Steampunk Fashion: 40 Tips for Visiting Italy

I’ve spent a lot of time in Italy. I studied abroad in Florence, traveled up and down the peninsula, and seem to keep returning.

In that time, I’ve acquired a lot of knowledge about what to do and not to do in Italy. Here are my best tips for having a great time in Italy!

Italy is great and much more tolerable outside peak season. Try not to visit in the summer, especially August, when Italians go away.
Drivers in Italy get crazier the further south you go. City driving is for expert drivers only.
Be prepared to cover up at churches — don’t wear shorts, and bring a scarf to cover your shoulders if necessary. If not, you might have to wear the dreaded paper shawl.
Buy tickets to the most famous museums in advance, and don’t even think about not doing this in the high season.
Know that everyone will be dressed MUCH better than you. If you want to blend in, wear lots of black, designer sunglasses, and great shoes.
Ladies, if you need a self-esteem boost, go walk through a market. Every man will be telling you how beautiful you are.

Want to blend in? Don’t drink cappuccino after 10:00 AM.
Don’t eat at any restaurant named after a monument, city or famous artist. These are usually geared toward tourists.
For the best food, head for the source: Parma for prosciutto, Capri for ravioli caprese, Umbria for truffles, Tuscany for steaks, Liguria for pesto genovese. Beyond that, every town has its own specialty.
Emilia-Romagna is Italy’s best food region, and Bologna, its capital, is Italy’s best food city.
Drink the house wine — always. It’s delicious and almost laughably cheap for the quality that you get.

Visit the Jewish Ghetto (Ghetto di Roma) for some Roman Jewish food the likes of which you won’t find elsewhere in Italy.
Don’t visit the Vatican on a Monday — you get the overflow tourists from Sunday, when the sights are closed.
Don’t expect to grab lunch around the Trevi Fountain — there is a surprising dearth of decent restaurants in this area.
Bring an umbrella to the Forum if you’re sensitive to the sun — there’s very little shade.
Go to Trastevere at night to experience typical Roman life, away from the tourist crowds.
The best sunset view is from Castel Sant’Angelo, overlooking Saint Peter’s Basilica. Unreal.

For a great view that nobody knows about, go to the department store across the street from Piazza della Reppublica and climb to the very top, including the unofficial-looking staircase on the top floor. There is a cafe up there with an amazing panoramic view of the city next to the Duomo.
Get great shots of the Ponte Vecchio and the river from the Ponte delle Grazie, the bridge east of the Ponte Vecchio.
Everyone goes to see the sunset at Piazzale Michelangelo, but go a bit further to San Miniato al Monte for an even better view at one of the city’s oldest churches.
Go to Il Latini for the best Tuscan meal of your life.
Some of the best restaurants are in the winding streets between Piazza della Reppublica and Piazza Santa Maria Novella.
The best tiramisu is at Le Collinine, around the corner from Santa Croce.
Florence is where you should buy quality souvenirs — buy gold (the city only permits 18k gold and up!) on the Ponte Vecchio and leather in the boutiques near Santa Croce.
There is surprisingly good shopping in the basement of the train station!
Don’t admire the statue of Neptune in Piazza della Signorina — Florentines consider it the worst art in the city, and it’s often debased.

Visit Pisa, but don’t make a day of it — you don’t need to spend more than an afternoon.
Pisa and Lucca, with the bulk of the time spent in Lucca, make an easy Tuscany day trip from Florence.
Tuscany is still a great place to rent a villa for a week. The best Tuscany villas are the ones in towns that aren’t mentioned in your guidebook.
The Chianti region is part of Tuscany, and October is harvest time.
Fiesole is the easiest Tuscan day trip from Florence — just a 20-minute ride on the public bus!
To see the most of Tuscany, rent a car — that way, you can hit up five towns or so in one day.

Consider visiting Venice in winter. It’s far less crowded and the city gets an ethereal feel.
If you’re going to ride in a gondola, just show up and wait. The gondoliers will do the bargaining for you.
It may be less romantic, but cram as many people as you can into the gondola (up to six people) — the price is supposed to be the same, no matter the number of people.
Get lost. Venice is a great city in which to wander the streets and end up in somewhere totally random.
Don’t waste your money on a Bellini at Harry’s Bar — unless rich old people and package tourists are your kind of crowd.
Take the boat to the island of Murano for a glassblowing demonstration — it’s definitely worth it.

In Capri, the best things to do are in Anacapri — hike the island and take the chairlift up to Monte Solaro on top of the island.
In Assisi, climb Rocca Maggiore, the tallest mountain in town, for an unspeakably scintillating view across miles and miles of the Umbrian countryside.
In Orvieto, check out the instruments of medieval torture displayed in the middle of the town.
In Santa Margherita, skip the beach and head to the art-selling markets instead.

Have any questions about Italy? Leave them in the comments!

Steampunk Fashion