Looks like I'm headed to Italy for a wedding in June. Fly into Rome. Wedding in Matera. Only things we have on the list are the Sistine chapel, the wedding, then the Amalfi coast.
Nothing else is set in stone. We will be there 6-8 days, TBD.
Interested in both the best bang for your buck things/places/experiences, as well as the "money is no object" stuff.
A friend went not long ago for a wedding also. The Ferrari museum, and you can drive a Lamborghini on the track at Ferrari? He didn't get that either so passed on it. Edit: Matera is a longggg way from the museum. That's all I got.
Edit: Read "Playing For Pizza" by John Grisham before you go.
On the way from Rome to Matera you can pass through Pompeii, and that is only a short boat ride from Capri. Dip across and get a bottle of Limoncello for the party...
It's shaped like a boot.
Plan a lunch stop at a gas station on the highway. Seriously. They don't play around, and the food is amazing. Think the best charcuterie plate you've ever had.
Subscribed. We need to go.
We've been twice though not in over a decade. Rent a car, pick a spot on the map, drive there, enjoy the countryside, the people, and the food. Repeat next day.
Best thing about Italy? Italian restaurants EVERYWHERE! No waiting
Lots of beautiful places amd very chill friendly people. If you end up north Padua is awesome. Venice is worth a few hours but is a tourist trap. SO MUCH good food. Lots of beautiful architecture and Roman ruins. I spend time in Milan, Bologna, and Padua for work of there's anything I can help with.
Depending on where you're going, I would look at a combo of public transport (ie, trains) and rental cars. You really don't want a rental car in the cities as parking tends to be a pain in the posterior even by European standards.
Learn to say "feed me I'm hungry" in Italian.
Every Nona for 100 miles will hear it and attempt to feed you to death.
Other than that.
Tour the Moto Guzzi factory in Mandello on Lake Como.
They've got incredible history, first motorcycle company with a wind tunnel, huge racing history, one of the last hand built motorcycles in the world and still in the original factory (even Harley Davidson can't say that).
The same windows in the factory have been broken for the last 100 years but nobody seems to care, lol.
Hit any restaurant, any at all, that don't have the menus out front in English. Don't get me wrong, the ones that do are gonna be great, but the ones that don't will haunt your dreams. So! Rome! Can't go wrong, really. Get on the subway, pick a stop, and more than likely you'll step out and see something you've read about or seen pix of most of your life and it'll *still* be a shock... Direct quote of mine, " Holy e36m3, it's the Spanish Steps"... and if you go down the street that directly faces those steps, and you have any kind of a thing for watches, you'll say "holy e36m3" a lot... 2, 3 blocks, Rolex, Bvlgari, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tag Heuer, Cartier, Mont Blanc just off top of my head.. Then hang a left at some point and walk till you stumble into the Pantheon. This is a must see, looking up at the biggest unreinforced concrete dome on earth and realizing it's 2500 yrs old. The Colusseum is a must, hell *everything* there is a must; go into it knowing yer gonna miss everything, and y'all will appreciate what you did see, all the more. Pompeii is in the way to where you're going anyhow, so make damn sure you check it out. There's a vibe, man. And a.. sort-of comfort. Cuz there's graffiti, and pizza places... with frescoes of their menus above the ovens, behind the "order here" counters. It's like the great things in life haven't really changed that much? We missed the Amalfi coast so when you get back ya gotta tell me all about it.. cuz it's only a year and I'm more than ready to go back... I still dont think there are any real Italian restaraunts around here anymore. No I aint Italian, but I do love great food and aw geez they hadda drag me back to the airport by my fingernails...
Rent a couple e-bikes & check out the via appia.
This is all I got
Every time the wife and I go, we stay in Bologna as our home base.
It's a small, cheap college town that you can walk across in 45 minutes. It's also kinda centrally located to just about everything (save for Southern Italy).
We stayed at this hotel just North of where Amalfi officially starts: CAPO LA GALA HOTEL & WELLNESS - Prices & Reviews (Vico Equense, Italy - Province of Naples) (tripadvisor.com)
You most likely have to take a taxi there, though there is a sporadic train stop nearby. Train goes into a rock tunnel, and there's one disused stop that opens up to a sweeping view of the ocean. One of the most surreal moments of my life.
FYI you actually have to own a Ferrari to tour the Ferrari factory. We learned that one the hard way. They will, however, graciously let you pay to tour the museum.
In reply to calteg :
Tell them you own a 308.
Show them threads on this forum.
Can't hurt to try.
James May has you covered here.
Drink the wine, too. Especially if it's local wine.
A piece over on the Classic Motorsports site might help: We planned our own European road trip–and you can, too.
Get a t-shirt that says "Ford > Ferrari". Report back on the results.
ShawnG said:In reply to calteg :
Tell them you own a 308.
Show them threads on this forum.
Can't hurt to try.
My good friend actually owned a 308...briefly. It caught fire and burned his garage to the ground about 3 weeks after purchase. His insurance company was absolutely convinced that it was fraud, but apparently they just catch fire sometimes.
The Italian Air Force Museum at Vigna di Valle, on Lake Bracciano. Look for the Macchi M.C. 72, the world's fastest seaplane. On Oct 23, 1934 it achieved a speed of 440. The record has never been broken.
Rome: see the sights, check the boxes, get out. Same for Venice. I was there a bit over a week and those two were my least favorite stops.
The coolest stuff is the unexpected stuff that isn't at the center of a tourist trap. Mt. Vettore on a whim was really gorgeous as was the drive, especially seeing Castelluccio sticking up out of the sea of fog on the way there. I stayed in spoleto and it was a great home base for a lot of central Italy activities. If I were going back I would find other towns like it.
I believe they speak italian.
I think "ketchup" is italian for "I berkeleyed your sister".
In reply to prodarwin :
Dig it. One of my favorite stops was Barga, "the most Scottish town in Italy", and the drive to and from there from Firenze. I bet there are other such that are just as fun elsewhere and I hope mtn finds some of em here in a couple months!
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