Essential Italy: the less obvious list

Help me with an itinerary. I’ve been to Italy a couple of times and have been to the most obvious places. Rome, Venice, Tuscany/Florence, Sienna etc. Never explored Genoa, Turin, Bologna, or the Italian Rivera, the Amalfi, Napoli, the lake region . . . .

What do you consider the second tier of can’t miss Italian locations? Art, certainly, but if the trip shorts cathedrals and museums for history, food, music, and just walkable neighborhoods that would be just fine with us both.

Thanks in advance for your input!

Amalfi Coast. I’ve been to everywhere you mention and more and it’s the best of them all. I loved Como recently but it’s still not the Amalfi Coast.

Been there a lot. We like the area around Genoa with all of its brightly painted buildings: Santa Margherita, Camogli, Portofino, but not Cinque Terre, too touristy.
Amalfi Coast is spectacular. Sorrento, Positano, Ravello and the surrounding area is very unique. Great food, local wines, great hiking. Best meal I ever had was in Positano at Le Tre Sorelle.
Pompeii is worth a day and if you can combine it with a trip to the National Archaeological museum in Naples it will change your paradigm of ancient peoples.
Too much to see, eat and drink in Italy for one lifetime. Whatever you do, you’ll love it.

I also been to all those places, you really can’t miss with any.

Capri is the gem of the Amalfi coast. Pricey, but the island at night after the day tripping tourists leave are amazing. First tier for sure.

The whole cost is amazing, as mentioned above. Positano is a great town (but more stairs than the Empire State Building it seemed). Naples is underrated and is a lot of fun. Pompeii is great, Herculeneum is even closer as it’s a Naples suburb with a subway stop nearby. The best artifacts from Pompeii are in the National Archaelogical Musuem in Naples (which has Roman sculptures to rival those in the Vatican). For a charming, slightly off the beaten path, end to the Amalfi coast tour, check out Salerno. Just south of the Amalfi coast formally, it’s connected by ferry to the rest of the town, and if you like ruins, Paestum is a few miles from there (fantastic Greek City ruins). Naples/Capri/Salerno can be done by boat and is great. So can Naples/Capri/Positano or Naples/Capri/ Ravello. The Amalfi coast should be done leisurely to really enjoy it (can be said of all of Italy, but moreso here).

Re: Cinque Terre, been there a few times Absolutely loved it . Can’t see someone labeling it more touristy than Sorrento, but maybe because I met some of the locals it felt differently. Genoa is not too far and highly recommended - amazing seafood and it’s where pesto was invented. It’s a World Heritage site for the number of palaces (I think on the Strada Nuove).


Bologna is considered the gastronomic center of Italy, and it’s a lot of fun. Ferrara is very nearby and doesn’t allow cars within the city walls, very lovely and tranquil. Great to combine those two.

Another great region is the Veneto. Excellent regional cuisine, wine, and Palladian villas (open for tours). Just outside of Venice (check out the town of Asolo).

Of course, there is also Piedmonte, which is the prettiest wine area I’ve ever been to.

So, go everywhere then. [wow.gif] [thumbs-up.gif]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Definitely hoping to do a leisurely trip this time.

Yes. Go everywhere. The Amalfi, Cinque Terre and Lake Como are all first rate and spectacular. I didn’t see Venice in your list, and that’s a must do if you haven’t.

Capri is much nicer after 4 when the tourists go home. Certainly can be part of you Amalfi tour

Yes, I’ve been to Venice a couple of times and have loved it. Not this time

Forgot about Bolzano in the Dolomites and near the Alto Adige wine region. More Tyrolelean in feel with its own wine and cuisine. Easily a place to base yourself out of and explore the very northern part of the country and even into Austria and Innsbruck.

Forgot about Bolzano in the Dolomites and near the Alto Adige wine region.

Was just going to mention this. Also as perhaps a third tier place to visit, Friuli.

We thoroughly enjoyed Naples–the Archaeological Museum is stunning if you have an interest in antiquities. After that we spent two outstanding weeks driving around Sicily. Lots of wildflowers, as we were there in April.

Randy, I am very much interested in hearing about your Sicily trip. That is on the table.

