A question for repeat visitors to Italy....
 

What places do you love so much that have demanded a repeat visit or two?
And what activities/attractions in those places keep you coming back for more?

We are going to Italy next June/July for 3 weeks. (Just booked tickets with FF miles!) It will be our 3rd trip, and many friends can't believe we keep going back again. On top of that, we love the places in Italy we've been to so much that we can't imagine going back and not visiting them again. But then we do want to see new places in Italy, too!

I mean, it's difficult to go to Florence and not pop into see David, right? We're even guilty of eating dinner at the same restaurant three times in Florence!

So all you Italy lovers out there (and i know there's a lot of us!), please share the places / things that keep you drawing you back over and over. I'd love to hear about them! Maybe you can entice me to try something new!

Grazie!
dina

We love Rome and have been numerous times. While we try to experience new things when we are there, we can't resist a walk through the Forum or marveling at the magnificant St. Peters!

Tracy

I still have so many places on my travel wish list, but for now I don't think I could ever get enough of Venice. Tentatively planning a third trip to show my sister my beloved Venezia for my birthday in April.

I have loved visiting the second tier cities that are not as famous--i.e. Parma, Mantova (Mantua on English maps), Cremona--and of course the hill towns in Tuscany and Umbria, especially Orvieto, Todi and Spoleto.

Rome, Florence, and Tuscany, come to my mind quickly. There is so much to see and do in Rome, so many villages and interesting places in Tuscany, and we just love Florence. Also, we usually end our vacations by taking a "vacation from our vacation" on the Amalfi Coast.

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We are going back for our 14th trip to Italy next month, but most of that has not been repetitive, with the exceptions of Tuscany and the lakes. I never set foot in Rome until my 8th trip---then we did a week. Yes, I hear it all the time---"what, Italy again?"

Any town (in Italian) that ends in a vowel.

I've actually lost count. It is almost embarrassing. I was keeping count with dates and folders, but somehow lost track. We are going in October, and have FF tickets for May 08. I think these will be trips 9 and 10 for me.

I do love the big 3, I also really like Arezzo and have gone back for the monthly antique market and the Piero delle Francesca works. I've been to Assisi three times and hope to go back. I like Perugia, too, and want to see more of Umbria.

And I love Santa Margherita Ligure and the surrounding area. I've been there three times, and would go back.

I hope to revisit the Chianti area and the Val d'Orcia.

I've been to Verona twice and want to go back.

I want to see more of the lakes, and Dolomiti, and the far south, and, and, and...

3 trips to Europe...3 trips to Venice :) Can't wait to go again!!

Anne

Well, I could happily live in Rome, so does that answer your question? :-d

I see absolutely nothing wrong with revisiting favorite places and restaurants. Why not? If you enjoy them, why not go again? I, too, have had people surprised at how often I return to Italy, but I really couldn't care less what they think! I love it and will go as often as possible, and to the same places as many times as I like!

<<Any town (in Italian) that ends in a vowel.>>

As Mrs. McIlhenny says in "Summertime", listing the places they have yet to see:

"Florence - Firenze, that's the name the Italians have given it ..."

I love "going back" possibly even more than going. And even better is taking someone along who hasn't been yet. I come home from a place I like and become a hungy reader, allowing me to stay connected. With luck and attention, even though years have passed, I feel even more connected than when I left.

One place I'd love to return to is Spoleto, as I only had half a day there, being shown around quickly by my ex, who had spent a couple of weeks during the festival once. A few days earlier I had been able to show him Sutri, the little town a friend of mine immortalized in a book called "Pasquale's Nose", where I had spent ten days a couple of years earlier.

Going back and showing someone = two great pleasures.

Your responses are so fun to read!! Passion for Italy is just OOZING from each post. I love it.

Bob-- i think you might have the record... 14 -- i'm so jealous!

Spoleto keeps coming up again and again -- we've never been there! (or Umbria, except for Orvieto)

Please keep your replies coming...
thanks.

And I'd go back to Orvieto in a flash, dina. Easy drives from there to Todi, Spoleto and so many other places. And GREAT eating. Would love to get there to the jazz festival sometime. Was there in a beautiful October, just after (I believe) the slow food events. What a wonderful, lively but small town, with culture and a lot of commitment to keeping it alive.

As for Spoleto - for about a year I was "watching" a beautiful villa online, for sale, across the bridge with a lovely view of the town ... I was hooked. All that was missing was the million and a half euro!

Hi d,

>What places ... have demanded a repeat visit or two?

Venice

I would also go back to Florence, Orvieto, Bologna.

((I))

Hi dina,

I know you have spent time in Tuscany, but I can't remember your other destinations. Where have you already visited? I've got lots of suggestions!

I have limited time and money for travel, so I usually try to mostly go new places. If I had plenty of both :), I'd return many times to many places in bella Italia. And, like SusanP, I could happily live in Rome for a few years....or Spello, or Montalcino, or Val Gardena, or Todi, or just stick a pin the the map!

Rome ,Chianti and Val'D Orcia.
We gravitate to them on most trips.
I've been to most areas of Italy at least once (still missing the Piedmont area), but usually try and stay in Rome for a week and split time in north and south Tuscany.

Bobthenavigator - for your 14th trip, where are you off to?

Trieste, Gubbio, Leece, Ortigia, Serolo, Perugia, Firenze, Verena, Pescara, Lanciano, Assisi, Rome, Palermo, Pezze di Greco, Venice...h-m-m...maybe just stick with Jean's defintion.

We are off to Piedmont---a week at Villa Sampaguita exploring that area by car and then 4 days at Lago Orta. The Piedmont week will be culminated by the Palio'd Asti. We have never really seen the Piedmont region other than the lakes before.

I adore Rome. I feel very alive there. I enjoy the people, the energy of the city and the fact that I can find a pocket for whatever strikes my mood: lost in crowd, peaceful piazza, solitude, music, art, etc.