14 Lessons Learned While Travelling in Italy

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1. Don’t Drive in Italy

Lessons learned while travelling in Italy starts with a myth. Sure, drivers in Italy are crazy but in the days of the GPS, driving in Italy is possible, even in the major cities! My personal chauffeur, who just happens to be my husband, now has driving skills honed through experience. Traffic rules are almost non-existent on the road, particularly for motorcycles or mopeds. The bikes will swarm you when stopped at a red light so they have the option to take off as soon as the light turns green. Pay attention and channel your aggressive side.

We did not challenge downtown Rome; however, we survived on the outskirts in areas such as Ostia. We did miss one turn, sending us on a highway to the centre of Rome, or so my biggest fears screamed. Patience was finally learned whilst driving in Europe after a short meltdown at Darryl to just take the next turn and get off the main road. Leasing a car and driving throughout Europe has been one of my greatest life lessons in stoicism. “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” Thank you, Seneca, you must have been alluding to transportation in Italy. DISCLAIMER: If you are the type of person deserving a starring role on Canada’s Worst Driver, or generally suck at driving, then DON’T drive in Italy!

2. Don’t Take the Toll Highways

Unknowingly, we headed out of Rome entroute to Florence on a toll highway. We programmed the address into our GPS and away we went. It was too late to escape, so we continued. We reached the end with a total fee of €12.50 for about an hour and a half on the road. For the life of us, we couldn’t figure out how to pay. The credit card wouldn’t fit into any slot, our cash was spat back out at us and a man in a box was desperately telling us to pay in Italian. Finally, he issued a receipt after our frantic efforts and opened the gate for us to get away. We reprogrammed the GPS to avoid toll highways from then on. What we discovered instead of speedy toll highways are beautiful countrysides and winding roads that you wouldn’t encounter otherwise.

3. Don’t Rely on an Address to Get you to Where you Need to Go

Trying to put Italian addresses into a GPS can be a challenge. What’s the street? What’s the name of the town, exactly? Is that the house number?? Do not make the mistake of choosing a name resembling the town or your next destination. Italian addresses are confusing to English speakers. This happened to us once and we ended up in a town 25 km away from our destination, not the end of the world, but it was an inconvenience. We did get to see more of the extraordinary countryside.

Small-Town Travel Tip: Always enter the postal code or zip code first when finding a town. This should ensure you get the right location. Another great habit is to take a picture of the outside of where you are staying and a picture of the Google map to get there. You can find your way back on course much easier if the GPS leads you astray.

4. Don’t Pay for Parking in Milan

You can park for free near Sforza Castle, walk through the park and enjoy the shopping district and cathedral within 15 minutes. It may take you some time to find a spot so familiarize yourself with the parking rules in the city. Our host at the Airbnb we stayed at in Milan suggested we park down by the castle for free. Always follow the advice of the locals.

5. Don’t Pass up the Opportunity for a Nutella Croissant and Espresso for Breakfast

We had left the Middle East after a little more than two weeks and the coffee was awful. Coffee should not come out of a package of finely ground powder. I longed for a real coffee and could not wait to get to Italy and enjoy a cup of the freshly brewed delight. Caffé Roma was a fabulous bakery down the street from where we were staying that we frequented every day for breakfast while in Ostia. They did not speak English but thankfully, caffé is easy to translate. I waited for the fresh coffee with anticipation and it was just as good as I had hoped. We ordered the same thing every day, but the price was different each time. Strange, but hey, it’s Italy.

6. Don’t Eat at a Café with Two Prices for the Same Thing on the Menu

We fell into this price trap in Venice. We walked away from Piazza San Marco to find a place to have a coffee and a snack. Two prices were listed on the menu for each item. There were two columns, one with a price for “banco” and one for “tavolo” We headed to the counter, ordered our cannoli, espresso and cappuccino. Each item was €1 more than we expected. What we realized after it was too late was the extra charge for each item was a table service charge (tavolo) for sitting down to enjoy your coffee. Buyer beware!

7. Don’t Pass by a Restaurant after 1:00 pm

Restaurants are open any time of the day in North America. In Italy, it is a different story. Most restaurants close between 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm and pizzerias generally don’t open until 4:00 pm. We found this particularly challenging while driving to our next destination. We would be on the road for hours before seeing an open restaurant.

