5 Italy Don’ts! – Mistakes To Avoid When Traveling To Italy

Important Italy Travel Tips To Help You Have A Great Vacation

I know this post may seem weird. I mean, I got back from a trip to Italy this past summer (along with everyone else in America!), and I’m not gushing over it. As soon as I got back, everyone was asking me how amazing it was and if I loved the food. How can someone, anyone, even go to Italy and not gush over it? It was a little shocking to my friends, family, and co-workers too. But I just felt like I did so many things wrong! Apparently, even after 13 countries, I can still make rookie mistakes. Mistakes that I hope you can avoid. Don’t worry, there will still be some Italy posts in future that do talk about the great parts. However, I wanted to start with these Italy travel tips to consider when planning your own vacation.

1. Slow Down!

The most important of my Italy travel tips is this one. Take it slow! If you literally only read this and not the rest of the post heed this advice. I cannot emphasize this enough. Italy has so much to see and experience, that you will be super tempted to try and pack it all in. You may look at the distances by train or plane and say, “yeah that’s doable.” You would be wrong.

Our trip went from Milan, to the Cinque Terre and Portofino, to Tuscany, to Rome, and finally the Amalfi Coast. And even though it was over 2 weeks it was way too much. You need several trips to see all of Italy. I am talking about at least 4, but probably closer to 6 trips. So go ahead and get it in your head now, that it’s impossible to see and do it all in one trip. So, for the love of all that is holy, slow the f*ck down! LOL.

2. Choose A Region

In a similar vein to slowing down, the next best of my Italy travel tips, is to choose a region. One of the main benefits to choosing a region is eliminating a lot of the travel time. You may be thinking, “but Italy has a great train system.” And you would be right, they absolutely do. But the logistics still cut into more time than you think it would. I often found a 3 hour train ride would eat up more than a half day.

We could have easily spent a week in each of the places we visited. For example, we used Milan as a jumping off point for Portofino and the Cinque Terre. We, and by we I mean my extended family because my immediate family and I had our flights cancelled, only stayed in Milan 1 night. I honestly think this is what a lot of people do because the Italian riviera and Cinque Terre are so popular. But, if we had chosen Lombardy (the region Milan is in) as a region, we not only would have gotten to explore the city more, but we could have even visited Lake Como and Lake Garda.

Travel Tip: BUY TRAVEL INSURANCE! We flew from Atlanta, to NYC, to Milan, and our very first flight got cancelled due to weather! With no more flights to the NYC area for the day, we had to go back and renegotiate each leg of our trip. We couldn’t line all the flights up again until 4 days later! It sucked. Not only that, but the 4 days we missed happened to be the most expensive of our trip. However, the travel insurance reimbursed us for everything. The missed Airbnb, the extra cost of the renegotiated flights, and the missed tours. The travel insurance we used is here.

After a week in Lombardy, we could have chosen either the Liguria region for a week, or Tuscany for a week. Would we have gotten to see as much? Nope. But we would have gotten to slow down and truly experience a region. Not to mention that the travel logistics would not have cut into our trip so much. So decide what you really REALLY want to see, and stick that that region.

Never Ever Go In Summer

Now maybe, like me, you have kids and you’re like, “summer is the only time I can take a long vacation.” I know how you feel. This is also why I often find myself in the middle of throngs of tourists in different places all over the world. But I can promise you this, I will never go to Italy in summer ever again. Summer has it’s charms. It is beautiful, the water is crisp and refreshing after long days in the sun, and the days are longer.

However, it’s not worth it. Again, not only is everyone and their mama in Italy in the summer, but it can get oppressively hot. Even on the coast it’s hot, but Rome is sweltering. The heat, coupled with the fact that it will feel like there are more tourists than Italians in some places (I’m looking at you Amalfi Coast!), will make you want to push all the groups of wannabe influencers off the edge of a cliff. And that’s just not the vibe you want when you’re visiting such a beautiful place.

