Italy Beyond the Obvious

Italy experts with great travel advice

 

A recent coaching client exclaimed that she was so relieved to have found my website and services. She'd been searching the internet for good Italy travel advice, didn't know which sites she could trust, and was suffering from information overload. I was a little surprised to hear this; there is a veritable cornucopia of excellent Italy travel advice online. If you're planning your own trip and don't find what you're looking for on this website or on the Italy Beyond the Obvious facebook page, go visit the experts listed below.

 

Overall Italy Martha's Italy travel guide on about.com has information about practically every town, custom, and festival across Italy as well as lots of useful travel advice. Jessica at WhyGo Italy has lots of well-researched advice about anything you can think of related to Italy travel, including great information on getting from A to B within Italy. Italofile is also a great source of information, and I'd take pretty much any advice Lee Marshall feels like sharing (though I particularly love his recommendations for Sicily and Venice).

 

Florence & Tuscany Alexandra has a Ph.D in Art History, lives in Florence and writes Arttrav.com about Florence, Tuscany, and art in Italy. The Tuscany tourism website is great.

Rome General Rome advice and sights are actually easy to find. But for Rome restaurant recommendations, listen to Katie Parla at ParlaFood.com and to Elizabeth Minchilli. Going to Rome with kids? Let JM Pasquesi guide you: buy her book or check out suggestions on her blog.

Umbria Take Rebecca's advice on practically any aspect of Umbria: itineraries, food, kids, the outdoors, or aspects of expat life. 

Naples Napoli Unplugged is well-researched and thorough, and after reading what Bonnie has to say, you'll want to double or triple the time you planned to spend in Naples.

Calabria Cherrye at My-BellaVita.com has lots of great information about Calabria and the south. You can also count on anything Michelle recommends on BleedingEspresso.com.

 

Sicily Go to the Tripadvisor forums and take what ever advice Vagabonda doles out (and leave her a question - she may help you with your specific trip!)

 

This is nowhere near a comprehensive list, and I know I've left out some great sites (please share in the comments), but I've been following these blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter streams and more for years and have gotten to know several of the authors. They're real people, with real experience, writing about what they know. They're not bots trying to work SEO with the sole goal of appearing at the top of a google search. They care about giving accurate information, and while you should always double check things for your own trip, you could practically do what ever they suggest.

 

{P.S. I know this post is going to generate emails to me about paid links. There are no paid links on this entire website so please don't bother contacting me about it.}

 

But if you don't want to do it all yourself, let Italy Beyond the Obvious plan your trip or help you along as a travel consultant. If you like what you read, subscribe to this blog for free.

 

Two reasons not to dine where the locals do

 

I was researching Sunday lunch options in Rome for clients recently, looking for a traditional experience (Sunday lunch is big in Rome!), but in a part of town that worked with their itinerary and within their budget. At first, I thought Trattoria Perilli would be a great fit. Just look at the evidence!

• Elizabeth Minchilli a food writer in Rome, puts it on her list of four favorite places for Sunday lunch in Rome and lists it as "her all-time favorite place for Sunday lunch". 
• Fred Plotkin, in his book Italy for the Gourmet Traveler, says Perilli probably has the best pasta alla carbonara in the city. 
• Travel and Leisure magazine, in its October 2011 edition, includes Perilli in its list of 9 recommended Rome restaurants.

 

Trusting the experts is a good start, but it's just a start. I always cross-check recent reviews, in both Italian and English, from several review sites before making a recommendation. Even if I've personally eaten at the restaurant, I want to make sure nothing has changed (the chef, for example) and that the dining experience is pretty consistent for other travelers (often I showed up as a guide with 25 other people). And I always keep an eye out for evidence of the two things below. So it was during this part of my research that I realized I couldn't recommend Perilli to my clients.

 

1. Don't eat anywhere foreigners are treated differently than Italians

There's nothing better than being caught up in the all-Italian cacophony of a buzzing restaurant at the height of the dinner hour - in that sense, you definitely want to eat with the locals. But not if the restaurant doesn't appreciate your business. Some restaurants may appear friendly but try to take advantage of the traveler by putting an additional service charge on the English version of their menu. And some don't try to hide it at all, and are just plain rude (if you've eaten in restaurants near Piazza San Marco in Venice in high tourist season, you may have experienced this). 

