This was another packed week, but we saw a LOT and had the best time! This trip was a late Thursday night to another late Thursday night over Holy Week, which was our second week-long spring break of the semester. We flew into Rome & out of Pisa.
My biggest takeaway from this trip is I'm glad that we started with Rome. It required the most prior research & planning, and it was the most tiring (like 60k steps in two days). I don't think we would have had the energy that it deserved if we had saved it for the end of a long week of travel.
This entire week was definitely day-heavy, & I at least didn't really go out anywhere other than Rome since I wanted to be able to make the most out of the days - all of these places had so much to see & do!
Our Itinerary
THURSDAY
Flew into Rome in the late afternoon
Night in Rome
FRIDAY
Day & Night in Rome
(Rome Sightseeing - Colosseum, Roman Forum, etc.)
SATURDAY
Day in Rome
(Vatican City)
Train to Salerno (Amalfi Coast) late afternoon
Night in Salerno
SUNDAY
Day in Amalfi
Night in Salerno
MONDAY
Day in Positano
Night in Salerno
TUESDAY
Train to Florence early
Day & Night in Florence
WEDNESDAY
Day & Night in Florence
THURSDAY
Train to Pisa early afternoon
Day in Pisa
Flew out of Pisa late
ROME
This city is just so overwhelmingly incredible; I feel like there's nowhere else anything like it - it's a must if you haven't been!
So beautiful and historic; fun to walk around with your Maps app open since every other thing you’ll pass is highlighted as a historical landmark
Exhausting . There is so much to see, so definitely bring comfortable shoes and be prepared to walk/stand for most of the day
STAY
Airbnb near Vatican City
Great location for the day we did the Vatican obviously, but for the rest of the city we were pretty removed; if I had to do it over, I'd try to find something a little closer to the city center
EATS
TRASTEVERE NEIGHBORHOOD - We were told to go here to find a place for dinner; there are a lot of cute little restaurants that are supposed to have some of the best food in Rome; I'd recommend trying to find a spot here if you need a place to start looking! I don't think many take reservations, so I think you just have to plan to put your name in somewhere and wander around until your table is ready
VII Corte - The restaurant we chose in Trastevere; had really good food & great for our big group since they allowed us to make a reservation; I got the octopus salad here & it was phenomenal
La Soffitta Renovatio - Went here for lunch after the Vatican since it's right outside of Vatican City; such a great spot for gluten-free/vegan options; I had an absolutely AMAZING pizza
Gelateria Del Monte - Right near the Vatican, so we stopped here for our daily gelato after our tours of Vatican City; AMAZING
GROM - Life-changing gelato. I will leave it at that
NIGHTLIFE
Scholars Irish Pub - Heavy American/International/Study Abroad presence; a cool place to meet people from all over the world but not like Italian locals
THINGS TO DO
Colosseum - Obviously, can’t miss it; we just got tickets to go in and see it ourselves, but I kind of wish we had gotten a guide since I don’t think we got enough out of it
Roman Forum - The Forum ruins are really cool; this was another one I wish we had gotten a guide for; be sure to save time for the park up on the hill behind it (Orti Farnesiani sul Palatino); it is so beautiful and comes out of nowhere being in such a massive city; lots of neat things to see tucked back in there, and there is also a cool view of all of the ruins from the many lookout spots
Can book tickets for these together in advance here
Vatican Tour & Sistine Chapel (or & St. Peter’s Basilica) - Have to choose one of the two to see along with the Vatican museums (at least from what we saw); we did the Sistine Chapel and it was so surreal to see it in real-life; I don’t know what I was expecting, but I didn’t know that the museums were so huge & ornate - there’s so much there, and it’s absolutely stunning
Link for information about this tour & tickets here
Arc de Triomphe - Can’t miss it if you go to the Colosseum/Roman Forum area as it’s right in between the two; cool because it’s the original and now has been replicated in almost every major European city
The Pantheon - Definitely a must-see and be sure to look up the history before you go; you walk through it on your own, so it's worth doing research before going in order to appreciate the dome when you go inside
Trevi Fountain - Very cool, a must
Spanish Steps - These steps are really pretty, & they are also on the street of designer stores in Rome so it's a cool area to go & see
SNAPS
Left: Trevi Fountain | Center: The Roman Colosseum | Right: The Pantheon
Left: Everyone together at the Colosseum | Right: Us girls in front of the Roman Forum ruins
Photos from our tour of Vatican City! Unfortunately, they didn't allow us to take photos inside the Sistine Chapel, but it was also unbelievable | All of the chairs in front of St. Peter's Basilica (bottom center) were set up for Holy Week & Easter, which were both the following week
Photos of the Roman Forum and the surrounding ruins from a lookout point in Orti Farnesiani sul Palatino, the park that's right next to it
AMALFI COAST
The Amalfi Coast is a string of towns on the coast of Italy just south of Naples (I for some reason thought it was just one town, this is an important clarification)
While there is a ton to see & do in this area, we spent our time in Salerno, Amalfi, & Positano; Salerno was the cheapest place to stay, Amalfi is one of the major towns, and Positano is likely the town you've seen if you've looked up photos of the Amalfi Coast - it's absolutely stunning and so charming, definitely my favorite out of the three
Daytrips could not be easier to do, so we did one each day we were there; there are frequently running ferries & a bus as well (the buses run later in the day than the ferry, but just be sure to not miss the last one like we did & be forced to take an Uber back to the town you are staying in)
STAY
Airbnb in Salerno
While Amalfi & Positano are more famous and more on-brand for what I pictured the Amalfi Coast to look like, Salerno was significantly cheaper to stay in & is also where the large train station is from Rome/Naples so it was also just easier
Daytrips are so easy to do and not expensive; if you are trying to go for cheap, I'd say prioritize where you stay based on wherever is cheapest/most convenient, and you'll be able to see everywhere you want to during the days of your trip
EATS