Think Of Spring And Fall

If you can, take a look at making the most out of spring break or fall break. That shouldn’t be too hard since you’re slowing down and only sticking to 1 or 2 regions right? The weather will still be nice, or more likely amazing, and you’ll be competing with less people. Not to mention you may get friendlier Italians (who in summer are sick of having so many tourists in their country), and cheaper prices overall. If you must go in summer, go as close to May as you possibly can. Avoid July and August like the plague.

PS. If you find yourself in Italy in spring or fall, and think “wow, those Italy travel tips were right!” Come back and tell me about it.

Give Rome A Fair Shake

I know, I know, I just told you Rome is sweltering, and in summer it is. However, in general I found Rome to be an exciting city worth your time. Prior to this vacation, everyone, and I mean everyone, said that Rome sucked! You name it, I heard it. The city was dirty, full of pickpockets, touristy, and in general not worth your time. As a result, we only stayed 2 nights in Rome.

Once I got there though, I immediately regretted that decision. Rome is a city full of history. We’re talking thousands of years of history! Not to mention the impressive architecture and great food. With only 2 days, you basically only get to see The Vatican and The Colosseum. It’s not enough time. I regret not being able to do a food tour. Or wander through the hip neighborhoods. Or take a day trip to Hadrian’s Villa or the ancient port city of Ostia.

Travel Tip: Honestly I should have known better. I often find myself in love with cities that everyone else talks bad about, like New Orleans, or Mexico City. When planning a trip just keep the benefit of a doubt and take all advice out there (Including this post!) with a grain of salt.

I missed so much. Now is Rome the cleanest city in the world? No. And there are definitely pickpockets, you have to be alert and aware. Are any of these reasons to not give Rome a fair shake and stay at least 4 days? No. So of my Italy travel tips, let this be a lesson, don’t let anyone else’s bad opinion influence your decisions.

Don’t Stay In Ravello In The Amalfi Coast

The last of my Italy travel tips, is to not stay in Ravello when staying on the Amalfi Coast. Honestly, if you have to go to Italy in summer, I would consider skipping the Amalfi Coast altogether. The Amalfi Coast is truly beautiful. The houses are super colorful, there are big fat lemons everywhere, and the water really is a clear blue. But it is crawling with tourists, everything is very expensive, and the transportation is crazy.

Like us, you might really want to see the Amalfi Coast, and be tempted to cut down on costs by staying in Ravello, which is one of the only villages high up and away from the water. You may think that it’s just a 30 minute bus ride up and down the side, no big deal. Wrong. It is a big deal. When we were there, an accident had just happened where a (thankfully) empty bus had plummeted off the side of the cliff. In order to avoid that, they changed from a larger bus to a smaller van with only 22 seats. Further, they changed the bus schedule from every 30 minutes to every hour. The result? 50 people fighting for those 22 seats. And the money you saved from staying in Ravello is dumped into taxis to get you up and down.

Consider One Of The Other Villages

We were effectively trapped in Ravello. Now it’s a beautiful place to be trapped in, but I was really hoping to be able to explore more of the Amalfi Coast. If I had to do it over again, I would actually try to stay in Maiori. It’s a smaller, lesser known village, so the prices might still be less. An it’s also down on the same level as Positano and Amalfi. Not to mention you can walk to Minori which is probably the least crowded beach in all of the Amalfi Coast. If that doesn’t interest you, then suck it up and just pay the money to stay in Positano or Amalfi.

That’s it! I really hope these Italy travel tips were helpful to you! And most importantly that you don’t try to run around and overpack your itinerary while in Italy. Italy has been there thousands of years. It will wait for you to see it all. Except maybe Venice, which last I checked had a 35 year clock on it.

Don’t forget you can follow along for more on Instagram @TheGlobetrottingAccountant. Have you been to Italy? What do you think of these tips? Let me know in the comments!