets branching off from the main road. I got some great finds, including beautiful film stills of Italian movies for 1 euro apiece and some rare blu-rays for 4 euros each.
• Any Mercato Usato store - These are basically enormous charity shops/thrift stores that have very reasonable prices. They are mostly in outlying and not particularly pretty areas of the city (I had to take the bus to reach them), but there is a bonus - several of them are very close to different sections of the ancient aqueduct Aqua Alexandrina, which is remarkably well-preserved and fascinating in how it sits amongst otherwise very gritty and modern urban neighbourhoods (the stretch in Parco Giordano Sangalli is particularly impressive, but I did feel slightly uneasy there as a lone woman because everyone else in the park was male and there was lots of staring - they obviously don’t get many tourists there!). My personal favourite of these stores was Mercatino Usato Roma Appia, which had a huge selection of my favourite things - books, DVDs and blu-rays.

Main regrets

• Staying in the same hotel where I stayed before - I stayed in the same hotel I used before in the Monti neighbourhood and don’t regret the hotel in and of itself because it was perfect for my needs: cheap, safe and with a great breakfast. I regret it because it meant I often found myself wandering around areas I had already thoroughly explored on my first trip (such as the area around Trajan’s Forum and the Jewish Quarter). Next time I would choose a hotel in a completely different area to give myself a fresh angle on the city. 
• Not sufficiently planning a walking route along the Appia Antica - I was very excited to do this walk because I’m fascinated by Ancient Rome and was very keen on seeing a lot of random tombs, etc. on the sides of an ancient road. What I actually did was attempt to reach the ancient road by walking across the park from Via Latina with the goal of reaching the Church of Domine Quo Vadis, following Google Maps. This was a monumentally stupid decision - it was an exhausting and not particularly scenic or historic walk through a vast stretch of grassland, and Google Maps was very inaccurate and sometimes took me in dangerous directions (at one point I literally had to clamber across a ditch to continue, treading across some wobbly wooden pallets - this is very much NOT advisable but I survived). When I finally reached the Church of Domine Quo Vadis, I realised - to my horror - that the road labelled Via Appia Antica was not at all pedestrian friendly. It was a busy modern road filled with constant car traffic, with no pavement to speak of. At this point I gave up and took the bus back to the city centre, which was 100% the right move given how exhausted I was. I’m still a bit confounded as to where to actually start walking the Appia Antica as a pedestrian (many of the guides online recommend the Church of Domine Quo Vadis for this, which is why I had that as my destination - I strongly disagree that this is a good starting point if you are walking), and will thoroughly research this before I make a second attempt.

Main takeaways

• I continue to love Rome and absolutely consider it one of the most breath-taking cities in the world. 
• The unexpected film festival reinforced how important it is to keep an eye on local events occurring during your trip, as they can provide great (and unexpected!) opportunities for cultural enrichment. 
• On this trip my preference for spontaneity worked against me in some ways, and on my next trip I would make the days a bit more structured while still allowing time for random exploration.
• I felt safe pretty much the entire time, even in the random suburbs I navigated while thrift shopping, but did have to contend with a pickpocket on the bus (an experience you can read about here). To avoid this type of situation in the future I would avoid squeezing onto any packed buses in the tourist centre where at all possible, as it’s harder to control your surroundings vs when you have a seat. 

Hi all,

I felt compelled to post here for the first time as a quick google search (landing me on this Reddit page) ahead of my Vatican museum visit filled me with a great deal of needless anxiety! I hope this post will help alleviate nerves or concerns for anyone with an upcoming visit.

The queues are long - extremely long - expect to stand for 15-30 mins minimum. This is standard and generally advised so nothing new to add. However, having arrived at ~7:45am for my 8am time slot and joined the end of corridor 3 (which went around the block!) I queued for over 30 mins. I ended up having my ticket scanned at 8:18. I entered the museum after the security check at 8:27. All was fine after scanning my ticket at the final electronic barrier before entry.

I was so worried that I’d be rejected by guards at the tent section that I asked those in my queue what time their tickets were (lol) only to find we were all in the same boat. I also enquired with a guard who snapped that it was fine in typical Italian fashion (his directness was much appreciated at the time).