Honestly, I was expecting stellar reviews of Perilli, and indeed many of the reviewers described the restaurant as "full of locals" - it certainly seemed to be a place that locals love. So I was surprised when several Perilli Tripadvisor reviewers complained that "they hate foreigners, especially Americans", and others concurred. A Fodor's reviewer said the waiter gave them "the cold shoulder". Every restaurant gets bad reviews sometimes, but when there are multiple reviews on different sites about the same issue, it's a red flag.

But what about the consistent fantastic reviews by the experts? Although the experts who recommend Perilli are not Italian-born, consider that both Minchilli and Plotkin have spent decades in Italy, and the author of the T&L article starts with "Rome and I go way back." To 1974. I'm sure none of these authors is perceived as foreign when they eat out, and would have received the "Italian" treatment at Perilli. 

2. An Italian's criteria for a "great" restaurant may be different than yours

In a nutshell, and to generalize, Italians value food over service and North Americans value service over food. It's not that Italians don't value service, it's just that their expectations are different. And it's not that North Americans don't value food, it's just that most haven't eaten pasta alla carbonara once a week their entire lives - so the carbonara that only scored 7/10 for the Italians may still elicit an over-the-top enthusiastic review from a North American.

When I started reading Italian reviews of Perilli, I noticed consistent complaints about overcooked (scotta) pasta - their famous carbonara no less, what?!; and that the restaurant is too expensive for what it is. I didn't read anything in Italian about bad service, nor did I read anything in English about overcooked pasta, but all in all, even the Italian reviews support the fact that I'm not exactly sure what kind of dining experience my clients can expect. 

I'm not trying to slam Perilli in this post, really. It just happens to be a great example of a place many people seem to love but that I'm not sure I want to recommend to foreign travelers. I should also point out that the majority of the reviews about Perilli are positive - in both Italian and English - and that most of the bad reviews about service (but not pasta) are a year old or more. So I will keep monitoring the reviews and if they are consistently good, I may yet send a client to Perilli, or at least visit the next time I'm in Rome. Meanwhile, there are many, many other great options.

 

Photo by Alessandraelle

 

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Book review: 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go

Let me get right to the point: I highly recommend this book. It's as useful for planning an actual trip as it is enjoyable to read while dreaming about a hopefully-maybe-someday trip.

To be honest, I didn't expect to love this book, only because I stopped reading Italy guidebooks years ago, when the information started becoming repetitive. But I agreed to review this book because I was curious about which 100 places the author had picked and why she had chosen to target women. (Marketing, I know. But it got me.)

Not only is this book a fun read, but Ms. Van Allen has organized her suggestions in an incredibly useful way: by topic rather than by location. So if you're looking for a Top 10 list for Rome, you won't find it here. But if you'd like suggestions on where to drink wine in Rome, chapter 57 is about wine bars. Chapter 55 begins with a short introduction to gelato, then includes specific recommendations for Rome, Florence, and Venice. Chapter 89 is about where to see opera, and starts with an interesting description about the difference between a diva and a prima donna. Chapters 40 through 46 describe some of Italy's prettiest beaches and the best way to enjoy your day at one of them. 

Van Allen also helps the reader avoid the very common Italy Information Overload (which is often the first thing I address with new clients) with a simple solution: at the end of most chapters, she describes a Golden Day, which is just a day's plan around the chapter's theme. Golden days are the secret to falling in love with the country, but are hard to plan and can be elusive amid train strikes or tourist crowds or the energy-draining heat of the summer. But I was so impressed with the Golden Days recommendations in this book that I'd even suggest creating a whole trip by just stringing together as many as you can (referencing a map, of course).

Now, about the 100 places and whether this book is more for women... Van Allen recommends many more than 100 places in the 100 chapters in this book, and many of the places are not towns or cities at all. But you could argue that a jazz bar is a place, or a cooking school on the Amalfi Coast is a place. And while several chapters focus on female saints, goddesses, madonnas, and Venus of the beautiful behind (love it! Don't miss the photo. Chapter 15), I'd recommend this book equally for men. 

