Italy Beyond the Obvious

Seven weeks of travel in Italy

How would you spend your time if you had seven weeks to travel in Italy? My husband and I had that opportunity before we moved from Milan to the USA, and because I get the "what should I see in Italy" question so often, I thought I'd share what we decided to see on that particular trip, and why we chose each place.

If it had been our first trip to Italy, I would have started with something along the lines of Jessica's (aka Italylogue's) fabulous two week detailed Italy itinerary (which as she explains you can easily stretch out to 3 weeks or more). But after 5 years in Italy I'd done all that, so our itinerary became a mix of places neither of us had been (Dolomites, Isola della Maddalena, and Ischia), and places I'd been but my husband hadn't.  

 

 

The Dolomites  We started at the end of June, and spent a week hiking in the Val Gardena in the Dolomite mountains. Why we chose it: We both love hiking, and July is the perfect month to visit the Dolomites, because it's warm and not as crowded as August. Some of the most incredible hikes I've ever done were on this trip - and I grew up hiking in the Rocky Mountains.

Tuscany  We rented a car and spent 10 days in Tuscany exploring the countryside. We also hit Siena, San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, Montepulciano and Pienza. Why we chose it: It was partly a wandering-the-hills-of-Tuscany trip for photography (which meant early mornings), looking for fields of sunflowers and just waking up in the morning and doing what we felt like that day.

 

Naples, Pompeii, and Ischia  We spent 5 days in Naples, then hit the archaeological ruins of Pompeii and spent 4 days on the island of Ischia. Since it was high season, we chose Ischia over the island of Capri because there were fewer crowds. We rented motorinos on Ischia to get around, and loved Ischia's natural hot springs. Why we chose it: I like the balance of putting Naples, Pompeii and Ischia together, because you start with a big vibrant city, then visit an incredible must-see attraction (but with lots of tourists), and then end with off-the-beaten-track island beach time. 

The Amalfi Coast  We spent 4 days on the Amalfi Coast after driving on impossibly narrow and twisting roads over the mountain from Naples -- which I would not recommend for any couple ;) Why we chose it: I had been, and wanted to go back with my husband because it's such a romantic spot (or became romantic after we made up post mountain-crossing!)

 
 
 

Isola Maddalena, Sardinia  We flew to Sardinia and then took a boat to Isola Maddalena and spent a week exploring the island, lying on the beach, going for bike rides, and SCUBA  diving (I got my certification there). Why we chose it: With only a week, we didn't have nearly enough time to visit the huge island of Sardinia, so we chose 1 spot, saw it well, and relaxed.

Sicily  We spent 2 weeks on the island of Sicily, which I've written about before. Why we chose it: I had been to Sicily before and wanted to go back. Sicily is another great place for a balanced vacation. We climbed a volcano, lay on the beach, walked through Greek ruins, spent time in large bustling cities, saw incredible art, and ate and drank well. 

So that adds up to a little more than 7 weeks believe it or not! (We actually had more time off, and also took a week to go up to Switzerland and see the Montreux Jazz Festival, on at the end of July every year.) And after all that, am I satisfied? Well, yes. But my still-to-visit list in Italy is long, because when you go to Italy with a list of things to see, you don't come home with everything checked off. You come home with a longer list.

Photos: me hiking in the Dolomites, detail from the Nile Scene mosaic at the archaeological museum in Naples, view from Isola Maddalena of the bridge to Caprera. All photos by Sanjay.

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Unique Rocks In Italy

My favorite rock from Italy is the one I got set at Scavia after my husband proposed on our terrace in Milan. But actually this post is about some very unique and (mostly) natural rock formations worth visiting. Bonus: they're free, and not closed on Mondays.

Best For Daydreaming

Sardinia is sort of known for animal-shaped rocks: check out this giant bear, and the elephant above. I find the rocks in the La Maddalena archipelago, off Sardinia's northern tip, particularly animal-laden. I can't not see animals when looking at them (I mean, that's obviously a polar bear below, right?). 

Most Photographed Rocks

The three faraglioni (Stella, Mezzo, and Scupolo) rise from the sea off the island of Capri, which itself is off the Amalfi Coast and close to Naples. Take a boat out, and kiss your lover as you pass through the arch. 

Most Artistic

Abruzzo's La Morgia is a limestone rock-island in the middle of the countryside sort of kind of near Rome, famous for the sculpture that bridges its notch. The notch was made by dynamite during limestone mining, and Greek artist Costas Varotsos added the artwork: twenty meters wide and eleven meters high, the sculpture is made of steel and green glass and lit from behind, making it quite a landmark. 

