Italy – Tia and Ephraim

Where did you start with planning your trip?

Both Ephraim and I love to travel to new places, exploring new cultures and food and simply being reminded that the world is so much bigger than just America and has so much to offer and teach us. So it was a no brainer for us to plan some sort of trip out of the country as a celebration of Ephraim’s 30th birthday. Several people thought we were crazy though, because we were also right in the middle of planning a wedding that was only 3 months away! We played around with the idea of hiring a travel agent to do all of the planning for us, so all we would have to do really was show up; but we soon realized that we are not the type of couple who likes to be tied to strict, generic schedules. We were more excited by the idea of being able to plan out our days with limited time contraints, allowing us to immerse ourselves in the entire experience of the culture and everything around us. We also knew that we wanted to have as much control as possible over how much we were spending on things. So where did we start? I’m glad you asked…

Find the best flight:

We started with locating the best roundtrip flight deal using Google flights. For all of our trips, we find it best to search using Google Flights because they post the most unbiased flight rates from every airline. You can filter based on the dates, times and airline as well. Google will show you any nearby dates that would be cheaper for your location of interest as well as any nearby airports that are cheaper. After a few days of Google research we found an American Airlines flight for a total of $1600 (including two roundtrip tickets) to Milan!

Find additional locations nearby to visit:

Once we nailed down the flights, we went to Google, Instagram reels and Youtube vlogs, to watch and learn what others shared about various beautiful locations to check out near Milan, great hotels in these areas and other tips and advice. From these videos and after searching the map, we were able to decide on a few key sites that are easily accessed from Milan.

Where did you travel?

After finding a great flight deal that lands in Milan, we ultimately decided to add Venice, Rome, Florence, Pisa and Manarola to our 9 day itinerary. Each of these cities are within a short 2-3 hours train ride from Milan. Each city has its own beautiful culture, architecture and scenery to offer. We chose to spend 3 of our 9 days in Venice for a couple of reasons: the first being the unbeatable romantic vibe Venice gives and the second reason being, it’s just incredibly unique to experience a city literally built on water. We also found the most things to do and sites to visit that peaked our interests in Venice.

What did you pack?

We went to Italy in January, during the off season. The weather was mild, with the coldest temperatures hovering in the mid to upper 30s in the evenings and the warmest temperatures getting up to the low 60s. With the large range in temperatures, it is most helpful to pack layers. Also, with all of the walking you’ll be doing, be sure to pack super comfortable walking shoes, shoes that will be comfortable walking on the many cobblestone streets you’ll find yourself wandering down. Another key item is an outlet converter! This is absolutely necessary to charge all of your devices, as the outlets in Italy are not the same as in the US. I would advise you to get a converter that has more than one type of pronged setting as well, because we found variations between the cities in Italy.

Did you use any specific travel apps while abroad?

Trenitalia:
The Italian train system is superb and widely encompassing. There are multiple train lines to choose from, and majority of them offer quick and comfortable transportation to multiple cities throughout Italy. We booked and traveled between cities using Trenitalia. Mapping out exactly where you want to go and booking those train rides on a site like Trenitalia before getting to Italy will make your life much easier. If you forget or are not as much of a planner as Ephraim is, then no worries, all of the train stations contain ticket booths for you to purchase tickets in real time.
Radical Storage:
Finding a place to store your luggage is super convenient during the times that there is a gap between flights or train departures or before your hotel room is available. Luggage storage areas allow you to store your luggage safely while you go explore the beautiful city around you. We used Radical Storage.

Highlights from Italy

We’ve included a brief overview of key experiences from each city we visited below. For more detailed information, like specific travel methods and prices, subscribe to our page for a free copy of our detailed itinerary.

We visited and toured the Duomo, also known as the Milan Cathedral on our first day in Italy. There were crowds of tourists taking photos in front of the Duomo, on the piazza, along with many vendors selling various goods. The line for tickets to enter the Duomo was very short, so we purchased a tour and were able to explore the interior intricacies of the cathedral and view the city from the cathedral’s rooftop.

We discovered the absolute best pizza ever at Gino Sorbillo’s in Milan, located near the Galleria. We ordered the Margherita pizza, which was fresh and tasty!

We visited the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, which is a lively shopping area with high end stores, surrounded by numerous restaurants and bars. Duomo Terraza 21 is a rooftop bar within the Galleria that offers an amazing view of the Piazza del Duomo with great drinks and complimentary snacks.

Our first day in Venice was spent exploring the area around the Basilica, which led us to the Bridge of Sigh’s where we posed for a photo and waved at passing gondolas. We also bought a gondola tour, which felt super romantic like in the movies! Our gondola tour took us through the main canal where we passed underneath the Rialto Bridge. The Rialto Bridge is also a really cool spot to catch the sunset in Venice, so we went back to actually capture the sunset and to walk across it later in the evening.

Ristorante la Piazza is an amazing restaurant in Venice for a romantic date night, delicious food and complimentary champagne and dessert. It was so yummy and welcoming that we went twice during our 3 days in Venice. It’s located in the center of most of the action in Venice, and was less than a 10 minute walk from where we were staying.

We escaped the congestion of Venice by taking the Vapparetto line 12 to Murano and Burano. These are two smaller islands that can be reached within 20-40 minutes on the water bus from Venice. They are most notable for the beautiful colorful homes that line the small canals running through each town.

In Rome, we toured the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. You’ll definitely want to be sure you have on comfortable walking shoes with good grip as there are tons of rocky grounds and trails to traverse through. The following day we explored the Vatican City.

The Florence Cathedral, being the largest brick dome in the world, was hard to miss in Florence. It was one of the first things we saw when walking to our hotel. We stopped right in front of it the following day for brunch, where we could enjoy an upclose view of it’s intricate exterior.

After brunch in front of the Florence Cathedral, we walked about 12 minutes to the Galleria dell’Accademia, which houses the original Michaelangelo’s David sculpture.

From Florence we took a day trip via train to Pisa and Manarola. In Pisa we stopped to see the Leaning Tower and then hopped back on the train to Manarola where we caught the sunset over the colorful homes and blue coast of Cinque Terre.

Best Places to Eat in Italy

Milan:
Gino Sorbillo – The greatest pizza in all of Italy! Located near the Duomo and the Galleria
Venice:
Ristorante la Piazza – Excellent service, complimentary champagne, delicious steak and pasta dishes.
Rome:
Ristorante da Paolo – conveniently located across from the exit of the Vatican Museums. All day breakfast options and champagne deals!
Florence:
Ristorante Sabatini Firenze – the most flavorful, tender and juicy florentine steak. High-scale, romantic dining vibes.
Pisa:
Filter Coffee Lab– warm and beautifully crafted coffee drinks with hearty breakfast options located in a cozy and warm coffee shop.