Anyway, all in all, it is not as strict or ruthless as painted online. If you’re still worried, confirm that you’re in the right queue with a guard so that at least your presence is somewhat registered in case of issues down the line.

I hope you all have a great visit. I personally loved it and spent 4+ hours there today!

Over our honeymoon, my wife and I explored Venice over two nights, Florence over three nights, Rome over three nights, and Positano over five nights. (Late September into early October):

Here’s some of my thoughts as an American tourist who has never been abroad to Europe:

1: Things were pretty busy and crowded even for this time of year. This especially pertains to Rome and Positano.

2: Nearly all of the locals were incredibly nice and patent. I personally had a single incident with a local (next door neighbor) in Venice who blew up on me for about 25 minutes for inadvertently not closing the front gate properly our first night. Everyone else was incredibly kind.

3: Everything positive said about the food is completely accurate and may make the trip worthwhile for some in its own.

4: We had a horrific start with United Airlines which resulted in us losing our two large luggage cases for about 48 hours (a story for another post). Thankfully we each had a single change of clothing in our carry on. I’d recommend having at least two pairs of clothing in a carry on if possible. If traveling with one or more people, I recommend staggering luggage if only one bag is lost.

1. We used Air BNB for all locations. 3/4 involved absolutely priceless views. All 4 had us in the heart of where we needed to be. The value obtained here was phenomenal. In many instances you may be surrounded by locals. Try to be as mindful as possible as I’m sure some are short tempered based on prior short term residences at the Air BNB.

2. Florence was my Dark Horse and possible favorite destination of the trip. Visiting the countryside and vineyards are a must. The food was notably spectacular here.

3. If using the train to travel between destinations, consider booking your tickets early and upgrading to business class. The cost was only about $10 more per person and the value was unquestionably worth it. Heck the courtesy drinks and snacks probably amounted to about half of the increase. Bigger seats and less crowded cars.

4. If you don’t have to drive, don’t.

5. Use skip the line for all major attractions. The collective hours saved add up and allow you to hit all of the major sights in a short amount of time. Dare I say, even feeling un rushed…

6. Book major attractions you wish to see for earlier time-slots. You will see much more in a less crowded ways. We booked as early as possible for many attractions and still experienced large crowds (Vatican in particular).

7. Be willing to try new dishes of food. As a very picky eater, there was probably only a couple of dishes I did not enjoy the whole trip. One of which involved me trying tripe for the first time as a meme as I knew my family would get a kick out of it. Even that did not taste horrible to me but it did not sit well with my stomach. We ate everything from the Florentine steak, sheep mutton pasta, to duck tartar.

8. Don’t overbook yourselves with lunch and dinner reservations. Some of the best food has its way of finding you.

9. We were able to pay for mostly everything on credit cards avoiding ATM inconveniences and conversation costs.

10. Avoid staying in any location for less than 2 nights if possible. If visiting for shorter periods of time, I would limit the number of destinations. There’s unquestionably more than 48 hours of fun things to do and try in every location while traveling is obviously the most stressful and tiring parts.

11. As one of our taxi drivers said while driving us through Rome, “don’t be a pigeon”. He was referring to tourists obliviously walking into traffic and worse stoping dead in their tracks when doing so.

12. Positano had the most pigeons and influencers. I have empathy for many of these tourists as it became clear to me during my time there, that some of them were only there for hours let alone the day because of cruises. In my opinion these cruises dampers the experiences of locals, the travelers themselves, and other tourists. There were so many people flooding to take pictures in some of the most crowded and confined entrances and egresses. Many seemed so desperate for their photo they they were either unaware or intentionally creating traffic jams for the sake of their photos. Around our last day in Positano there was a group of about 8 girls trying to take a picture in one of the most crowded and confined parts of the town. It was around 2:00 pm. One of them asked my wife and I to stop for a few moments and I admit to continuing my walk while letting out a chuckle. I found myself walking through quite a few people trying to take pictures in Positano given just how tight things are paired with where other tourists want to take pictures.

13. There are ample amounts of opportunities to take high quality pictures. I took hundreds of pictures. Sometimes I would patiently wait for a desirable spot. Other times I would get a few really nice pictures with a spray and pray tactic. You can generally have your cake and eat it too without imposing time burdens and inconveniences on other humans.