El Salvador Ristorante Messicano (Salerno) - We randomly felt like Tex-Mex, so we picked this spot since it was right near our Airbnb; they had a hilarious collection of oversized sombreros that you could try on and wear while you ate
Gran Caffè Canasta (Salerno) - Great spot to grab a coffee or a quick breakfast before a ferry since its right across the street from the ferry dock
Ingordo Sushi (Salerno) - Amazing sushi place right on the main street of Salerno; grabbed dinner here one of the nights
La Marinella (Amalfi) - This place was AMAZING; I got an octopus salad & we all tried Limoncello Spritzes (which might be my new favorite drink); they have a beautiful patio on top of the water so the view while we were eating was incredible
THINGS TO DO
Daytrips - Explore different towns & wander around them; Positano & Amalfi in particular had a ton of little winding streets with lots of cute boutiques tucked up in them
The Ferry - Take the ferry at least once; really beautiful passing all the little towns and getting to see them from the water since the prettiest part of the Amalfi Coast is all of the little houses built up into the coastal cliffs
SNAPS
Far Left, Top: The big sombreros from our Mexican dinner | Far Right, Bottom: My octopus salad from La Marinella
FLORENCE
An absolutely beautiful place; this is a must if you do Italy
In a funny way that's really hard to describe, we ran into so many Americans - friends even - that were studying abroad there or visiting people that were, and that made it feel really familiar and homey despite it being my first time there
I hate to admit it, but we lowkey dropped the ball on this one; we had spent so much time and effort coordinating Rome & the Amalfi Coast that we just showed up in Florence with no reservations for anything - don't make this same mistake if you go; The David was sold out, the Duomo had no availability to climb it, and we missed out on a couple of restaurants we would've otherwise wanted to try - we still had an amazing time though, which I think speaks to how amazing this place was
STAY
Hotel Bavaria
This was a good find; recommend it if you want somewhere cheap in a good location
Florence is a small, very walkable city so hard to go wrong on location, but we were right by the Duomo which was amazing
Shower & sink in the room but a communal toilet (??); wasn't bad or gross or anything, but it was definitely an interesting setup
EATS
Mister Pizza - This was seriously one of my favorite meals abroad; they have a phenomenal gluten-free pizza (& dairy-free cheese options), and it's located right in the Piazza del Duomo - an awesome lunch place!
Grom - We were so excited to find another one of these after Rome; seriously so incredible and some of the best gelato we found abroad
Cacio e Pepe - I loved this place for so many reasons that have nothing to do with the food; we went here for a dinner & the restaurant messed up our reservation timing - the owner came out and chatted with us in front of the restaurant, and also brought us all a glass of prosecco for the meantime; he then was our waiter and cared about giving us good recommendations and showing us a great experience; fantastic food & a bonus limoncello shot at the end
Rooster Cafe - American diner vibes which was really nice since that meant they had iced coffee and unlimited free water; really great spot for brunch
Sgrano - A dedicated restaurant to gluten-free paninis, the best find ever; panini made with homemade gluten-free bread which was incredible
Ristorante Lorenzo de’Medici - Went here for a dinner; I got a steak and it was freaking incredible; I feel like since coming abroad I've started randomly craving red meat, and this hit the spot
Milkeria - A small cafe right across from our hotel so we stopped here for a breakfast; they have GF Belgium waffles which are insane; really cute spot, would recommend
Panini Toscani - No gluten-free options, but my friends got this for lunch one day and were absolutely raving about it; they set up a quick taste-testing plate for you of their different meats and cheeses, and from there you pick your favorites to be made into a panini; if you are familiar with Barcelona's Bo de B, it was like that if it were in Florence & sold paninis
ZaZa - Never made it here, but I kept hearing this come up when people were talking about the best restaurants in Florence; sounds like this is a great spot
THINGS TO DO
Definitely a lack of content considering we spent three days here, but we spent most of our time sitting for a really long time after meals and wandering around the city; lots of great shopping and beautiful little streets
Piazzale Michelangelo - If you go to Florence, this is a non-negotiable; it's a hill that you hike up (you can cab too) with steps at the top that overlook the entire city; we went at sunset with wine, and there was a phenomenal street performer playing music there as well; such an incredible view
Boboli Gardens - We definitely spent way too much time here, but this was our answer both days we were there to: "What should we do to kill the next 4 hours?"; another pretty view of the city & beautiful grounds to wander around; they do a student discount for admissions, so if you go, be sure to bring your passport with proof of your student visa
Leather Markets - An iconic place to at least check out, even if you have no intentions of buying anything; this is the spot to get those famous Florence leather purses, and you can negotiate prices really easily
Ponte Vecchio - Famous landmark bridge lined with jewelry shops
SNAPS
Left & Center: Piazzale Michelangelo | Right: My GF panini from Sgrano
The Florence Duomo!
Taken from bridges over the Arno River, the river that cuts through Florence
PISA
As I feel like you'd guess, there isn't much to see or do here other than the Leaning Tower, which is definitely cool, don't get me wrong, but I don't know if I'd say this is worth going out of your way for
It was actually cheaper for us to fly back to Barcelona out of Pisa than out of Florence, so that's why we made this stop; really glad we were able to fit it in
EATS
La Terrazza - Only were here for one meal & this place was really good; had gluten-free pesto gnocchi which was so so good
THINGS TO DO
Leaning Tower of Pisa - Obviously. You can climb it if you want & there is a really pretty park surrounding it
Keith Haring Mural - Don't know why this exists or its significance, but we found it by accident on the way to the tower from the train station, cool thing to randomly find
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