City Breaks - Italy

A

Ali Bon Tempi

Active Member
Hi all,

Never been to Italy before and fancied a long weekend away later this year, probably Oct/Nov time. Where would people recommend and why?

Thanks
 
Venice, totally chilled and relaxed place to visit. No cars, buses or lorries for several days, bliss. Lots of arty things to see, timeless buildings, lovely places to eat.
 
Milan..Dirty,sleazy,druggy a bit like barcelona lot of little bars and good music in clubs.perfect for a weekend..
 
Johnny Vodka said:
Venice is a lot grottier than it's romantic image will have you imagine - and that was 20 years ago. ;)
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lol, what time of year was you there, Johnny?

We went in Feb approx 10 years ago and had a fantastic short break. I have read reports saying it can get rather smelly in the warmer months but Nov would be perfect. I have never had sandwiches so good as those we had in Venice, in particular a tuna with boiled egg in the centre, almost worth the airfare alone!!


Walking across St Marks at night with a few people sat around a guitar singing, mist hovering over the square, was romantic enough for me:D
 
I fell helplessly in love with ROME each time I've been - you do get fleeced in the obvious tourist traps esp near the trevi fountain/collosseum but I had a great time on each of the 3 times I went (with family / ex / former flatmates respectively) - the trastevere district was where the cool nightlife was to be found, we ate at the small streets around the campo de fiore - me and proper italian food - could eat it all day. A lot of the locals clocking you as tourists are as cheesy as fk, but better that than some Londoner ignoring you or snarling at you. cheap flights to ciampino airport - yes on that airline - but well worth it.
 
i'm with the o man on this. rome is home and SPQRules

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a completely fascinating city, full of life, history, culture, gangs of priests a la father ted in M&S, superb food, great wine and by studiously avoiding the beaten track, tons cheaper than ibiza. we stayed in funky trastevere last october and are returning this october to a fab pad, loft style, with cafe, pizzeria and grocery shop on the ground floor and 5 mins from st. peters. superb
 
stephen said:
i'm with the o man on this. rome is home and SPQRules

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a completely fascinating city, full of life, history, culture, gangs of priests a la father ted in M&S, superb food, great wine and by studiously avoiding the beaten track, tons cheaper than ibiza. we stayed in funky trastevere last october and are returning this october to a fab pad, loft style, with cafe, pizzeria and grocery shop on the ground floor and 5 mins from st. peters. superb
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In 2003, there was a big anti-war demo in one corner of the campo di fiore - lots of big rainbow PACE (peace) flags and then in the other corner a large goodnatured contingent of Welsh rugby fans there for the 6 Nations match that weekend. The two groups were both singing very loud and it was beyond surreal to hear this cacophony at the same time. There were darker elements too - I did see pockets of poverty all over the place - a lot of Albanian street urchins thieving naive tourists - we did warn one Japanese man that the boy was trying to rob him and I think he managed to save his wallet. There were other oddities however which amused us endlessly - the fact so many diverse people (even more so than in Spain) ride around on scooters including nuns and priests, which bestowed upon them a kind of urban chic they would never get in this country - it felt like you were in a Fellini film - which is exactly the kind of stereotype you as a tourist warm to. Speaking Spanish helps massively - I also found that as in so many other European cities the more you downplay your Englishness the more hospitable people become. I think there are similarities in perceptions between the respective south and north of Spain and Italy - the cliche is that the further South you travel the friendlier people become (the cynics argue that the further south you go the more work and tax-shy people get!) Not sure these stereptypes are fair, but certainly I felt a lot more relaxed in Rome and Naples than in industrial Milan and Turin - which really didn't seem that interesting during my brief previous visits there
 
Rome is on the cards at some point. The well-loved budget airline does flights from my local airport, but I think they arrive into Rome around midnight.
 
Venice is a beautiful city and truly unique in its lack of cars and roads. I loved shuttling about on the vaporettos and getting lost in its little squares and allies.

If you're into contemporary art, the Art Biennale is this year. I think it runs June-October but you should double check. We're planning on going for the opening.
 
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