reina - I will have to answer when I get back in September. I have only been to Florence and Rome to date...


reina_marie
Date: 05/08/2008, 09:08 am

TO VISIT! ANY LOCATION
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But don't shout kay? :-)

This is like asking which are your favorite children.

I like the big ones and the little ones. Here's a website that lists some of the most beautiful little ones by region:

http://www.borghitalia.it/index_en.php

I feel boring just going with the big 3, rome/venice/florence. I absolutely loved the lake district though and am adding turin, cefalu, and vincenzo's three to my list....intriguing.

I wonder but in the meantime absolutely agree about Turin but then, why not Bergamo Alta ?!

Vincenzo

Venice, Siena, Florence

Wow!!! No one has said the most beautiful place yet???
Positano by far..... No place like it .

Venice is also a must see if you've never been there!

Yes, Positano but, between Positano and Ravello, I say Ravello again.


Vincenzo

Thanks so much for the wonderful responses. I especially love mcnyc's description of her favorites. I think I'm now more inclined to go to Venice. To be honest, I'm asking because I'm deciding if it's worth the time, money, effort if I go to Italy from Paris or just check out other France areas as I only have 2 full days to go around another destination. So is a 2-day Venice tour worth the trip?

Vincenzo- YES! Bergamo Alta....that is one of my favorite places. I just didn't list it because it seems so unknown. I loved Varenna as well.

I liked to post about the top 3 cities because, if I could suggest for the best a not Italian friend of mine who would like to visit my Country, my goal to enable him to be delighted, should be to give him the tips about the small hidden treasures of Italy, far and quite different from the worldwide well known cities of Rome, Florence and Venice.
That's why I think Bergamo Alta is one of these, and Turin also and, let me say also Ferrara, Modena and Ravenna.


Vincenzo

Thanks Vincenzo....I was so delighted with Bergamo Alta. I will definitely return to Italy and visit your other recommendations!

btw, another wonderful discovery for me when I was in Milan last summer was the Pinoteca Ambrosiana....now one of my favorite museums. The physical structure itself is a marvel to walk through.

vincenzod - thank you those cities.. I will put them on my list to investigate for when dd and I are in Italy in October. We will be spending 3 weeks in a small town named Otranto - we have about 10 days after the school to explore.

Some of you might be wondering at my fixation with Naples. There are parts of Naples that are downright ugly, but there are also parts which can take your breath away with their beauty. The most gorgeous view on earth is to be seen while standing on Via Petrarc and looking at the Bay of Naples, with Vesuvio in the background. The panorama is unbelievable. The same view, but at sea level can be seen at Marechiare, equally lovely. There are others, but I have to mention the Neopolitans themselves. Their joy at just being alive spills over with enthusiasm and generosity. The personal warmth one can find in Naples can't be matched in any city in the world.

Just having returned from a brief 2 days in Naples, I had to chime in to concur with Waldo. Warm, ebullient, willing to go out of their way to help visitors..I, too, fell under the charm of the Neopolitans, and the people of the Amalfi area. Certainly makes me want to do much more exploring in southern Italy!

I think you need to break this up into Favorite Cities and Favorite Smaller Towns or Villages.

Vicenzo's suggestions are most interesting....very few people here report about visiting Urbino.

What about Ligurian towns?

A two day trip to Venice is definitely worth it. You will be able to see a lot, Venice is east to get around and I suggest staying in St. Mark's square!

Tough to narrow it down to only 3 but:

To visit once:
Positano - unbelievably beautiful
Panzano - unbelievably charming
Montalcino - unbelievably fantastic wine

To visit over and over and over:
Venice - unbelievably romantic
Rome - unbelievably historic
Florence - unbelievable art

OK - so that's 6 but who's counting????

We had a lovely time in each of these places.

Hi Biscottibyg,

I'm so jealous of you for going to Turin.

I love Turin because it's a real city. Its charms are very, very subtle, but I think it's a modern european city without losing its italian personality. You won't find italian clichés in Turin. You'll see a city unaware of tourism and free of tourist-oriented traps.

Of course, it's not breathtaking as Rome, Florence and Venice, but when I think of Turin, the word "charming" immediately comes to my mind.

I posted a mini trip report about it last year. I visited Turin for 5 nights and Lake Orta for 2 nights. It was a perfect week.

Have a wonderful trip!

As Neapolitan I am moved and I want to thank who spent so much pretty words about my born town.
I thank you very much and I wish you to appreciate Naples better and better, more and more.
Yes, the viev of the Bay of Naples is unique, and imagine if the night after you are in Sorrento and from Sorrento you look at the Bay of Naples: in other words you are changing the subject of your view and both are wonderful.
I wrote a story about an Italian boy who was born in Sorrento and living there who met a wonderful American woman.
They, one day, went to Naples by hydrofoil and, when it was the time to come back by the last hydrofoil of the day, because of their late, they lost it, so that . . . . they had to swim from Naples to Sorrento in the night under a full moon and . . . . . what they saw it is unbelievalble.
I wrote the story in Italian language, sorry.
Anyway, just few minutes ago I finished my dinner and I was with dear American friends and we talked about this post.
Do you know what ?
One of my friends gave me the . . . . solution.
Listen !
The best way to discover and appreciate Italy and its small hidden treasures is to begin to visit the towns whose names have no English translation !!!
And, believe me, now I agree; it's the truth !
Can you translate Urbino ?
Can you translate Ravello ?
And so on . . .

Vincenzo

The big: Rome

The small: Lucca

The beautiful: Florence.

{in no particular order}

Naples

Parma

Montepulciano (except when taking the 10:00 AM bus to Chiusi)