Being new drivers in Italy, we were a little leery to go off track to find restaurants not on the course of our GPS destination. It took us a while to learn the lesson to stop at the first restaurant we saw that was open with people sitting outside and eating. My cardinal rule: NEVER eat at McDonald’s when we are in a foreign country. The vow was broken several times as it was the only place we would find open. On the positive, for a mere €0.50 you can order a beer with your burger and fries. Voila! You have now created your own adult happy meal.

8. Don’t Expect Pineapple on your Pizza

Pineapple on pizza is a faux pas that will get you kicked out of Italy, even by those not living in the country. Pineapple on pizza is hotly debated and I join the side of the sweet. I just happen to like a little sweetie with my savoury, thank you very much. On our last night in Sover, Italy, I found a pizza with pineapple on the menu at Maso Sveseri and had to order it. Italian pizza is different from Canadian style pizza. Italian pizza has little toppings but bursts with flavour. The crust is paper thin and super crisp. Only one size is on the menu and it is perfect for one person to devour.

9. Don’t Buy Bottled Water on the Streets from Panhandlers

Rome (and the majority of Italian cities and towns) are chalked full of water fountains with potable water. The water is clean, cold, and comes directly from volcanoes where it is perfectly filtered for consumption. The original Roman aqueducts deliver the water to the city. You are missing a piece of Rome if you don’t fill your water bottle from these fountains. Save your money and drink the water flowing for free from the spouts.

10. Don’t Stay in a Tourist Area

A highlight of our stay outside Rome was a visit to a restaurant during closing hours. We were staying in a non-tourist area in Ostia. Few people spoke English. We happened upon Zucchero E Limone, a pizza restaurant run by Filipino’s, so we stopped as it looked open. It was not; however, they were gracious enough to let us sit and enjoy a glass of wine while they entertained us with karaoke. They even offered to cook us some rice and meat while we listened to them sing. We declined as we planned to return during opening hours. They were excellent singers and love Celine Dion. A tourist area would not have offered us the private concert experience!

Where to Stay in Ostia Antica

11. Don’t Always Stay in a Large City

We would have missed the best cultural experience if we had restricted our stays to hotels in large cities. We used Airbnb for the first time while staying in Italy and had the best experiences at these places. Our favourite accommodation in Dolo was run by a charming gentleman named Guido. Guido is appropriately called a Super Host. San Silvestro was spotless. The gorgeous, restored house has been turned into apartments for vacation rentals. The apartment is secure as he locks it up like Fort Knox. The house is on a small hobby farm where he raises chickens (we helped herd a rogue chicken into the pen one night). The room came equipped with fresh fruit, toasts, jams and croissants for breakfast. The fridge was stocked with a few beers to refresh the newly welcomed guests. Guido invited us down for a homemade limoncello under his oak tree where we talked into the night and had many laughs, even through his broken English and our inability to understand Italian.

Where to Stay near Venice

12. Don’t Miss the Chance for a Sunset in Tuscany

Tuscany is magnificent. A sunset in this region does not disappoint. We had an unbelievable sunset view from our balcony each night to top off the day. Evenings are my favourite part of the day and enjoying a sunset is a brief piece of heaven. Sunsets happen so fast and are gone. Don’t miss your chance to catch the views.

13. Don’t go to the Cinque Terre Without Buying the Park Pass

We saved ourselves at least €10 on pay toilets by purchasing the park pass for the Cinque Terre. The pass also includes all public transportation in the towns and the train in each direction. We opted for the two-day pass as we didn’t want to cram the towns into one day. The pass took us by train each way from La Spezia as you can’t access the towns by car. Also, don’t assume the walking trails between all the towns will be open. Two trails were closed during our visit so the train had to be taken to each town. The toilets are €1 per visit, a pretty steep price to pay when you are there all day! They are spotlessly clean, so at least the fees go to good use.

14. Don’t Miss Northern Italy

The Italian Alps have excellent mountain views and there is so much to see and do. We stayed in Sestriere for a week. The magical views were just what I needed after a crazy month of travel. Homesickness was taking root at this point as I have never been away from home for more than two weeks at a time. The mountain scene was like the Rocky Mountains back in Canada. The stay in Sestriere was what the doctor ordered to refresh and refuel for the rest of the trip. Mountain biking, hiking and options to explore forts are in abundance. Or, just enjoy an espresso at a café in a charming small town. The mountains were the perfect end to what felt like a whirlwind stay in Italy.

Where to Stay in Sestriere

All pictures in this post are taken by Charlotte, yours truly, as always, unless otherwise stated.