Italy

Authentic southern Italian city with its gritty vibes, compact corridors, endless history (and monuments), and best-in-the-world Napolitan pizza.

In short, Napoli is truly awesome. It’s no surprise that most travelers in western Europe don’t venture that far south into Italy as it’s more convenient to just stay up north. But they don’t know what they’re missing out.

Napoli is a mix of Rome, Florence, and Lisbon. Tons of historical monuments and architecture all in a condensed space, with a bit of hills, also you have water areas. While Napoli isn’t as romantic, elegant and fancy as Florence…it’s more local, youthful and lively, far less touristic.

You can do it in 2 days to feel like you saw the main things, or put 5 days to really see many things. It’s also no surprise to me that I saw many travelers who came here for a week and then stayed for months. If I had to stay in Italy for months, I’d also probably choose Napoli over the more touristy (overly-crowded) Italian cities in the north.

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Eastern coast Italian town. Chill or boring, depends what you like.

I came here for a dance event. Not because I heard it was amazing and wanted to check it out. Turns out it’s pretty boring and not so unique but indeed there are a few things you can do and see if you have to be here.

1 day is enough for me. Put more days if you really want to relax and do nothing.

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Romantic Italian tourist destination…big yet still charmy.

The 3 most popular tourist cities in Italy are probably Rome, Florence, and Milan. (I didn’t check btw, just a gut feeling.) Rome is epic with its massive size and endless array of historical monuments/buildings. Milan is more like a modern metropolis, known for fashion and things of Italy today.

Florence is smaller than those 2, but packs as big of a punch and so much more charmy. Massive cathedral of beautiful styling, much more impressive to me than Milan’s duomo. The city center feels like a giant old town, with many squares and cobbled stone walkways. People everywhere and NO CARS or public transportation. It’s a walking city dazzling your sights with every step. In 10 minutes of walking, you go past bridges and water-views, historical buildings and squares, statues and monuments, gardens and museums, shops and stores, bars, cafes, and restaurants.

It’s like a really big small Italian town, if you know what I mean. Small enough to digest in a couple days, big enough to live in and find things to do. Come see why the smaller Florence brings in so many millions of tourists despite lacking the size of Rome, Paris, London.

3 days is enough to see most things and still have moments to relax and enjoy this beautiful city.

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Tips to detect quality, avoiding fakes and typical salesman tricks.

Bought my first leather jaqueta in Florence (2014) after checking out 30-50 stores. I loved his jackets the most because:  high quality, they were very nice looking (not too trendy or out-dated), reasonably priced, great customer service (without any of the annoying sales tactics listed below).

He passed my stringent test with flying colors. I’ve repasted my forum comment from TripAdvisor below:

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Huge epic city full of ancient/medieval world wonders.

Rome is a giant place full of “wow” things everywhere you look. Historic monuments, buildings, and waterfronts…with tourists clamoring everywhere to get the best photo. Even if you never paid attention in history class, you will definitely recognize many things here from movies and books throughout your life. I was drunk the very first night here and even still, I kept saying “OH CRAP, I seen this before!” on every block I walked.

Where and how do you begin to digest the magnitude of this place? I’ll help you chop it down to digestible size! What I love most about this place is that despite it’s tourist value, it’s still very much a real and liveable city with lots of locals and local places to explore.

I’d recommend at least 4 days to feel like you not only saw everything but got to enjoy the Roman vibes. Rome is also nice because even though it’s geographically in the center, the culture and mentality feels more like southern Italy. More warm, friendlier, different foods and different vibe from usual northern Italian cities (like Milan, Turin). Btw, an Italian will tell you Rome has a distinct central Italian vibe and is not exactly southern, but definitely more like the south than the north. 😉

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A row of 5 beautiful colorful Italian beach towns, each with their own unique beach landscape and waterfront play areas.

Cinque Terre is no longer the “secret” it once was 20 years ago. It’s now one of the most popular (and crowded) tourist spots for good reason. By staying at just one of the towns, you are in close proximity to easily explore the other 4. It’s fun to explore the towns, take photos of cute colorful buildings, hangout by the water, eat and drink at Italian-esque places with water views, even go hiking between the towns for amazing “wow” photos.

You could technically do it all in 2 days (dedicating one to hiking) but I’d like to put 3 to relax and enjoy the beaches and night restaurants/bars more. My first visit was in 2009, second in 2014, and third in 2022. And I think I’m never going back. I’ve seen enough and it only got worse each time…more crowded and touristy and coastal hike trail closed. I’d personally go elsewhere with those days.

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Colorful & chaotic Italian tourist city of crowded canals and narrow streets.

Venice is an absolute madness of a city full of tourists taking postcard-worthy photos from every corner. Colorful buildings, bridges, shops, walkways from every angle. Buildings, boats, waterfronts, squares, and people everywhere.

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