My Italy Tour Guide: How to Plan Your Italy Tour

Disclaimer: This post is my PERSONAL guide through Italy, which I took after a lot of contemplation and research. As my primary goals were food and sightseeing, I made certain exceptions to my tour plan, and yes, I did mess up a few times. But, this is a simple, comprehensive, and REALISTIC guide on how to plan your travel, as well as budget allocation. You might be better at it than me, you might suck at it too. But, that’s not for me to decide. The best laid plans can go wrong, so don’t worry if you miss a few things.

Italy Travel Guide

The Italy Plan

My Italy plan kept on changing – I made at least four to five major changes in that plan throughout its course, because there were some rather insurmountable issues with my Italy plans, but, weirdly enough, it all worked out in the end. Initially, I had thought of something else, but I had to fit in two days in Toulouse, France, to meet a friend, and I realised I wanted to do that. It was my choice, and I don’t regret it, but it made a little dent in my otherwise impeccable Italian Plan. But, here’s the thing: If you want to plan your trip longer, or shorter, try to think about where you want to go.

Rome Tour Guide
Rome Tour Guide

Option One: Rome and the South (6 days)

Day One: Land in Rome and check in. Try visiting St. Peter’s Basilica in the afternoon if you have reached in the morning. Buy a ticket beforehand from this site. 

Day Two: Go to Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel. If you want to visit Vatican Gardens, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN EARLY TICKET THAT INCLUDES IT, because there’s no more tour of that after 12.45 pm in the afternoon. Buy your ticket beforehand, and BE ON TIME. It really helps! GET THE TICKETS HERE!

Day Three: Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palantine Hills. If you are in Rome, missing out on the Colosseum is silly. Again, book ahead, skip the line, and reach early, especially if you’re going around July-August, which is THE SEASON. It does get quite hot there during summer and the temperature soars up.

In the evening, take a train/bus to Naples and check into a hotel there. You can totally use FlixBus or GoEuro to book, both of them offer really good service.

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Day Four: Book a tour to Amalfi Coast and/or Pompeii. Here’s the deal: If you are going there alone, or with two-three other people max, it is actually far more economic to book a tour than have the hassle of booking your own car, driving down, etc., because a) the mountain roads that lead you to Amalfi look gorgeous, but you might end up losing out on the beautiful view because you were too busy staring down the steering wheel, and b) you won’t be able to get drunk on the incredible liquors and wines available there, because you’re driving.

The tour I used was booked through ItalyXP and you can avail a 5% discount if you book through this coupon code till 31st October, 2021 : poorna_discount5% 

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Day Five: In the morning, walk around Naples and go to the National Archaeological Museum. This is crucial to understand what you have seen in Pompeii the day before. Here, you have the option of doing Amalfi AND Pompeii in one day, or splitting it up into two parts and seeing it in two days. The choice is yours. Have a nice pizza for lunch, and then go down to the Naples Harbour, which is a gorgeous place where you can see ships come in and go out. Hit the local bars in the evening, and then its time to leave.

Day Six will be spent getting back to your city/country, so plan accordingly.

Florence
Florence

Option Two: The Slightly Lengthier Italy Plan

Now here is where it gets more interesting. I decided to take a lengthier plan because I had some time in my hand, and I definitely wanted to explore more of Italy, so Florence WAS in my timeline. Here is where my plan was slightly different from most of the people who talked to me about their Italy tour plan. Most people told me to go to Florence, then to Venice, then Milan and back. Ideally, that’s a great plan, but, I decided to SKIP VENICE in favour of seeing more of Tuscany and Northern Italy. SO, my plan went like this:

Day Six: Travel to Florence and spend the afternoon walking around the city, and check out Michaelangelo’s beautiful works around Florence.

Michaelangelo David
Michaelangelo’s David

 

Day Seven: Take a tour down to Pisa and parts of Tuscany, like to Siena and San Gimigano. Italy XP came to the rescue again, and the group tour I booked was, again, quite lovely.

Day Eight: Go to Milan in the afternoon, because that way you will have some time in the morning to explore more of Florence.

Day Nine: Take a city tour of Milan, because its gorgeous, and you would definitely not want to miss out on the sights around the city.

Pisa Baptistery

Day Ten: I didn’t take this tour, but I wish I had – GO to Lake Como, because I saw the photos and I totally regretted not going there.

Day Eleven: As I was on a bit of a historical sightseeing spree, I decided to visit Turin. Turin, apart from being one of the most picturesque cities of Italy, is also the home of the largest Egyptian museum outside of Cairo, and that museum is one of the most impressive places I have seen.

Day Twelve: Take some time off to see Parma or Bologna, especially if you are interested in the food scene, like me.

Day Thirteen: Back to Milan and then you can choose to extend your tour, or go back home.

Florence travel

THINGS THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE GOING TO ITALY (ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE FROM INDIA)

Now, the reason why I am not listing all the places I chose to go in these cities is because in the upcoming blog posts, I will be discussing my travel stories in more details. However, you should know that if you ARE choosing to go to Italy, there are a few things that will be an absolute saviour.

