2210 The "Must Do's" of Italy

Despite knowing a load about 'our' little corner of Italy, we are very much naive about the rest of the country. We plan to remedy this, however and plan a Grand Tour in '06; flying in to one end of the country, hiring a car & planning a flight out of 'the other end' a few weeks later.

Does anyone have any "must do's" to share for a couple who love a bit of simplicity, tranquility & the beauty of nature? (we'll 'mix with the ghastly crowds' if we have to, but you'll have to convince us it's worthwhile!)
;)

Category
Travel & Holiday Advice

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 12/28/2005 - 04:27

[QUOTE=tuscanhills]Despite knowing a load about 'our' little corner of Italy, we are very much naive about the rest of the country. We plan to remedy this, however and plan a Grand Tour in '06; flying in to one end of the country, hiring a car & planning a flight out of 'the other end' a few weeks later.

Does anyone have any "must do's" to share for a couple who love a bit of simplicity, tranquility & the beauty of nature? (we'll 'mix with the ghastly crowds' if we have to, but you'll have to convince us it's worthwhile!)
;)[/QUOTE]
great idea,many fail to do it.Bear in mind it's like seeing lots of countries in one and people will tell you lots of conflicting info (mostly to get you to their neck of the woods)to sythesise i'd suggest the following ( and i don't know what time of year you plan which could change things a bit)
Cities (must): Roma, Venezia,Napoli,Firenze.
Minor cities if possible:Mantova,Ferrara,Verona,Siena,
Ruins/remains: Pompei,valle dei Templi (Agrigento -Sicily),Paestum (salerno)
minor islands: Eolie (sicily) , Capri,(naples),Ventottene (Roma),isole tremiti( foggia).
BEST SEASIDE: no doubt -Sardegna,isole Pelagie (south of sicily Pantelleria,Lampedusa ecc), isole Eolie (sicily),Ustica island off Sicilia)
BEST LAKE: lago di Garda.
BEST MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENT:Trentino-Alto adige (south tyrol corridor/Dolomites.)
RURAL/PARK/COUNTRY environs:National park Gran Sasso in Abbruzzo,
the Po delta,The Calabrian Appennines-Silla,lots of areas in Sicilia,southern Tuscany between Siena and Grossetto,the extreme south of Puglia around Otranto.
SINGLE THINGS WORTH SEEING:
ETNA,The royal palace at Caserta, the greek amphitheatre in Siracusa,Taormina,the almonds in blossom in Sicilia in early spring,the shopping in the centre of Milano,the Frasassi caves in north Marche,the fish market at the port of Mazzaro del Vallo (sicily),the thermal caves on ischia island,
IF (and when i get the chance to see again) i'd go for some or all of the above.Before people in Liguria,Piemonte start rattling swords or other "forgotten areas" complaining ,it's all fantastic ,but necessarily having to make choices otherwise it'd take you years rather than weeks i'd think about some or all of the above...at least this time.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 12/28/2005 - 05:29

If you do come to the Roma area I would highly recommend Ostia Antica near Fiumicino airport if you like ruins in a tranquil setting - I personally find them more interesting (though not as dramatic) than Pompeii. In the Alban Hills just South of Rome there are two beautiful volcanic lakes Lago di Albano and Lago di Nemi - the latter much quieter and incredibly beautiful.