mogsanova

Please list your favorites (attractions, museums, churches, paintings, activity, restaurant/food spot, shopping/flea markets, antique, etc.). It can be anything! I just want more than the guidebooks seem to give. I am going with my best childhood friend (we are females in our mid-40's) to Italy for the first time. It is her first trip over the pond from the US and my 4th trip to Europe (first trip to Italy). We will be in Italy March 17th-31st, 2015.

We have 13 full sight seeing days (with the exception of travel time from Rome to Florence and then on to Venice. We are flying open jaw. I love paintings, gardens, antique shopping, and history. She loves hiking, cooking, and shopping.

Tell me your favorites please. It doesn't matter if they fall within our interests. I have scoured these boards and read my guide books. There is enough to do there to last months/years. We will visit the obvious places and I can't wait! But sometimes someone mentions something like a particular wine, or a street that was amazing and I would like to see a few of those too.

Thanks so much for reading! I appreciate any responses!

Jean

I would forget gardens at that time of year... Probably hiking too.

Rome:
Ara Pacis
Palazzo Spada
Palazzo Braschi
Museo Barracco

Florence:
Florence is my favorite, so I have almost too many gems to mention...
6 different Last Suppers
Scaffolding tour of Santa Croce (if still offered)
Opificio delle Pietre Dure
Palazzo Davanzati and the Horne Museum
Bonacossi Collection
Casa Guidi (Browning home)

I'll have to think about Venice...

sandralist

In the latter half of March if you get a nice day you can hike uphill through the Boboli gardens and most likely see spring flowers plus the beautiful garden layout.

Go shopping for cooking gear. Try these links

http://www.insidersitaly.com/2011/12...items-in-rome/

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/795334

They still hand-make beautiful picture frames in Florence and often sell antique prints with them, or you can go looking for ones in antique stores. Measure your suitcase before you buy!

http://www.cornicimaselli.com/index.php

http://www.francoristori.com/

http://www.cornicigalardi.it/

or just keep your eyes open for them. Empty frames are easy to take home, as are antique prints.

mandalay

Rome is great for just walking through the streets. Try and get out of the touristy spots and you will discover some great shops: we found a second hand shop that had some great things.

dfourh

Venice: Frari church; getting lost between San Marco and Arsenale well away from the water; walking from roughly Frari church to Accademia; vaporetto down the Grand Canal at night (preferably in a cracking thunderstorm with lots of lightning); Burano; taking the vaporetto along the outer edges of Venice (Ferrovia to F. Nove; Ferrovia to Lido past the cruise port); managing to find a supermarket for provisions; Lido in the late afternoon, but only if there are lots of people around (430p-630p beach, then strolling down Gran Viale Elizabeta and getting a meal); Rialto bridge at 10pm when it is dead empty; daytrip to Padua; daytrip and rent a bike in Ferrara.

nytraveler

You are there very early spring - and granted Italy is warmer than north of the alps - it;s not tropical and this will be only the beginning of gardens and flowers - and weather can be pleasant or still chilly, esp at night.

mogsanova

This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you so much! I have noted every suggestion. Thank you as well for the links! It is always fun to happen upon things by surprise, but sometimes wonderful things are just around a corner and you never even knew! I just got my Streetwise Venice map and will take your suggestions to heart. We are also planning half a day with the agenda of just getting LOST in Venice.

It is funny, with Florence and Venice, I just keep wanting to add days to our itinarary there! But Rome is a must, and who knows, I might fall for it once I am there. I am not much of a crowd person. But when you have the sights that we will be privileged to behold, I can make a few sacrifices of comfort.

I appreciate the time each of you took to respond!

I would rather go in late spring for the flowers, and I love Europe in September but, my time is not my own at this point. I just wanted to be a bit more specific. I will have a lightweight jacket, cardigan, scarves, and my umbrella!

nytraveler

Rome-

Etruscan remains - including fascinating household goods in the Villa Giulia

San Clemente - either get an audio guide or tag on to a local tour - again fascinating because there are so many levels - each a different level and age - down to the Temple of Mithras at the bottom (god of the Roman soliders). For more info (but fiction - a church copied from this one) read ngaio marsh's When in Rome.

nytraveler

Sorry -

From Venice do NOT miss visiting Torcello. Murano is very commercial and while Burano is OK - Torcello is a world apart - and integral to the ancient history of Venice.

mogsanova

Thank you nytraveler! San Clemente and Torcello were on the list. I was considering skipping Murano altogether but I collect blown glass! I know I can get authentic Murano glass in Venice but I figured the glass museum would be worth a look.

I looked at staying on on Torcello for a night but it is out of our budget! But it will be a wonderful contrast and the history is amazing!