Neal,
+1 for Amalfi Coast - great history in Archeological Museum in Naples, Herculaneum and Pompeii as mentioned, as well as being striking distance to Paestum, which has perhaps the best-preserved Greek ruins on the mainland (obviously Sicily is a different story). If you head here, reach out to Nino at Persico Car Service. His family has been driving people on the Amalfi Coast since they did it with horse-drawn wagons. He navigated tour guides, off-the-track restaurants, etc… He’s just a quality guy. And his wife used to work at Villa Angelina, which used to be owned by Achille Lauro (the shipping magnate), which made reservations there a snap. It’s stunning, and is linked with an Agriturismo. All in all, a pretty seamless side-trip for us on one of our trips to Italy. It’s been a few years since we’ve been, but it looks like the property and Nino are both still there :slight_smile:

I’ll also put in a plug for Lucca. It’s an absolutely charming city, with its signature city walls that one can walk or bike on top of. Certainly worthy of a detour for at least a couple of days. We stopped in once traveling from Florence to Cinque Terre by rail.

Please post a few notes on your return. We’ve been eyeing another trip over and thinking about the Dolomites (perhaps combining with a return to Slovenia) or Sicily, both of which seem like worthy suggestions from others.

If you end up in Amalfi, strongly consider staying in (or at least spending time in) Ravello. It’s a spectacular hilltop town and one of the most enchanting places I’ve ever been. A couple killer hotels there too (we stayed at the Palazzo Avino). It’s quaint and the views are unparalleled. The Amalfi coast is very easy to get around with the fast ferries.

If you get to Ravello, try Trattoria Da Cumpa, supposedly Oprah’s favorite place, (?), but definitely good. There are a few stories on Berserkers about this place. She gave me a couple complimentary plates which was nice, but I think the bill is sort of “made up” on the spot so watch what you eat. Best sardines and not the canned US crap, fresh with olive oil and tomato.
Just before Ravello is a town called Pontone. A tiny town with two places to eat. We ate at the larger of the two. They made their own wine and served it in bottles with no labels. I asked the waiter where the wine was from and he pointed to the hillside. It was dark and spicy. Probably will never have it again and that is one of the joys of travels: discovery combined with one of a kind experiences.

We’ve been to Turin (Turino). Spent 3 days and 2 night there. It’s the home of the original Eataly! There’s enough to do. From there, we headed south to Pidemont region.

If you go to Bologna, you can train it from Milan and stop in Parma. Not much online info on the place (I looked). We spent 3 days and 2 nights there, and could have used another day to do food tours.

If you drive, don’t drive into the City Center of these towns. They’ll send you a ticket 6 months to a year later.

As far as Sicily, thoroughly enjoyed our trip many years ago: Taormina, Siricusa, Agrigento. Especially the first two (the last one is all about the temple complex). Amazing Greek ruins, fantastic food that is totaly different then the rest of Italy. Plus the lightest cannoli ever at the pastry shop on the main street (the one with the marzipan in the window, I think- it floated 3 inches above the plate.

Sicily= Great Food and Greek Ruins (at prices lower than the rest of Italy).

Another vote for Ravello on the Amalfi coast. Stay at the hotel Caruso. It’s pricey but absolutely worth it. Views from the gardens/pool are absolutely breathtaking. They organise boat trips along the coast, including to Capri.

If the most beautiful mountains and meadows on earth are your thing then I’d also add a vote for the Alto Adige area north of Bolzano. Stay at the dorfhotel Beludei in Santa Cristina in Val Gardena (the garden valley…). Simply wonderful hotel and incredibly good value. The owner/manager Luis is a good friend so let me know if you do plan to stay there! Some good history to explore around there from WW1 although obviously not in the same league as Naples, Pompeii etc.

I’ll e-mail you SWMBO’s travel diary, Neal, plus some photos.

This is all fantastic guys. Thank you so much. I promise that wherever we go we will return the favor. But the trip is tentatively scheduled for Sept/Oct

If you are adventurous, and want to explore regions that are not well-travelled, consider the heel and boot of Italy - Calabria, Basilicata and Puglia. I spent lots of time exploring these regions when I lived in Rome, and I can say unequivocally that the food, hospitality and beauty of these regions are first rate. Life is simple in these parts, and the people are as down to earth as you will ever encounter. But adventurous is the key word here, and under certain circumstances, these regions are not for the faint of heart. Once I was on a rickety bus on a dusty road in Calabria. The bus was stopped by three bandits on horseback, rifles slung over their shoulders! They entered the bus, and after surveying who was in the bus, left. As we traveled on, the folks in the bus told me that there was a local blood feud, and the bandits were looking for a particular person. If you’re interested, Neal, I’ll dig up my notes for recs.