Varya and I spent half of July in Italy, traveling from Rome to Florence to Venice and back to Rome on Frecciarossa, staying in nice, well located apartments. Spending four half-weeks in four homes essentially divided our fortnight into quarters, making it feel like four mini-vacations separated by high speed train rides between ancient cities. Our many online photos and videos (most using a Panasonic Lumix ZS100, some with an iPhone 8 or SE) visually describe our entire trip, so here I’ll focus on advice for two Italian holiday essentials: lodging and tours.
I found primo apartments on Airbnb in desirable locations at surprisingly reasonable rates…exclusively from “Superhosts” to better ensure a smooth experience in quality accommodations. Our first Roman terrace had a great view of St. Peter’s dome, lit up at night and greeting us each morning. Our Florentine studio overlooked the Arno River, a skipping stone’s throw from the Ponte Vecchio…bellissimo! Our Venetian apartment had the best decor, just a few steps from the Rialto Bridge. And our final Roman apartment was in the bustling shopping district of Campo Marzio–a short walk from the Spanish Steps and Pantheon–where Varya unleashed her Visa upon fashionable perfume and handbag shops. All of our apartments were in the $100-160/night range, so these premium locations cost a total of $2K over two weeks…nothing to sneeze at, but these Airbnb apartments were cheaper (and larger) than nearby hotel rooms, especially in the peak tourist month of July. Plus, the convenience of having kitchens and washing machines can not be overstated after long days of walking in the warm Tuscan sun.
Normally I’m not interested in slow, constrained group tours with occasionally obnoxious tourists, preferring to strike out and explore independently with a few cool people. (Some of my favorite European vacations have been on motorcycles with 2 or 3 other riders.) However, tour groups can help you skip long public lines at popular sites, and you may learn something new from a knowledgeable guide. So, for better tours, I highly recommend Walks of Italy to Americans for reasons described below. First, however, here are the tours we chose, one per quarter fortnight:
- Pristine Sistine gave us early, pre-public entrance into the Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums, and St. Peter’s Basilica.
- After Hours at the Accademia gave us easy, uncrowded access to David and other Renaissance and Medieval masterpieces.
- Venice in a Day included the Doge’s Palace, St. Mark’s Basilica, and even a gondola ride after lunch.
- Premium Colosseum half-day tour included the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum.
Why is Walks of Italy so top choice? Walks limits groups to 15 or fewer tourists–I think ours ranged from 10 to 14–whereas competitors such as City Wonders typically have groups of 20-30, and an in-port cruise ship can choke museum halls with mobs of 50. Smaller groups enable you to interact a lot more with your guide and group, questioning and joking, and to move through crowded tourist areas more easily. A related nit: while our Walks guides carried small, plain, yellow umbrellas–easily seen but unobtrusive when collapsed, and handy sun screens outside–other guides had their flags/advertisements waving high on telescoping rods as beacons for their oversized groups, flags which always seemed to interfere with my photos!
Walks uses local Italian guides who are fluent in history, humor and English, catering to their target demographic of monolingual Americans. This may be explained by the co-founder, Jason Spiehler, being a young American art historian and theology major that I met a decade ago on the Palatine Hill. He was loudly offering “free tour!”, so my ex and I took him up on it and he guided us down into the Roman Forum, explaining everything we saw and didn’t see…so well that we bought his evening walking tour of the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and other magico night sights. From those humble beginnings as a solo tour guide, Jason has built an apparently thriving business, claiming to employ over 100 guides in Italy, Paris and New York. Check out the incredible variety of tours on the Walks of Italy web site, try a couple, and thank me later.
Moonday 