 

The only thing that I can think of that this book is missing is big glossy photographs. But then it would be heavy. Therefore not portable. And more expensive. So ideally, plan on doing online image searches while you're reading this book. 

 

In short, I'd recommend this book if you:

• Want to go to Italy someday and enjoy reading Italy articles to start dreaming about where you'll go.

• Are definitely going to Italy but haven't yet decided where to go, and you're looking for unique, specific ideas based on your interests.

• Are going to Italy and have decided on an itinerary more or less but have room to add something. 

• Are going to Italy, have decided on your itinerary, and want specific suggestions for the places you already know you'll be. In this case you want to use the Index at the back.

 

If you want to buy this book, here's the link to it on Amazon.

Full disclosure: I was sent a free copy of this book to review but this review reflects my own opinions about the book.

 

 

If the Golden Days sound just fabulous but you simply don't have the time to organize your trip, let Italy Beyond the Obvious plan your trip or help you along as a travel consultant. If you like what you read, subscribe to this blog for free.

Driving in Italy? 10 things you should know

 

So you've given some thought on whether to rent a car in Italy, and decided to go for it. You'll have more freedom, but I do think there are a few things you should know (in no particular order), as I shared with a recent coaching client. 

1) Italians have different driving habits than we do so make sure you are aware of them. You can read about Italian driving habits you should know here.  

2) Gas is more expensive. The price of gas is of course published in Euros, but it's also sold by the litre not the gallon. And when it comes to numbers, Italians flip periods and commas. If you want to figure out what Euros per litre works out to in USD per gallon, here's how to calculate the price of gas. Or, you can enter your route on ViaMichelin and it will tell you how much to assume for gas and tolls.

3) Definitely get a GPS with your car rental. But where possible, rather than entering an address, use GPS longitude and latitude coordinates of your destination. Addresses are just not as reliable, particularly when (for example) navigating the hills of Tuscany. You'll frequently see that countryside attractions like vineyards will put their GPS coordinates on their website next to their address.

4) If at all possible, avoid driving in the historic centers of Italian cities. Most cities have "limited traffic zones" (referred to as ZTL zones) monitored with cameras which will snap a photo of your license plate and send you a ticket in the mail (via the car rental company). More information on limited traffic zones here.  Also note that your GPS will not know where the ZTL zones are.

5) Study up on your road signs - many road signs are different, and you also need to know what the color of a sign means. 

6) The law says that foreigners driving in Italy need an international driving permit. You can get one quickly and easily at AAA in the US and Canada.

7) Parking can be expensive and a huge hassle in Italy, so pre-plan where you're going to park beforehand, rather than just thinking you'll figure it out. Parcheggi.it is a good resource for finding public parking lots around the country, and always ask your hotel about parking - don't assume it's free.

8) Here's a great tip on not getting lost while driving in cities (since I know you may not be able to completely avoid it): follow a taxi. If you want to get to your destination without getting lost or stuck in a ZTL zone, keep your eye out for a taxi stand, pull over to the first taxi in line, give the taxi the address of where you're going, and follow the taxi. Trust me, it's well worth the cost.

 

9) This may be common sense, but never ever leave any thing of value visible in your car, and if you're going to park your car on the street overnight, ask the hotel about the area. Car break-ins are extremely common in Italy.

10) To calculate driving times, use www.ViaMichelin.com rather than google maps. ViaMichelin will also give you estimated fuel costs and toll charges.

Update: After reading this post, John Helm, an architect living in Italy, added some of his own excellent suggestions about driving in Italy on his blog. You can read his comments here: http://johnandluisa.blogspot.com/2011/03/tips-for-driving-in-italy.html

Photo by eye of einstein

 

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An unusual client request

 

I'm planning a trip for a group of Italy travelers right now who have an uncommon request. They said:

We'll have 9 days in Italy and would like to see the main highlights of Rome, Florence and Venice.

 

As you can imagine, with a business called Italy Beyond the Obvious, I don't plan the standard Italy "triangle" very often, though pieces of it often make it into client itineraries. Below I've shared some examples of actual client requests - they aren't exactly off the wall, but certainly wouldn't be met by the cookie cutter Italy itinerary.

• We want to hike and bike in the Dolomites and visit Lake Garda, and we aren't at all interested in art or architecture.

