Italy Travel Tours

Posts Tagged ‘Rome’

In the summer, Northern Italy Tours have more to offer than what most people expect. There are ancient cities, medieval castles, old salt smuggler trails leading into the mountains along with the Alps themselves that can be a welcome break for the summer heat.

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The most visited and enjoyed of the northern Italy attractions is a tossup between Venice and the Clinque Terre, but no matter where you end up going, the main airport in the north is in Milan. This is the starting point for nearly all of the tours of Northern Italy.

Milan has many attractions to get your trip off to a new start. It was first conquered by the Romans in 222 BC from the Celtics that founded this city in about 400 BC. It was also the western Capital of the Roman Empire until 402 AD. There are numerous ancient Roman buildings along with Gothic architecture.

Venice is a destination no one should miss. This is a city made up of 117 small islands and as most know, the streets are canals filled with water. The history of this city stretches back to 10 BC and was fought over by many invading armies. The structures found there are Roman along with gothic that have Byzantine and Arab influences that can be visibly seen.

There are some that feel this is a tourist trap city, but the history of it keeps people coming back for more. For this reason a brief visit is recommended.

The Clinque Terre is a set of 5 sea side towns on the cliffs. They are towns that have turned back time to a simpler way of life. The choice of tours can be either by sea or land. What is fascinating is that each one of these towns is connected by a scenic footpath that is hundreds of years old and still used today.

You can see each town from the sea and at certain points on the cliffs, but the walking trail is for those of you in relatively good shape. Some of the distances take up to 90 minutes of walking to cover between towns.

In the further reaches of the north are the Lake Como and Lake Orta. These are inland away from the sea. There you can have a tranquil experience of just what life was like in Old Italy.

This is some of what you can experience in the summer time with Northern Italy tours. With so much to see, a week is not long enough to enough everything so more than one trip is recommended.

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The well known Italy travel highlights are pretty much a given. This includes Rome, Venice, and the Italian Riviera. With over 20 million visitors a year, more and more sites are becoming popular tourist attractions.

This is how the leaning tower of Pisa became a tourist attraction. It is unique, one of a kind and has become a World Heritage site. This tower was constructed in 1173, but there are many buildings older than this in Italy.

What most people come to see, at least on their first visit, are the old Roman ruins to give visitors a feel for how much Rome has expanded from this time. One of the oldest is the Pantheon. The construction on this temple was started in 27 BC. When it was constructed, the Pantheon was on the outskirts of Rome. Because of fires, the present day Pantheon is the third one that has been built. The present day building was rebuilt starting in 126 AD. This building has been in continuous use since it was first constructed. Since the 7th century, it has been a Roman Catholic Church that is dedicated to Saint Mary and the Martyrs.

The Roman Coliseum was constructed in 80 AD.  It too has seen the effects of fire and earthquakes that have left it in disrepair. It had been in continuous use until the early 19 century when finally, because of the numerous earthquakes and fires, it has become only a place for tourists and as a sacred place where so many Christians were sacrificed.

There are also the canals of Venice where over 400 bridges crossing the waterways can be found. Florence is in the heart of Tuscany. This is home to the renaissance period where works from Machiavelli and Michelangelo can be found.

Sorrento is the kind of Italian town that most people think of when imagining Italy. This city overlooks the Tyrrhenian Sea, on top of high cliffs.

These are just a few of the better known Italy travel highlights. With so much to see, it is nearly impossible to mention them all.

With off-the-beaten-path Italian vacations, they can take you to places most not only have not gone to but never heard of. These are once-in-a-lifetime experiences that few people get to enjoy. These experiences are not like off the beaten paths in America where most would be thinking of exploring some rarely-gone-to wilderness area.

These types of vacations do not mean you have to avoid the star attractions like Rome, Venice, and Milan, but spending too much time there will take away for more unique experiences that is your aim.

But there are places in the tourist areas that are not well known or seen, like the La Donna Partigiana. This is the hidden statue of Venice. This statue is at the Riva Dei Sette Martiri at the water’s edge of the Castello area. During high tide, the statue is literally hidden under water. Low tide is the only time this statue, dedicated to the women that served and died in WWII, can be seen.

Just north of Rieto and south of Terni is the picturesque village of Piediluco. This island is set beside a lake by the same name. The trees in autumn are a site that will not be soon forgotten. The church at one end of town has high quality art work inside, and the village has numerous B&Bs for tourists to stay in while enjoying this peaceful little village.

