Going to ITALY (ppl who been to Italy GTFIH)

[HHJ]

Honestly I would say the reverse myself, I think Venice is more worthwhile than Rome. The latter is basically a busy modern city with some tourist sites within it which are generally crowded were as with Venice the whole city is interesting so yeah places like St Marks, Rialto Bridge, etc are crowded but you can just shift a few streets away from them and the crowds are much less plus islands like Murano and Burano.

Places like Florence or Siena personally I preffer to Rome as again large parts of them are medieval and less crowded so you can just wander around.

Its kind of weird...but I first saw Venice as a stage in fucking Soul Calibur. Since then ive been mystified by it and must see it with my own eyes,no matter what the cost.

 

[HHJ]

Roma are playing Sampdoria and AC Milan in April. They have two other home games also. Lazio (share a stadium with Roma) are playing Juventus at home also, that would be a cool one if you can get seats with the Juventus fans

Thanks for the tip!

 

[moreorless87]

Its kind of weird...but I first saw Venice as a stage in fucking Soul Calibur. Since then ive been mystified by it and must see it with my own eyes,no matter what the cost.

Thats certainly much "cleaner" than the real thing but if your image of Venice is something like say Don't Look Now or The Comfort of Strangers with mysterious little back streets/cannels don't think you'd be too disappointed, the entire city isnt choked with crowds plus those pics posted are the height of summer, when I went in September it wasnt anything like as bad as that.

 

[HHJ]

Thats certainly much "cleaner" than the real thing but if your image of Venice is something like say Don't Look Now or The Comfort of Strangers with mysterious little back streets/cannels don't think you'd be too disappointed, the entire city isnt choked with crowds plus those pics posted are the height of summer, when I went in September it wasnt anything like as bad as that.

Ive obviously seen the real thing in film and movies since then,and im going in April most likely but it doesnt matter if its not what i imagined. The act of going to see it,and knowing for myself will be worth it to me,I think. I try to go in with an open mind. I realize somethings are not what you expect,and I dont let that destroy my mood.

 

[Sweater of AV]

I've been to Rome and Florence. My obvious advice for Rome is to walk around and avoid tourist traps.

If you like art then there are obviously quite a few museums in Rome, but honestly we spent a lot of time walking around and finding smaller churches which all had amazing art. I recommend doing that more than spending a ton of money and time in museums, unless there are specific things you want to see. Some of our favorite times there were spent just visiting small, old churches.

There are lots of amazing small, local places to eat at but they can be a bit hidden, so walk around. We had no interest in things like clubs so I have no advice on that. For touristy stuff, I mainly recommend the Colosseum and the Vatican/Sistine Chapel. It'll be packed in the Sistine Chapel but it's worth it imho. Just don't try to take a picture of the ceiling unless you want to be yelled at and possibly tossed out.

Any places worth going outside of Rome that I can easily get back to Rome from?

I dont wanna move out of rome TOO much if im only spending a week,but just seein whats out there.

There will be a lot of places selling day trips. You'll find them pretty easily once you're there but you can also plan beforehand. We did a wine day tour out in the country that was pretty good. I recommend getting out of the city for one of the days.

 

[HHJ]

I've been to Rome and Florence. My obvious advice for Rome is to walk around and avoid tourist traps.

This is the plan,as lookin on the map you can cover alot of ground just walking.

Thanks for the info about the day trips !!!

 

[zapataxiv]

get some authentic Alfredo noodles

stop by dominos for some autentico pizza

and of course a colazione all'inglese

it's a wonderful full breakfast meal with an Italian twist of including tomatoes.
it was wonderful to scarf it down and feast just like the old Roman Pharoahs who oversaw an empire from one side of the world to the other

 

[HHJ]

get some authentic Alfredo noodles

stop by dominos for some autentico pizza

and of course a colazione all'inglese

it's a wonderful full breakfast meal with an Italian twist of including tomatoes.
it was wonderful to scarf it down and feast just like the old Roman Pharoahs who oversaw an empire from one side of the world to the other

 

[moreorless87]

Ive obviously seen the real thing in film and movies since then,and im going in April most likely but it doesnt matter if its not what i imagined. The act of going to see it,and knowing for myself will be worth it to me,I think. I try to go in with an open mind. I realize somethings are not what you expect,and I dont let that destroy my mood.

Again I think really the advantage is that all of Venice is quite nice so you don't need to limit yourself to the most crowded famous parts, in terms of eating out espeically you get a much better price away from them.

 

[Vergilius]

Any places worth going outside of Rome that I can easily get back to Rome from?

I dont wanna move out of rome TOO much if im only spending a week,but just seein whats out there.