• We want to go fishing near Naples.

• We are a vegan/vegetarian family, traveling with a 3 year old, and want to explore Tuscany.

• Please plan my seventh trip to Italy, traveling the week between Christmas and New Year's.

• We're driving from France to Venice and want recommendations for three off-the-beaten-track places to stop for a few days and explore.

• We'd like to see the Jewish highlights of Emilia-Romagna.

• We are a family of four and would like to explore the island of Elba.

• Our two kids love hands-on activities, and would like to do paper-making, ceramics, see the olive oil making process and visit a cheese factory.

• We'd like to go horseback riding in Sicily in January.

• We've never met a museum we didn't like, and want to make sure our trip has a good balance of Etruscan, Roman, medieval and Renaissance art and history.

• We want a trip centered around local and fresh food and wine.

• It will be our fourth visit to Rome (/Florence/Venice/etc), and we'd like to see some different things.

• We want a cooking class, and love shopping, wineries and dancing the night away.

 

Photo from istockphoto.com

 

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Five favorite books for travelers to Italy or Italophiles

 

The five recommendations below are all on my bookshelf. They are the ones I pick up frequently: the ones bookmarked with color-coded sticky flags, and the ones that I buy again and again as gifts for people.

 

For Kids

For any kid about to travel to Italy or interested in the country, the story about Calabrian Strega Nona and her magic pasta pot is a sure hit as a story, and a good way to start chatting with the kids about this boot-shaped country called Italy. 

 

 

For Foodies

As odd as it may seem, I actually like to curl up on the couch with Fred Plotkin's Italy for the Gourmet Traveler. It's not like reading a list of where to eat in Italy. It's like a friend taking you on a foodie tour of Italy, telling you which towns to visit, and where (and what) to eat there. Note: this is a significant book, with 724 pages (yes, that's seven hundred and twenty four) and the weight to match, so not something you want in your luggage. Buy the book but pack only your notes.

 

 

 

For the Traveler to Rome

I've planned quite a few trips for families going to Rome, so my copy of Rome with Kids is heavily bookmarked, and I tell anyone going to Rome to pick up a copy. Note that I said anyone - not just anyone with kids. If you read the reviews of this book, you'll hear people comment again and again that adults get just as much out of the interesting historical tidbits as kids. I was lucky to spend a couple hours over coffee with the author, JM Pasquesi, and thoroughly enjoyed talking to her and hearing about the care she puts into updating each edition of the book (and the mapmaker she hired so the maps would be accurate!) 

 

For the Shopper

Made in Italy is not for the person looking to buy designer fashions, but is for someone who wants to know where to buy ceramics in Faenza or Deruta, or which Parmesan cheese factory to visit, or just what to buy in a specific region. I've also found that many places listed in the book are difficult to find online, so the addresses and telephone numbers provided by the author have been invaluable.

 

 

For the well traveled Italophile

Even your Italophile friend who has been to Italy exploring every year for 35 years hasn't seen every place featured in the magazine Bell'Italia. This magazine is the National Geographic equivalent for Italy, and I know it's technically not a book, but it makes this list because every issue is a great read with incredible photos. It's not easy to find in newsstands in North America, but you can buy a subscription. Note that the magazine is only in Italian.

 

And I haven't even gotten to novels or cookbooks! If you love to read mostly fiction about Italy, you may be interested in joining the Italy in Books 2011 Challenge.

Note: clicking on the links will take you to Amazon (with the exception of Rome for Kids - buy it from JM's site) where you can buy these books but I don't get any commission or benefit from a purchase.

 

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A traveler's guide to strikes in Italy

 

I mentioned to my mom recently that I was relieved my clients were going to miss the scheduled national train strike. My mom, a very seasoned traveler who has actually been to Italy several times under my care, was completely confused (what do you mean, the strike is scheduled?). Then she started in on the questions (how can the trains just not run?), and finally, she was speechless. I gave her the 101 on Italian strikes, and she suggested I share the info. Okay, mom.

Italian strikes: The basics

Strikes in Italy are common, and could definitely affect your trip.