  1. GET A MULTIPLE-ENTRY SCHENGEN VISA: especially if you have plans of going to other countries apart from Italy that aren’t a part of EU. Though my initial plan was to ONLY visit Italy, fate intervened, and I would up in Toulouse, France, as well as Romania (more about these later), but while applying, you will HAVE to read through ALL the parts of the application and follow it to the tee. MAKE SURE you have EVERY document they ask for while applying for your VISA  and keep EVERY part of your documentation ready. Also, here’s another thing – Just because a county is in Europe doesn’t mean its a part of the EU. So, if you are travelling to other countries that aren’t a part of EU but is in the continent of Europe, make sure you read up about their VISA rules and follow it to the tee.
  2. LEARN A BIT OF ITALIAN. Knowing a bit about the Italian language is a major bonus. In many smaller cities of Italy, English speakers are few and far between, and I did have to resort to a set of really terrible Italian phrases, not to mention plenty of hand gestures, to get the message across. However, I have seen that if you struggle with Italian, people are generally VERY helpful and they try to chip in and help. So, my best friend here was the app DUOLINGO which is a fantastic app I used before while going to Vietnam (to learn basic phrases in Vietnamese), and it helped me quite considerably. I have realised that there are different Italian accents, and it takes some time to understand rapid fire Italian, but, you can always be nice, smile, point at things, and try to explain what you need. This actually helps a lot! _56K0583

  3. TAXIS: UBER is definitely a good taxi option in Italy. However, its constrained to a few cities, and it is quite expensive. Therefore, before hitting a city, while booking your transportation and hotels, it is ALWAYS a good idea to dig around a bit and figure out HOW TO REACH YOUR HOTEL FROM THE AIRPORT/TRAIN STATION/BUS STOP, because, and especially if you’re on a budget, these things WILL MATTER. I had a couple of major mess ups here, which cost me quite a bit of money, so be careful. In Florence, for example, you should ideally book your cab well ahead of your time, by using the following number: 0554242. This is a direct line where you can call if you’re in the city, or you can send in a text via WhatsApp. However, make sure you know
  4. CARRY SOME CASH. Despite the fact that many places take credit cards, carrying cash really helps, especially when you are trying to quickly pay. However, one thing: when you’re coming back home, spend the smaller denominations and leave your 50 euro and 100 euro notes for posterity, because back in India, they don’t want to exchange anything less than 50 Euro notes at the money exchange, or so we were told.
  5. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION WILL BE YOUR BEST FRIEND IF YOU ARE ON A BUDGET. Try figuring out the different modes of transportation, and if you are travelling from one spot to another, buy a multiple-use card that can be used for trains, bus, trams, and Metro, especially if you’re out all day. For example, in Rome, I used Romapass extensively (I will discuss it further in my ROME blog post) and I bought an all day metro pass in Turin. Both helped me out majorly.
  6. WALK TO PLACES. In Europe, until and unless its raining, and raining hard, walking is a delight, and I would rather walk down from one part of the city to another. Tourist guide books as well as google maps will be your best friend, so make sure you keep them handy. Walk around Italy

  7. BUY A LOCAL SIM CARD. If you’re travelling around the country, DO NOT buy an International calling card. Getting a quick pre-paid local SIM is far easier, and its cheaper. I purchased one from a brand called Lycamobile and it gave great service. Plus, I could book cars, talk to people, and stay connected. I was very generously helped to select the right plan, which was for a whole month, and worked across countries – I had ZERO problem using it in Italy, France, AND Romania. The entire plan cost me around 20 Euro or so, with the SIM card, and it was cheap and very good service.
  8. MAKE SURE YOU CHECK LOCAL WEATHER FORECASTS: Okay, while Rome was pretty much HOT during the day and slightly chilly in the night, Amalfi coast was downright cold, and it was pouring when we went to Pompeii. In Florence, the temperature plummeted, and it DID rain a bit, but bad weather hit us in Milan – I spent an entire evening locked up in my hotel because it was pouring outside. Thankfully, I had plenty of company, but carrying an umbrella to Milan is a good idea. Just put it in your check-in luggage, because apparently Umbrellas aren’t allowed in carry-on luggage from India.
  9. CLOTHING CHOICES: While many parts of Italy have absolutely zero problem with you wearing shorts, entering Vatican or certain holy places around Italy is a strict no-no, and therefore, wearing clothes that cover your shoulders, knees, and navel, is a good idea. I actually saw people getting turned out of certain churches for wearing shorts, and so, wearing modest clothes, especially if you’re going to a church, is a good idea. Also, I strongly suggest taking a windcheater and/or a light, waterproof jacket. Layering is your best friend – because you never know when the temperature may suddenly drop. Carry a small backpack or a big purse, where you can simply stuff all these things, along with your sunscreen and a pair of sunglasses, especially if you’re going during the summer months.
  10. FOOD CHOICES: Okay, since I am strictly a meat eater, Italy was my personal pilgrimage. However, I was travelling with a slightly older aunt and she wanted to eat different things, so we didn’t stick to Italian always. We did meet a couple of vegetarian people who seemed to have no issues finding food, and I have to admit – there are many different options to pick from. However, different parts of the country has different specialities, and the cuisine changes format as per the weather, available resources, as well as cultural impact. Therefore, DO YOUR RESEARCH before hitting Italy, especially if you want to have good wines AND food.

    A glass of wine with a slice of pizza
    A glass of wine with a slice of pizza

That said, I am concluding the first part of my Italy Trip here, and I hope you stick around for more blogs that will be focused on different parts of my trip. Ciao till then!

 

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15 Responses

  1. I would want to try option 2, the slightly lengthy Italy plan. I love Italy, it’s definitely on my list – SOON!

  2. This is an awesome guide to planning a tour in Italy! I don’t have plans to visit at the moment but if I do in the future I know where to look!

    1. I know, right? I have plans of returning there in a few years’ time! Let’s see!

  3. This is the type of article that I prefer to read. Thank for the valuable info. I can now plan my trip to Italy.

  4. Oh how fun! I would love to go to Italy. I have some family going there I will send this onto them!

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About Me

Hi, I’m Panushwari

Welcome to my blog which is mostly about Food, Travel, Lifestyle and Beauty. I generally review restaurants and hotels in Kolkata and my work as a Restaurant Consultant and Food Critic in Kolkata allows me to maintain this blog as a showcase of my work. I am also a published author and have been a panelist at many events.

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