Italy. The world alone conjures up golden images. Vineyards bathed in sunlight, frescoes adorning the ceiling of a chapel, and narrow lanes with light spilling from a trattoria. Italy is a great destination for first-time-to-Europe travellers, in my opinion. This week, we’ll be touching on various regions of this beautiful destination and soon I’ll break them down even more!
Destinations: Italy
So why is Italy a great first-time-to-Europe destination for travellers? Well, Americans don’t need a visa to travel there. All you need is your passport (valid for six months after your departure from Italy, of course) and an already-booked return flight. There are direct flights to Rome from several cities in the United States and the public transport across the country is very good (if a little late, aka Italian time). English is widely spoken as well, even in smaller towns. Lastly, there’s something for everyone, from adventure travel to spas and wellness. And (ok one more) because we’ve grown up with Italian food, picky eaters won’t have a tough time finding familiar food in Italy!
Most travellers from the US fly directly to Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci International Airport. However, there are also direct flights from the UK and Canada. Depending on your airline preference, you might connect to your final Italian destination via another European city.
Getting around Italy
Getting around most cities is easy; Rome has a metro system, and even a city like Florence is compact enough where you can walk between all major tourist attractions. In Venice, water taxis are the transport of choice. Navigating the canals in the city is definitely a unique way to travel.
To get between the major cities, use the train network. The Italian train system is fast and efficient. For example, the high speed train between Rome and Florence only takes an hour and a half! By car, that’s a three hour journey. If travelling between Northern and Southern Italy, you may wish to fly. There are daily flights between Milan or Venice and Naples, or you could fly into a smaller city, like Bari. Visiting Sicily is another highlight; you can get there by plane, ferry, car, or train.
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Over the next week, I’m going to share a little bit about this fascinating country in more detail and share some of my Virtuoso partners in Italy – whom I totally love! Check in tomorrow at 10am EDT for our first in this series!
