We are eagerly gathering fodrians best practised advice as we are planning our first trip overseas and to our all time favourite destinations, one being Italy.

Of course what brought us (well at least me) to decide on Italy would be the food and the monuments to many ancient civilisations.

We have heard there are many different museums across Italy. We are first travelling to Egypt - so any that have relics or artifacts of this country would be our first highlight. Then the males in the family have heard of the ferrari and lamborgini museum - could we have some comments on those and the distance needed to travel (we are staying in Rome and sorrento - so far, but could change if worth it).

and any great culture or interesting museums you have located on your travels would be appreciated.

You might want to pick up or at least peruse several guidebooks (Fodors would be a good start)to determine your destinations in Italy.

We loved The Basilica di San Clemente in Rome ..... from this website (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/i...e-san-clemente ) I quote ....

The Basilica di San Clemente (Basilica of St. Clement) is an early Christian basilica in Rome dedicated to Pope St. Clement (d. 99 AD).

The church has a beautiful interior, but it is especially notable for its three historical layers. The 12th-century basilica is built on top of a well-preserved 4th-century church (with many frescoes), which was built next to a 3rd-century Mithraic Temple. For an admission fee, it is possible to explore the excavations of the lower two levels, which is a fascinating journey into the history of Rome.

We also loved the Scavi Tour which visits the excavations under St Peter's .... prebooking is essential (http://saintpetersbasilica.org/Necropolis/Scavi.htm )

Lastly, we also thoroughly enjoyed heading out to the Catacombs.

Rome has an enormous number of Egypian artifacts. You can find more about this by doing google searches.

You can also find the car museums and car factory tours by doing google searches.

But other than that, you need to understand that Italy makes a museum out of EVERY aspect of its history and its culture. There are not only a half dozen car (or motorcycle) museums, there are pasta museums, Etruscan museums, Galileo museums, cheese museums, wind instrument museums, shipbuilding museums, pottery museums, shoe museums, ski museums -- the list goes on and on.

On top of all that, Italy has some of the greatest art and sculpture museums in THE ENTIRE WORLD. The Capodimonte in Naples, the National Archeological Museum in Naples, the Borghese Gallery in Rome, the Vatican Museums, the Capitoline Museum in Rome, and several others in Rome. There are also museums of world importance in Florence, Venice, Perugia, Torino, Milano and more than I feel like typing.

So spending some time with a standard guidebook would be a good start. People here haven't any great wide experience of museums in Italy that would substitute for a good guidebook for Italy.

Rome is a place with wonderful museums and artifacts. Sorrento - not so much unless you are using it as a base for Pompeii and the Archeological Museum in Naples (both of which are definitely worth a visit).

Smells - Venice New Year.

There is a smell to New Years Eve in Venice, compounded of pizza, cooked fish, and freshly baked bread. There is another vital ingredient in the mix – the smell of black powder. Fireworks are available at our local mini mart, and the explosions started around dusk, about 5:00 PM this time of year, and continued until the small hours. Fireworks is really a misnomer – there were crackers being let off in San Marco about the size of a milk carton, which qualifies them as ordnance. I might mention that the entire population of Venice was in San Marco at the time, and so a little circle was cleared in the middle for the fireworks, displacing children, cops, prams and dogs – cleared by letting off fireworks.

There's a very good Egyptian Museum in Turin.

Wow, are you in for a treat. Prepare to fall in love with Italy! Which region are you going to? I spent a couple of weeks in Tuscany; Florence in a must with the incredible art there and cathedrals. Pisa is much more than the leaning tower (although it it incredible to see); and the smaller towns are worth the trip in themselves (Lucca, Volterra, etc). The people are friendly, the food is fantastic, and it's sensory overload with the sights, sounds, smells, tastes. Have a great time!

Thank you, this what we were hoping for personalised experiences. exactly the Sight, Sounds and Smells, love the description of Venice that Peter S has posted and the sensory overload that Gina posted for Tuscany.

Thank you Zeppole, for adding your great post as the 'full museum picture' of Italy. of course we will search respected guide books (read here 'fodors') as an overall view - yet to hear a fellow travellers opinion and experience brings on a fuller picture of what to expect/appreciate and adore about each site!!

PRLCH thank you for the links to an interesting place. would be almost 'time travelling' coming up each flight of stairs. what a place to visit!

You might be interested in the Villa Giulia in Rome, a wonderful museum centred on the predecessors of the city's own population, the Etruscan civilisation...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan_civilization

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Giulia_Museum

No photography allowed inside, at least when we've been, but this reconstructed temple stands in the grounds...

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/64451175

And perhaps you'd also a BBC radio programme - from the "In Our Time" series - discussing those ancient people, which can be heard by starting here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0151q7j

Broadcast yesterday, it's 45 minutes long and should be available for a while.

About 15 minutes in, our little island home - Ischia - even gets a mention!

Peter