Most Fabled

Sicily is, of course, the Island of the Cyclops in Homer's famous Odyssey. But the three tall column-shaped islands off the small town of Aci Trezza, on Sicily's east coast, are referred to as the Islands of the Cyclops by the locals: they were allegedly the stones thrown at Odysseus.

Photo of elephant rock by Fotopusch; Photo of Polar Bear in La Maddalena by Sanjay; Photo of Faraglioni by Paul 'Tuna" Turner; Photo of La Morgia by Villas For 2; Photo of Islands of the Cyclops by Boobelle

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Cycling in Sardinia

Let's get this out of the way, since I know there is one thing travelers want to know when planning to cycle on vacation. It's the same thing I got asked every single morning before breakfast when I guided bike tours in Italy:  what about the hills?  The answer is, Sardinia is hilly. Very hilly.

If that's okay, read on. Because Sardinia Tourism has put together a fabulous and free cycling guide to the island, which I recently received in print but is also available online. The guide includes detailed route instructions for five multi-day cycling itineraries around the island, a total of 24 days or stages. 

In addition to maps and information about each day's distance and difficulty, the guide highlights major attractions along the route and includes photos that will make you want to book a plane ticket, like the one above of the rock formation (the small island with the unique shape) Pan di Zucchero, off the island's southwest coast and included in Day 4 of the southern itinerary.  The routes are also impressively oriented so that the cyclist is not riding into the Mistral wind, which blows from the northwest.

One Issue, And a Possible Workaround

As you can see from the table I created below, the itineraries were not put together according to a level of difficulty. Every itinerary has at least 2 days marked as "demanding", which is defined as having up to 1700 m of elevation gain per 100 km. And three of the five routes have at least one day categorized as "hard", which means mountainous, or more than 1700 m of elevation gain per 100 km. 

 

 

 

 

 

But the route instructions are written in so much detail that it would be simple to pick out the "easy" or "medium" days, and just cycle a day here and there according to personal endurance levels. It would also be easy to break up one day into two, if let's say 121 km of mountainous terrain (Day 5 of the Northeast Route) is too much.

Personally I would break up the days only because they are long days. Sardinia has some of the best beaches in the world, and I wouldn't want to cycle by them without a sample.

 

Photo of Pan di Zucchero by giselanto

Italian Ceramics: Sardinia

Do a google search for Italian Ceramics, and you'll get examples from Faenza and Deruta: the former is a great place to visit a ceramics museum; the latter is fabulous for serious purchases. 

But compared to the Italian peninsula, and even to the island of Sicily, Sardinia's ceramics stand out. They aren't as colorful - artists use natural colors like greens, browns, ochres and earth tones; and they are designed with fish, chicken, birds, sheep, cows, and vegetable motifs. 

Yet Sardinia has had a ceramics tradition for hundreds of years. So if you decide to experience the beaches, food, or culture of this Italian island, consider paying a visit to Oristano or Assemini, ceramics centers outside Cagliari (dot on map below).

Photo of Sardinian ceramics by Madeline

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Isola Maddalena, Sardinia

Sure, one can go to the Emerald Coast, aka the Costa Smeralda of Sardinia (between Palau and Olbia on the northeast side of the island), vacation with the Who's Who of Italy, and do some yacht-watching. One could even stay at the famous 5-star hotel Cala di Volpe in the town of Porto Cervo and rub shoulders with aforementioned VIPs. (Don't get me wrong: it's on my list.)

 

Or, one could fly to Olbia and head a few miles north to catch the short ferry to Isola Maddalena.

We spent a relaxing week on Maddalena: walking, cycling, swimming in the ocean, and boating around the Maddalena Archipelago. I even learned to SCUBA dive.

 

We also did a daytrip across the causeway to the Isola Caprera to visit the parks and beaches on the other side.

The nearby island of Santo Stefano is a US military base, so we saw some of the US navy relaxing - albeit in white, pressed, uniform - at the bars and restaurants in the town of La Maddalena in the evening.

My favorite part of the trip was being in a boat in the archipelago. The rock formations are just spectacular, and it's hard to believe that the rock-animals and rock-faces I saw everywhere were formed by water and not the hand of a sculptor (see photo below: is that a polar bear looking across to the land?)

 

Photos by Sanjay