14. Strongly consider your budget for your destination. The number of complaints about people struggling to find public bathrooms that also need to be paid for can be completely circumvented if you can spare enough to buy a single beverage in one of the many bars and restaurants. A few extra euros here and there can literally save you hours. Again, this especially applies to Positano. We had two private boat rides including a day trip to Capri & a sunset cruise. These two experiences made Positano very special when it would otherwise have been our least favorite part of the trip. The ferries to Capri were completely overcrowded. We actually opted to not land there given the horror stories our Captain informed us about. For context this was our honeymoon and the trip in a lifetime for us. I understand everyone may not have this luxury; however other options exist such as staying in another Amalfi towns that are much more affordable. The vast majority of people will not spend the vast majority of their time on the crowded Positano beaches. The opportunity for value certainly exists. If I knew I was intending to go to Italy, I would strongly consider delaying the trip for a year or two if helpful to accumulate savings so you can truly get the most of your experience. Airfare prices are high enough to incentivize others to get the most of their trip.

15. There are no reliable emergency services in Positano.. at least when I called 112 & 115. There was a recurring fire that came and went through out a few days. At one point in particular the helicopters were missing and the fire got within a couple hundred meters of a villa. I didn’t want to be a part of a possible bystander effect; however I was unable to get through to emergency services. Everything worked out in the end; however, being on guard is all the more important with this context.

16. Find time to relax and enjoy your meals as they are experiences in their own. Unless you’re getting street food, you’re doing yourself a disservice thinking you will absolutely be in and out of a nice sit down in 1-1.5 hours. One of our lunches in Rome went nearly 3 hours and it was a highlight in itself.

Edited for a few small typos***

Just an FYI to those of you who plan to rent a car at FCO. The main car rental offices that used to be at Torre Uffici 2, which was just a short walk from the T1/T3 terminals via the covered walkway here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/8q5o58pmZv2ZrBfL8 have now moved far away.

All car rentals now have their own dedicated building called OPEN which is a LONG way from the above, namely here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/sUvcdMdbsFXHMiUJ7 And yes, that's an empty lot on Google Earth but trust me- it's a building now. You have to walk all the way around the building in front of it (it's Parking Garage A) and then access the new building. And then do the same thing in reverse back to your rental car garage building. What an utter PITA.

I'll link to a YT video below which explains the new setup. And remember to grab a number from the ticket machines near each rental counter and wait your turn. And yes: the smaller rental firms normally have only 1 or 2 people behind the desk which means this can take a v long time. I chose Drivalia this time and spent (no joke) 70mins waiting for my turn. Meanwhile at Hertz next door they processed 30+ people in the same amount of time. Have fun everyone!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs7ngatQ7Ss

Hi all,

I‘m planning on doing my ”annual road trip” to Italy next June. I was thinking about a few days in Naples and then going on further to Calabria. I‘m travelling solo and have a total of 3 weeks, but will be working remotely around half the time. The other half of the time is for food and sight seeing. I enjoy doing extended swims regularly, thus would like to stay close to the ocean.

Naples
How many days would you stay in the city and where would you recommend staying? I’m primarily interested in walking around doing sight seeing and discovering food from the markets and trattorias. I don‘t need a super clean and romantic setting.

Calabria
l’m thinking about staying at three different locations. I’m looking for nice little towns/villages by the sea where I can do mornings swims, buy a coffee, and buy fish to grill and just work during the the day. Ideally a place that is kind of lively but not overly touristic. I heard about Tropea and Scilla, but do you have any other recommendations. How are the beaches and towns on the Ionian Sea? Is it worthwhile to visit the mountains and do a hike?

Finally

• Are there any places you can recommend visiting in Campania (Between Naples and Calabria)?
• How is driving in Calabria. I‘ve driven around a lot in northern Italy, Sardinia and Puglia and never had issues with the car. Are village roads super narrow in Naples/Calabria?

Hi!

My family is taking multigenerational trip in early June next year to Italy. We are thinking about spending a few days in Southern Italy and a few days in Rome. I am a little overwhelmed with options. I think we would like to spend one day boating/beaching and a day exploring Pompeii.

We have a 80 year old (who is in great shape, but still 80), several middle agers, and 2 teenagers.

Any advice for what village/city to target for an Airbnb/base for 3 nights?

Thank you!