Thanks again! I appreciate hearing about everyone's little spots.

tuscanlifeedit

I suggest this a lot, but don't know if anyone ever goes:

In Rome, Palazzo Valentini takes you underground to the ruins of a Roman villa, and projects a light show over the remaining structures to show how it looked when it was built. The commentary is intelligent and informative and it is a top experience.

In Florence, I eat Bistecca Fiorentina.

In Rome, I eat carciofi alla giudia. Last March, I made a list of suggested gelato shops from several Rome food bloggers, and had a wonderful experiencing tasting the flavors they recommended.

In Venice, I'm looking for anything with bottarga.

kawh

all of the above... plus:

Rome-- Villa Borghese park/gardens and especially, the villa/gallery. get tickets so you are not disappointed.

also...a cooking class called (sounds hokey) cookingclassesinrome .... it was very reasonably priced and super fun and we ate a great meal that we all cooked. look up their feedback on t.a. and you will see that, with all the grumps in the world, almost nobody has given it less than an excellent rating. highly recommend.

tarquin

If you like glass, a meander around Murano is essential. The museum is well worth seeing, and the range of shops is enticing. Busa la Torre (called da Lele locally) on Campo San Stefano (big glass star sculpture) is the place for lunch, especially for fried moeche, and it should be in season while you're there.

pctraveler

We have several restaurants in Florence that are long time favorites of ours. In the historic center (near the Mercado Centrale) is Mario's, a working man's venue with shared tables. The address is Trattoria Mario, Via Rosina, 2r, at the corner of Piazza del Mercato Centrale, 50123.

Il Guscio. Via dell'Orto 19,excellent menu choices and the waiters we have had there are proficient in English.

Al Tranvai, Piazza Torquato Tasso 14/r,. Good food, limited English spoken by staff, but if you have any "Italian menu" facility at all, you will be OK.

Both of the last two are located across the Arno (oltrarno) from the historic center, but are both pleasant walks across either the Ponte Vechhio, or the next bridge immediately upriver (Ponte S. Trinita).

annw

Here's an outlier -- In Venice, consider arranging a tour of the small Orsoni glass mosaic tile factory in Cannaregio -- it's a very cool place that also has a small b&b, Domus Orsoni, with museum quality mosaics below and also above in the 5 rooms, some done by mosaic maestro Lucio Orsoni, descendent of the founder.

Also, you might see if you and your pal can arrange a one-day mosaic workshop--suitable for beginners, and you will take home your mosaic as a fabulous memento. (They have many 3 day, one-week, and two-week classes, but I know they have done some special one-day ones.)

While in Cannaregio, eat at one of the small cafes the locals go to -- Bea Vita, for one. If the weather holds, sit at a canal side table and order an Aperol Spritz, enjoying the afternoon passagiata (I once saw author Donna Leon amble by).

Make your way over (via vaporetto) to Academia, or walk across Academia bridge and keep going) to the Zattere for one of the finest long walks anywhere.

Go to San Giorgio via vaporetto, tour the church, and take the elevator to the tower -- even better views than from the campanile tower.

mogsanova

This is fantastic! @tarquin, I've seen the star sculpture so will schedule lunch there in Murano. Thank you for the food recommendation!

@kawh, Villa Borghese is on the list. However, I will talk to my friend about a cooking class. It sounds like something she would love.

@pctraveler thanks for the recommendations! We are going to try and stay in the Oltrarno area so that will be perfect!

@annw the mosiac class sounds right up my alley! I have emailed a reservation inquiry to Domus Orsoni B&B. That looks just perfect!

dwdvagamundo

In Rome, I Scavi under St. Peter's Basilica. But be sure to make a reservation.

GrandmaNae

VENICE- Simply walk! It is a truly magical place. You can visit Rialto Bridge but there will be a ton of tourists there. The further away from the Grand Canal, the fewer tourists there are and that is what we enjoyed the most. If you rise early in the morning and walk around 8 or 9am, you will see the streets empty which is wonderful. Venice is relatively small and easily walkable but the streets all look very similar so it will take a bit to get the hang of it. We splurged on a gondola ride which was great. We had a wonderful gondolier that took us through the back canals (our request because we didn't want to go down Grand Canal). He shared history of buildings and families and showed us where he had grown up as a boy. Bring an umbrella, you will likely need it during that time of year. One of our favorite days in Venice is where is rained the entire day! We were soaking wet, cold, lost, and had the most wonderful time! After all, we were in Venice!

FLORENCE: We were there for only a short time and we took a day trip to Leaning Tower of Pisa which we all enjoyed. We had reservations to walk up the steps inside the tower and I'm so glad we did. So much history involved. We wanted to see the statue of David but the museum was Closed on Monday and we were there on a Monday! Keep that in mind.

ROME: Amazing ruins. Of course a must see is the Colosseum. There are no words to describe the magnitude of this place and the historical background. History abounds in Rome.

Enjoy every single moment of your trip!!