I hadn’t been to Italy since a “whirlwind” college tour where I saw everything and nothing all at once. This March, with John (who has many family members from Italy), we finally made it back. We traded the Eurail pass for a 10-day itinerary through Rome, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast. I planned for a “relaxing” off-season trip, but—who are we kidding?—Italy has too much to see to ever truly “chill.”
Rome: Espresso, Aperol Spritz & Hidden Gems
We landed in the morning and fueled our jet lag with endless espressos. John familiarized himself with the Rome metro system before we left and it was pretty easy to get around. Before check-in, we’d already hit the Altare della Patria, Campo de’ Fiori, the Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon. We even visited the Capuchin Crypt (skeletal art!) and the Largo di Torre Argentina cat sanctuary, where it’s rumored that Julius Caesar was killed.
Eat & Stay: We stayed in Monteverde, a local neighborhood south of Trastevere. The highlight? La Fata Turchina. This 8-table gem swept us off our feet with a parade of appetizers, pasta, and bottomless bottles of digestifs. Not to mention, loads of personality in every way.
The Big Sites: The Colosseum and Forum are essential, but even in the off-season, you’ll be dodging Instagrammers, so get there early. At the Vatican, we toured seemingly endless rooms of classic Renaissance art, but some modern art as well. We also learned a lesson that worked in our favor: St. Peter’s Basilica doesn’t open until 1:00 PM on Wednesdays due to Papal Mass. Once inside the largest church in the world, the enormous scale boggled the mind.
Plan ahead to avoid the miles-long lines! Be sure to get your tickets ahead of time at the official Colosseum and Vatican sites, rather than a 3rd party reseller that inflates the price. (They seem to only release a certain amount of tickets at a time, so check daily for your preferred date and time.) I also heard that sometimes Italian sites turn off their websites after hours, but don’t know how true that is.
Modern Art Contrast: To balance the ancient, we sought out an art installation called Bar Far in Trestevere before we went to dinner, which was really fun. Luckily the next day, we also had time to visit the EUR district, which is a bit off the beaten tourist path. The Mussolini-era architecture feels like a De Chirico painting come to life—surreal, Soviet, and ancient all at once.
Naples & Pompeii: Organized Chaos
People either love or hate Naples—we loved it. It’s a sensory overload of narrow alleys, chaotic traffic, and some of the best pizza of my life. It feels more like Marrakech than Rome, with dark narrow streets that are more like alleyways and something going on everywhere you look. And while nothing makes sense, the people (and the burrata) are incredible. (When choosing a restaurant, go for the simple mom and pops, they took the most pride and had the most amazing food.)
Navigating Italy’s transportation can be intimidating at first. Between high-speed, regional, and intercity trains, plus the fear of validation fines and strikes, we initially cluttered our phones with four different transit apps. As we settled in, we realized the Trenitalia app is the only one you truly need. It offers real-time timetables and direct ticket purchases without third-party markups.
A comfortable 30-minute Circumvesuviana train ride took us to Pompeii. Walking through a city frozen in 79 AD is haunting, especially the plaster casts (some containing human bones), and Mount Vesuvius still looming in the distance. The ash preserved a lot of the old city, with partial homes, paintings, mosaics, and even a brothel. For the music fans: the amphitheater where Pink Floyd performed in ’72 is a must-see.
The Amalfi Coast: Views & “The Stairs”
One thing to know about the Amalfi coast is that if you want to go to from one place to another, that’s easily another 20 – 40 minute bus (exciting twists and turns!) or ferry ride away. Another thing to know is that the further you are up into the hills, the more gorgeous the view. We stayed at Dimora la Fenice in Pogerola, a 15-minute bus ride above Amalfi. The views of the town tumbling toward the sea as we ate our home-cooked meal were worth every winding turn.
The Path of the Gods: We hiked from Bomerano to Positano. It’s magical—herds of goats with cowbells, horizontal vineyards, and hillside lemonades. Warning: The “stairs” at the end leading into Positano are effectively a 100-story descent. Our legs hurt for days. If you aren’t looking for a calf-shredding workout, find the bus route down instead! We missed the Path of the Lemons this time, but as people say when they toss three coins into Trevi Fountain—we’ll be back.
