Travel to Italy - Rome and Venice

Where does one begin to start when discussing Italy. Well, if you intend to travel there, Rome and Venice are good places to start.

Rome

Perhaps you’ve heard of it? It goes without saying that Rome has a rather prominent past. Lets see, in Rome you will find…[deep breath]…the Vatican, Coliseum, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Church of Saint Agnese, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and a guy name Allassandro. Just making sure you’re paying attention. Indeed, Rome is filthy with historically significant attractions. It seems you can’t turn around without bumping into something an Emperor built, captured or destroyed. For those willing to risk potential wrath, there are also the new Divinci Code tours, which take you to the locations found in the book.

In all serious, Rome is a city you should visit at least once in your life. No article could ever do it justice, so I’ll just stop here.

Where to stop in Rome - Apartment or Hotel?

In Rome apartments you will be able to prepare your own breakfast and meals just the way you're used to, to have your private bedroom and at the same time to share a living room or a dining room together with the rest of your family or your group of friends. In an apartment you will not have to put any sign to not be disturbed, because nobody will enter in what you will be considering as your home in Italy.

In Rome hotels instead you will be spoiled by the kindness of the staff, by their care and services, and you will enjoy breakfasts, lunches and dinners together with the other guests prepared for you to satisfy every kind of desires, to meet people coming from all around the world to see the Vatican, or the Colosseum or the Spanish Steps or any of the most popular spots of the Eternal City. Please note that this has nothing to do with budget: in Rome there are apartments and hotels of any kind, from the most luxury to the most simple one, which means from the most expensive to the cheapest one. It's just a matter of style. Do you feel more like a visitor to be taken care of and seduced or a traveler who prefers independence? The kind of accommodations in Rome you will decide to book will have a huge influence in the way you will remember your time in the capital of Italy. Did you choose an apartment? You will definitely remember that day in which you shopped in that old grocery store or in that typical outdoor Italian market and you went home to cook your own lasagna with the recipe some lady gave you along the way. Did you go for an hotel? You will remember the typical Italian kitchen you tasted in so many different restaurants or the monuments and museums you had the time to visit because you know someone else would have already been taken care of your needs as you would have stepped back in the hall of your hotel.

Venice

I fondly refer to Venice as the floating city even though it is apparently sinking. If you’ve seen Venice is movies or televisions shows, the depictions are accurate. Piazza San Marco looks exactly the same, birds and all. The Grande Canal is, well, a grand canal with incredible houses lining it and boats putting up down this water way. Built on mudflats in a lagoon, the city doesn’t really have much room to grow. It just seems paralyzed in time.

Once you’ve conquered the tourist attractions, it will be time to get serious about Venice. The best way to do this is stand in front of hotel or hostel, determine which direction the tourist attractions lie and start walking in the opposite direction. While you may feel like you’re driving the wrong way on a freeway for a few minutes, you’ll eventually start getting into real Venice.

An entirely different side of Venice will appear and you’ll love it. You’ll find little cafes with locals happy to talk to you [and non-tourist prices]. In fact, the Venetians will tend to hold you in high regard since you’re a tourist who is bypassing the tourist areas. This, of course, will logically lead to a whirl of introductions to this nephew, that son of a brother and so on. Next thing you know, you’ll be complaining about Italian politicians and how things used to be better in the past.

While Rome and Venice are excellent travel destinations, you can’t really go wrong in Italy. For the adventurous, set your itinerary with the old map on a wall and dart technique.