Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Let's start a 100 best things to do in Italy list

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Thanks Mari, your trip sounds as if it was magical. I can't wait to see my mother's face when she sees the house she grew up in for the first time since she left over 40 years ago. She starts to cry just when I tell her about what I have planned for the trip. I am so excited. I will let you know in detail how it all goes when we return. Thanks again.

you people have way too much free time on your hands. OOH, let's start another list! How original.

Len, So glad your mom is excited! You will have a great trip, and are doing a great thing. Have you settled on your rome hotel yet? Post upon your return and take lots of pics for you, your mom, and sisiter. Jessyca, Ursula did start a post on the U.S board, and got one of the first replies was a rude comment. I replied to her,and had my NOT rude, or insulting or foul-languaged post about the differences between U.S board and Europe board deleted. But last I checked , she had gotten maybe 6 good responses. Another thing to do in Italy, Watch the sunset over the sea, (as I live on the East Coast this is something I can not get)

Thanks Nancy, I bet "Amazed" is a joy to be around- Don't you?? I'm sorry to hear the Americans were so rude in the US forum. I wonder what's up with them. I'm one of them so I don't get it. Anyway, Thanks for the nice comments!! Jcat

Here's one of those "untouristy" things folks are often seeking to do. Have a friend who lives in Italy & during a recent visit in October we went to a "Sagre" --- it's a small food festival, focused on a particular item. We went to a Castagna (chestnut) Sagre in Bagnone. This is an great way to interact with locals as it's something that they do and I don't think I've ever seen mention on this forum about them. Do note they're usually in small towns and so, it's something that you'd need a car to get to. I did come across this article which does a better job of describing a sagre than I could. ===================== http://italianfood.about.com/food/ IF YOU VISIT ITALY DURING THE WARMER MONTHS (spring through October) you’ll no doubt see posters announcing the "Sagra del Tortello," "Festa della Fettunta," "Sagra del Castagno," or some such, with the name of a town and several dates, usually weekends. This is to a certain degree the Italian equivalent of the country fair, something put on by a town to draw tourism and gather money for some cause. There’s usually a market, and maybe a livestock show, if the town has that sort of farming, a carnival with rides for the kids, and a food tent, serving up local specialties. It’s come-as-you-are, first-seated-first-served, with long tables that you share with other diners, the food’s usually on plastic plates, and there is sometimes a band. Why in the world am I bringing this up, you wonder? Because the food, though simple, can be very good – it’s generally prepared by people who love to cook and are doing it for charity. And because it’s a side of Italian life few tourists see, the groups of teenagers getting together for a night out, while parents with younger children and the elder generation gather instead for a family meal, then dance, explore the fair, or simply sit at a table under a tree, sipping coffee or an after-dinner cordial, enjoying the cool night air and talking while the kids run around. You will need a car to get to most sagre; read the notices you will find posted on poster boards in the city you're visiting (or ask someone at your hotel), and select one that sounds interesting. Then drive out to the town where it’s taking place, aiming to arrive around 7 (a visit to a sagra is also the perfect closure for an itinerary in the country, for example a day in Chianti or an exploration of the Rufina area). Once you reach the town you will find signs to point your way. The menu will be posted outside the tent; you select what you want, pay the cashier, find seats, and hand your order stub to the waiter assigned to your area. Then you enjoy!

Like Venice the best but it's covered above. How about strolling around the waterfront in Portofino?

Italian dressing?

Go to the market and buy some fresh bread, cheese, wine and fruit. Then have a picnic while waiting to get into the Uffizi meeting lots of great people. Also take your picnic and set it up in the campo in Siena after climbing to the top of the church. Also you must visit Vivolo Gelateria in Florence.

Spend all your time looking for people wearing and inane ribbon designed by some goofball in Ohio.

Peter, I am sensing some major ribbon envy here! I bet we see you wearing one soon though!

Stay at a villa in Tuscany with vineyards in June. Wake up in the middle of the night and walk outside listening to the birds and smelling all the incredible italian smells--loam, lavender, etc., etc. I still think of that experience...

Fly, drive, walk, bike, hitchhike as fast as you can to France.

Jessyca...drink Chianti at its best!

Spend time admiring Signorelli's awesome frescoes of The Last Judgement in the Duomo in Orvieto. Have lunch in a little trattoria and sample some Orvieto Classico wine.

Sip on a glass of chilled Prosecco on the rooftop of Hotel danieli in Venice ( not as expensive as you might think), Eat a pasta con funghi in a ristorante at Piazza del Erbe, in Verona. Give the geese some bread by the Garda Lake in Sirmione.

To the top for Jcat. PS: Maybe there is something you might want to add after your stay in Rome... ;-) Ciao bella

Check this out --- Scott Haas captures essence of Venice (and of course, it we had the NEW format, you could just click on the link & go there . . . ) The years change a man—and his opinion of Venice By Scott Haas, Globe Correspondent, 04/08/01 http://travel.boston.com/world/040801_venice.html

#1. Stay Away #2. Move your bowels in a clean toilet #3. Take a shower #4. Try Central Africa first to acclimate yourself to a third world society. #5. Get your malaria and tetnis shots before you go.