On the upper west side of Italy is the Marche region. This is a place that has fantastic beaches that most tourists have never seen or heard of before. By staying off the beaten path, Italian vacations that are spent there are of authentic Italy that is not experienced by most visitors to this historic land.

There are many travel tours in Italy. The reasons are obvious since there is so much rich history there along with things and places to see that exist nowhere else in the world. When thinking of Italy most tourist think of visiting Rome, Venice and Florence, but there is so much more.

One place that is not very well known but is unforgettable is the Cinque Terre National Park. This park is part of the coast line that is just east of the port of Genoa. Located in the north western part of the country near France and Monaco, the climate is mild and the sea breeze peaceful. This is also where the sheer cliffs of the Appenine Mountains drop off to the sea for a fantastic view.

South of this national park is the region of Tuscany. This is the area of Italy this is filling with rolling hills where many Italians, generations ago started their vineyards. The most famous of these wineries are in the Chianti Hills. For a sense of history there is the medieval town of San Gimignano which has distinctive towers along with other buildings that take you back in time.

This is what dots the landscape between the mountains and the valleys where rivers are too numerous to count.

The Romans brought olive trees from the Middle East over 2000 years ago which is now the source of liquid gold or the Tuscan Olive Oil.

When taking travel tours in Italy make sure you experience one of the many Roman roads that are still in good shape and are used to help give you the real Italian adventure.

When planning a trip to Italy the first thing you’ll want to decide is the time of year for your travel.    Summer is the most popular time.  Temperatures are attractive and the country with its flowers and gardens is its most beautiful.

The downside is prices for everything are generally higher in the peak season and many of the locals leave to take vacations for themselves.  This is particularly true in the large cities like Rome, Naples, Florence, Milan and Venice.  Europeans typically enjoy six weeks of vacation time and they think nothing of leaving home for an entire month.

However even when residents are vacationing elsewhere, there are millions of Italians ready to welcome you to their proud and beautiful country.

Do you want to plan your trip so you have total freedom to venture where you want at will?  Many Americans do this and come home with memorable stories and photographs.  Still others enlist the services of a guide service which can organize large group travel or small.

Large companies rent tour buses for their group which hails from throughout the U.S.  They have a regular schedule of trips and they enjoy a relationship with various hotels and restaurants that ensure large blocks of space for a busload of tourists.

Or, you may chose to find a smaller, more personal tour guide such as the sponsor of this Blog at Tuscany With Me.  This company excels at a small group of friends who enjoy traveling together.  It may be a family reunion as the reason for the holiday travel and the tour guide can learn in advance the nature of the trip before selecting sites and locales.

Whether you are celebrating a wedding, or an anniversary or a graduation, planning a trip to italy is a wonderful way to mark a rite of passage.

Traveler’s vacations to Italy needn’t be complicated or overwhelming.  With a little time and research, anyone can plan an excellent trip that will provide a lifetime of memories.

First of all, begin by asking friends and colleagues about their experiences in Europe.  Do they have a travel agent they recommend or did they rely on a website for their planning?  More and more vacationers are turning to the web for all their research, whether it’s the history of the country, flight schedules or prices and hotels and itineraries.

Americans often book trips to Rome, Florence and Venice, and with good reason.  These ancient cities are the cultural capitals of Italy housing centuries old works of art in classic structures built for the ages.  Likewise, the cuisine in these cities is remarkable.  You won’t go home hungry.

However you would do yourself an injustice to overlook the lesser known villages in this beautiful country.  Rustic and charming, life in the places off the beaten path is often the most memorable.   Locals welcome tourists to their little corner of the world and it is not uncommon to be invited into the home or vineyard of an Italian-born citizen.  The Italians take great pride in their offerings and are eager to share.

If you are not invited into a private home or winery, why not give your tired feet a break with an afternoon spent at an outdoor café.  Europeans have talked politics and gossip from the little metal chairs and tables that are set out in all weather except rain.

If you plan to travel extensively in the country you will want to enlist the services of a local guide, many of whom are on the internet.  They make vacations to italy pleasurable and stress-free and would be happy to serve you.  We recommend that you contact “Tuscany with Me” for a fabulous and unforgettable vacation.