Postcards from Italy

Top 10 Italian Holiday Experiences: Brian and Maria Gabriella’s Picks

Trying to plan a trip to Italy and just don’t know where to start? Everyone has their favorite cities, restaurants, hotels and sights to recommend (contact us and we’ll tell you ours), but here are 10 Italian holiday experiences around the country that you just can’t miss. In a country full of perfect 10s, the following are in no particular order.

#1 Italian Holiday Experience: Roma! Roma! Roma! – Ancient Rome

Image: © Concierge in Umbria

At the heart of modern-day Rome, the ruins of the ancient Roman capital are remarkably preserved despite the 4 million visitors who walk the 2600-year-old paths each year. But Rome is not the only place to find traces of the ancient civilization (Pompeii is a perfect day trip!), and Rome today is far more than a city built on ancient relics. Walking the streets, you’re greeted with the most majestic architecture and art from every period of Italian history and the vibrancy of a modern capital.

#2 Italian Holiday Experience: Rinascimento – Renaissance Florence

Image: © Concierge in Umbria

Florence may be small compared to bustling Rome, but the capital of Renaissance culture packs in so many sights that you can spend eight hours wandering four blocks and still not see everything. Though Florence is home to the grand art collections of the Uffizi and the Accademia (home to Michelangelo’s David), other cities in Tuscany and further afield in Umbria (Perugia) and Le Marche (Urbino) hold equally lauded but less visited collections.

#3 Italian Holiday Experience: Venezia – A One of a Kind City

Image: © Concierge in Umbria

Often imitated but never copied, Venice remains – despite the hype, the masses of tourists, and the commercialization – a magically unique place. Where else in the world . . . is a major modern city completely devoid of motorized vehicles? . . . are “roads” sometimes only wide enough for one person? . . . was home to Casanova? Like few other cities in Italy, walking through Venice transports you to another time.

#4 Italian Holiday Experience: Sicilia – Crossroads of Cultures

Image: © Concierge in Umbria

While we often say that Italy has it all, the Mediterranean’s largest island has it all in one place. Ancient ruins, Byzantine cathedrals, and Islamic architecture dot the landscape, while the flavors of all of Sicily’s past rulers mix with the island’s rich agricultural produce to create a singular cuisine. Throw in a volcano, hundreds of miles of coastline with beaches and diving, and verdant hiking trails, and you’ve got Sicily.

#5 Italian Holiday Experience: Mangiare e bere! The Food

Image: © Concierge in Umbria

There is something about Italian food that you can never replicate at home – the incredibly fresh, picked-at-the-peak-of-ripeness, seasonal vegetables. In Italy, the phenomenon called “farm to table” is not a fad, but a basic way of life. And don’t forget the wine! (Not that the Italians would let you.) Even low-priced table wines and house wines are high-quality and often organic.

#6 Italian Holiday Experience: Italiani! – The Italians


Image: © Concierge in Umbria

All of the things that we love about Italy are made possible by the Italians themselves. Their passion. Their conviction. Their love of beauty for beauty’s sake. And their fervent desire to point you to the absolute best gelato, pasta, or whatever you are looking for. The Italians are great hosts and are one of the warmest and funniest peoples of the world. Recommendations by and conversations with Italians will take your trip to the next level.

#7 Italian Holiday Experience: I Panorama – The Views!

Image: © Concierge in Umbria

Italy’s peninsula (justly often called “the boot”) stretches from the Alps down to the volcanic peaks of Sicily’s Mt. Etna, benefiting from 4722 miles of coastline along the way. From the ski and hiking resorts of the Dolomites like Cortina d’Ampezzo to the rolling hills of Tuscany to the cities built into sheer cliffs along the Tyrrhenian Sea, like the UNESCO World Heritage Cinque Terre and the star-studded Amalfi coast, Italy has a view to soothe anyone’s soul.

#8 Italian Holiday Experience: Lo Shopping – Art, Clothes, and Ceramics, Oh My!

Image: © Concierge in Umbria

You may come to Italy for the art or the food, but don’t forget to leave time to bring your favorite things home with you. For quality, Italy is unparalleled. For clothes, you can score Italy’s top fashion brands at deep, deep discounts at outlet malls outside major cities. To decorate your home, pick up reproductions of your favorite museum art pieces and scour ceramics shops for unique regional designs and elegant painted serving dishes.

#9 Italian Holiday Experience: Un Pisolino e Una Passeggiata – Lifestyle

Image: © Concierge in Umbria

The afternoon nap (il pisolino) and the evening stroll (la passeggiata) form an integral part of the rhythm of Italian life. The morning is for chatting at a coffee bar, getting fresh vegetables, cheese, and pasta at the market for the highlight of the day – lunch! After a rest or a nap, the whole city takes to the streets for an evening stroll to catching up on gossip and grab a gelato. Italy is all about the pace of life.

#10 Italian Holiday Experience: Che Spettacolo! Fantastic Live Events

Image: © Concierge in Umbria

There is a reason that opera, philosophical dramas, and improvised comedy all have their roots in Italy – the Italians know how to put on a show. Today, you can still experience opera in ornately decorated opera houses with intermissions long enough for a drink and a chat between every act just as Verdi fans did in the 1800s. In the spring and summer, the country comes alive with world-class concerts and music festivals in every city and usable Roman amphitheater.

Travel Specialists

Maria Landers

Brian Dore