Strikes are so common in fact, that one of the first words I learned after moving to Italy was sciopero, the word for strike. After I'd lived there a few months, I got used to them as the Italians do, and learned another useful Italian word: arrangiarsi, to figure it out. Yes, strikes are inconvenient and disruptive, but you can't do anything about them. However, you can plan around them, because....

Most strikes in Italy are planned in advance and communicated to the public.

Announced a few weeks or months ahead of time, most strikes are conveniently published so that you can work around them. Check the list on the website of the Commissione di Garazia Sciopero (screen shot below) to see which group is striking, and when. Since the website is in Italian, I've provided the screen shot below to help you understand the information. 

 

It's also worth checking the Easy Travel Report, which has a less comprehensive but still useful list of Italian transportation strikes (scroll down to Italy) published in English. However, you'll need to check these lists again right before you leave because...

Strikes in Italy are frequently rescheduled from their originally published date

Double-check the strike schedule right before your trip to see whether the strikes are still planned. And before you panic when you see a strike scheduled for one of the dates you're in Italy, remember....

Strikes in Italy are usually a specific group and location, so may not mess up your plans

So although the baggage handlers at Rome's airport are going on strike, the rest of the airport will be working perfectly normally (pack carry-on). Or, the transportation strike may affect trains but not buses. Or, the post office is on strike and while it's certainly inconvenient that you won't be able to mail home your Italian ceramics, at least you know about it. 

Strikes in Italy may last a few minutes a few days, or anywhere in between. If you're lucky, you'll know in advance.

Sitting on an airplane on the tarmac in Milan once, I asked the Italian sitting next to me what the delay was. "Sciopero" he responded. Air traffic control had gone on strike for about 10 minutes, and then they were back to work. 

On the other end of the spectrum, my husband and I were flying to Sicily via Munich for a holiday and arrived in Munich to find Italian air traffic control was on strike. We decided not to hang around and wait, and instead visited a travel agency in the airport. We cancelled our Sicily hotels and spent a lovely week in Barcelona. The point is....

It's up to you to figure out alternate plans

If you know about a national train strike ahead of time, you can plan to stay an extra day in the city, or leave a day earlier, or plan an alternate mode of transportation to get to your destination. But if you show up at the train station with all your luggage and then discover there's a strike, don't expect a help desk or hotline phone number to help you make other arrangements. Strikes are normal in Italy, and the Italians work around them. You'll need to as well.

Do you have any other tips on dealing with strikes in Italy, or have you been caught in one and had to deal with it?

Photo of Milan train station by a.j.b

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Should you rent a car in Italy? (Answer these 3 questions)

Having a car on your Italian vacation can be an expensive hassle, or it can be a means to more independence and a way to get off the beaten track. But which is it? The answer is, it depends. On whether you are visiting the countryside; on how light you are traveling; and on whether you are traveling on a budget. Bottom line: do not assume you need a car in Italy.

 

But first: The 3 questions below aren't even relevant to you unless you're comfortable driving in Italy. You are? Great, read on. You think you probably aren't? Read no further. Do not rent a car. The stress and hassle will not be worth it.

1) Are you visiting only cities or also venturing into the countryside?

Driving in Italian cities is a huge pain: plan to spend time stuck in traffic, getting lost, and circling for parking. Expect frustration when trying to interpret foreign road signs, avoid limited traffic zones, and navigate winding, narrow, and one-way roads. Conveniently, trains run frequently between all major and many smaller Italian cities, and it's easy to get around within a city by either taxi, public transportation, or in many cities, just plain walking. If your itinerary includes only cities, you do not need a car, and you do not need to read further. Take the train. 

However, visiting the countryside can be challenging without a car. Check on whether trains go to the towns you're planning to visit by plugging your cities into www.trenitalia.it. Even if trains do go to small towns, compare transit times, using www.viamichelin.com (I prefer it over Google maps) for driving times. If getting from A to B is five hours by train because you need to change trains three times, and driving is half that, then definitely consider renting a car.

If you're doing both cities and countryside, just rent a car for the countryside part.

 

2) How light are you traveling? 

There's no question about it: lugging suitcases on and off trains and to and from train stations is no fun. But if you're only visiting cities, I still recommend you don't rent a car. Just pack lighter. If you're visiting the countryside and have a lot of luggage, it may make sense to rent a car. Unless of course...