You can take the metro from Rome out to Ostia Antica if you are at all interested in ancient Rome: it is a ruined Roman port but even though it is two thousand years old, it is quite intact. Unlike Pompei, it isn't crowded at all and you get that feeling of stepping into another time and place.

I visited Venice two years ago and was blown away! This was just at the tail end of covid, so it wasn't as crowded and that perhaps added to my experience. But here's a quick tip: there's sort of a main route that runs through the city which 90% of the tourists follow. Don't go that way! When you enter the city, take the first bridge across the grand canal on your right hand side and make your way through the city by the southern route instead of the northern.

The city is beautiful and you'll be able to enjoy it without fighting your way through heaving crowds.

You should still absolutely go to the piazza San Marco and see Saint Mark's Basilica which is a wonder of the wold in my opinion - but maybe get there either early or late so the crowds aren't as dense.

Also consider seeing the Scuola Grande di Rocco where you will find huge paintings by Tintoretto. Even if you aren't interested in art, they really are a sight to behold and the museum isn't crowded.

This should be your approximate route, have a great trip!


Ostia Antica near Rome

Paradise by Tintoretto in the Scuola

Saint Mark's Cathedral in Venice

 

[HHJ]

You can take the metro from Rome out to Ostia Antica if you are at all interested in ancient Rome: it is a ruined Roman port but even though it is two thousand years old, it is quite intact. Unlike Pompei, it isn't crowded at all and you get that feeling of stepping into another time and place.

I visited Venice two years ago and was blown away! This was just at the tail end of covid, so it wasn't as crowded and that perhaps added to my experience. But here's a quick tip: there's sort of a main route that runs through the city which 90% of the tourists follow. Don't go that way! When you enter the city, take the first bridge across the grand canal on your right hand side and make your way through the city by the southern route instead of the northern.

The city is beautiful and you'll be able to enjoy it without fighting your way through heaving crowds.

You should still absolutely go to the piazza San Marco and see Saint Mark's Basilica which is a wonder of the wold in my opinion - but maybe get there either early or late so the crowds aren't as dense.

Also consider seeing the Scuola Grande di Rocco where you will find huge paintings by Tintoretto. Even if you aren't interested in art, they really are a sight to behold and the museum isn't crowded.

This should be your approximate route, have a great trip!
View attachment 964875

Ostia Antica near Rome
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Paradise by Tintoretto in the Scuola
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Saint Mark's Cathedral in Venice
View attachment 964878

!!! thanks !

 

[genecop]

Pasta in small off the beaten path places, and lotsa Gelato..Trevi Fountain..

 

[Xoleth]

Rome
- too many tourists
- The Vatican & the Sistine Chapel are impressive. Crowded, but spectacular.
- good pizza at Tempio di Mecenate
- The Colosseum is not that impressive, mostly ruins. But fucking crowded.
- I liked the Pantheon
- some OK areas for restaurants/clubs, I can't remember the name
- Basilica di San Giovanni is also impressive
- Africans try to sell you bracelets, just say "No english" and invent a language. Something like "No inglish bahdu maia omen saku raba diededed okana fok magenta magenta MAGENTA"; just scream Magenta several times, they will go away. Also, you can use Wanderlei's language.
- Pakistani (or something similar) try to sell to umbrellas and water. These don't have stories, like the Africans, they just say "wata?".
- don't go when it is very hot and buy tickets from the internet if you don't wanna wait

 

[Brother Numsi]

Man, I was going to go to Italy April 2020. Was about to book my tickets when some type of flu outbreak hit the country…

Enjoy yourself big dawg

 

[HHJ]

Man, I was going to go to Italy April 2020. Was about to book my tickets when some type of flu outbreak hit the country…

Enjoy yourself big dawg

Yeah I had like 4 flights cancelled when covid hit

 

[Jesus X]

Hand gestures > Learning italian

Ooooooooooooh

 

[StonedLemur]

So my plan was to go for a week and see Rome and Venice? What ya got for me? What should I do besides the obvious.

See the Sistine Chapel for me and take a pic please.

 

[-Magua-]

Stayed for almost a month in a small spa town Montecatini.
Was awesome. 25 years old, and I remember too many hawt italian gals. Had a short fling there... was nice. Was good food and night life.

 

[TheTickG]

So my plan was to go for a week and see Rome and Venice? What ya got for me? What should I do besides the obvious.

Venice is overrated and overpriced. Never been to Rome though.

 

[Jesus X]

get some authentic Alfredo noodles

stop by dominos for some autentico pizza

and of course a colazione all'inglese

it's a wonderful full breakfast meal with an Italian twist of including tomatoes.
it was wonderful to scarf it down and feast just like the old Roman Pharoahs who oversaw an empire from one side of the world to the other

Dominos has my nonnas sauce marone a mi.