What To Visit on Your Trip to Italy
Italy is one of those countries that you need to put on your bucket list if you haven’t already. It has everything from amazing art, to rich and deep history, as well as beautiful landscapes, and lovely food. It’s a perfect country to visit on a long road trip so that you can dedicate as much time as you want to each stop.
Our route is by no means a definitive one and you can focus on different destinations if you want to and if they suit your interest best. Keep in mind that if you plan to drive across Italy as a foreigner, you’ll need an international driving permit issued by IDA.
photo/ Ruth Archer
Venice, Florence, and Rome
You can spend a week in each of these cities and you’ll just scratch the surface of what they have to offer. They are also the most popular destinations for most tourists and if you’re taking a road trip you can get to Rome from Venice in just a few hours.
Venice is most well known for its beautiful canals, Doge’s Palace, and the whimsical and somewhat chaotic St. Mark’s square. When in Rome, you should definitely not miss the St. Peter’s Basilica and the Colosseum, the most famous landmark of ancient Rome.
A Drive Through Tuscany
Tuscany is often considered to be the most beautiful region of Italy. It’s a wine country and that’s why it’s visited by so many tourists from all over the world. The hilltops of this region are one of the most romantic and picturesque sites you can see in Italy.
The best way to visit them is to rent a car since you can stop at any time and visit the local shops and restaurants. These are often less well known than those in large cities, but the food is just as good if not better. Florence is the historic center of the region and that’s where you should start your visit. If you’re an art lover, you can spend days exploring Florence.
A Drive Through Sicily
Sicily is somewhat different from the rest of Italy and that’s why it deserves its own field trip. The region has an austere and somewhat harsh beauty that you can fall in love with as soon as you see it for the first time.
A driving tour that can stop at all important tourist sites in Sicily can take longer than a week. You can limit your stay to Palermo and Monreale, but it would be a mistake to overlook Segesta, which is especially well known for its theater and a temple that was never finished.
Dolomite Road
If you’re a skilled driver, you shouldn’t miss this route. The road is windy and somewhat steep as it goes past the biggest mountains in the country, but it’s beautiful and scenic. This is especially true as you go past Lake Garda.
Alpine villages are amongst the most beautiful in the country and stopping at any of them will allow you to enjoy rural Italy as the locals do. It’s a chance to explore local cuisine and wines which are amongst the best in the country if not in Europe as a whole
Adriatic Coast
A trip along the Adriatic coast is a great way to get to know Italy for two main reasons. It starts from Bologna and it usually stops in Florence. Both of these cities are worth a visit, especially for those that appreciate Renaissance art. There are also medieval towers lining the road between them and each one is worth a stop and a visit.
The second reason to take this trip is the coast itself. It’s a beautiful and scenic coast that makes the ride just fly by regardless of the season you’re traveling in. If you’re traveling in summer or at least late spring – you can also enjoy swimming, diving, and many other water sports along the way.
Sardinia
Sardinia is another region of Italy that often claims to be a separate entity of its own. This is common due to the country’s history and it’s also something you can notice as a tourist as soon as you visit. Make sure to spend at least a day in Cagliari and try the local food which is very different from what you consider to be Italian food.
It’s best to drive north from there and make stops alongside the Roman ruins that attract the most tourists since they are the last remains of a lost civilization.
Author: Maurice Vogel