3) Are you traveling on a budget? 

If you need this trip to be as economical as possible, the train will probably cost less. To do a cost comparison, budget not only for the car rental, but also calculate gas, tolls, and parking. Compare that to the cost of the train by checking www.trenitalia.it to compare prices. A rule of thumb for road tolls is that 300 km (190 miles) = 15 Euros. Or to calculate road tolls for your exact trip, go to www.autostrade.it. I did the car vs. train cost comparison recently for I trip I planned for a family of 4 and the train was much cheaper. However the train would have been a big hassle, so the cost of the car rental turned out to be worth it.

Twisting road photo (St. Gotthard pass on Italy/Switzerland border) by Mikael Miettinen; Luggage photo by Geishaboy500

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Planning a family trip to Europe

Thought I'd share the 1-page article below, which includes tips on flights, accommodation, how to organize the daily itinerary, plus a few resources. I wrote it for the quarterly newsletter of a Chicago parent organization I belong to called Neighborhood Parents Network, or NPN Parents. 

Planning a family trip to Europe

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Castles with kids: How to choose a castle and ensure the kids love it

Most of the trips I plan for families include a castle, because every parent knows that kids love castles! If you'd like to put a castle on your Italy itinerary, here are some tips on finding the perfect castle, and making sure the kids get the most out of the visit.

 

Choosing your castle

• Italy has hundreds of castles, so unless you have a specific one in mind, you likely will not need to rearrange your itinerary to include a castle - just pick one of the ones near where you're going anyway. Check this list of castles in Italy, or if you're going to be in Tuscany, consider doing one of the six Chianti castle routes (each with several castles).

• Then do an internet photo search to narrow down your list.

• If you want to visit the inside of the castle, check that it's actually open to tourists, and its opening hours. Expect to pick up the phone: many castles don't post a lot of information online. If you can't get through to the castle itself, call the tourist office of the biggest nearby city or town. 

• Once you're in Italy on your way to the chosen castle, give them a call to double check the castle is indeed currently open.

• If the castle allows it (ask), bring a picnic.

How to make the most of your family castle visit

The key to making sure the kids enjoy the visit is to ask them lots of questions. When I worked as a tour guide in an art gallery, we always used this approach with our elementary school tours. When I did guided tours - for adults - of castles and forts (both in Italy and Canada) we told people what they were looking at, with lots of information. We adults like facts. Kids, however, like to imagine, so make the most of it. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Ask the kids why they think the castle was built. Do they see a moat, or is the castle built on a hill? Do the kids think they could climb those high walls? (and if they did, what might happen?) Help them conclude that it was built for protection, then ask why did the people who built it need protection? Were they protecting money, their horses, their video games, themselves? Ask the kids what they might want to protect in their lives. 

• Ask them who they think built the castle. Would someone have to have lots of power or money to build a castle like this or could anyone do it? How long do they think it would take to build a castle like this (you just want them to realize that it would have taken a long time).

• Ask them to find the parts of the castle. Is there a moat, a ditch or a drawbridge? Why would those be useful? Are there towers or lookout "holes" in the walls and what would those be used for? How do you think they defended their castle? Here's a diagram of the parts of a castle if you want to learn proper terms before you go, and here's an interesting list of Medieval weapons.  

• If you visit the inside, ask them to keep an eye out for where the stables might have been (look for iron rings on the walls used to tie up horses), where the living quarters or kitchen might have been, where the guards would have stood, and where the bathrooms are :) Do they think it would be fun or comfortable? Ask them whether they'd like to live here.

• If you can climb up to the castle's highest point, ask them how far they can see. Ask what they think the watchmen would have been looking for (and did they have binoculars)? Can you see other castles from here? (often castles communicated with each other if they saw invaders). If so, ask the kids why people had to protect themselves from their neighbors (history lesson: Italy has been a unified country for less than 150 years, so castles protected themselves from "foreigners".) 

Keep a pen and paper handy because sometimes their minds come up with the most incredible ideas! Have you visited castles with kids or have additional questions to add (or disagree)? Please let me know in the comments!

Photo of the Castle of Fenis in the Aosta region by Elizabeth Buie

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