"Italy - The Best Of ......." by timtrina

All up, we spent a total of 6 weeks in Italy.

Venice was our first stop in Italy - we drove here from Mikulov - on the southern border of Czech Republic. It probably took us a good 9 hours to drive, but the scenery was beautiful (Czech Rep, Austria, Northern Italy), and let us say, that the food at the AGIP service stations in Europe, are SOOOO much better than here in Australia!

Please feel free to visit our Venice page, which will give you heaps of information on not only the dramas of finding your hotel, but lots of great photos and travellogues.

This was our favourite place in all of Italy. Please be sure to check out our Portovenere page - heaps of photos and info (and travellogues).

This is a magical little historic town on the north-western coastline of Italy - the gateway to the Cinque Terre.

As we had based ourselves in San Gimignano (Tuscany) for one week, we couldn't pass up the opportunity for the 1 hour drive to Pisa.

It's unfortunate that many people visit Pisa for the obvious reason - without exploring the city that surrounds it. It's a beautiful place which should be on your 'wish list' for more reasons than to visit the Leaning Tower. Don't forget to take the time to also go inside the Museum / Art Gallery and the Cathedral - WELL WORTH THE TIME!

As mentioned in our homepage, the 3rd morning in San Gimignano, we awoke to find a blanket of snow! This photo was taken from the park at the top of the hill in San Gimignano. This is something we NEVER thought we'd experience!

This is our favourite place in Florence - the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens. Take the time to get away from the centre of Florence - most people rush to the Ponte Vecchio, Uffizi and the Duomo, but there are so many other treasures to be found. We stayed in a beautiful apartment on the Arno River, so we were very close to everything. Please take the time to visit the Pitti Palace - the works of art and sculptures are just beautiful and SO worth the time.

This would have to be our favourite place in Rome. Serene and relaxing music playing while we spent hours walking through the Palatine grounds and the Roman Forum. The history of this place is undeniably captivating. To be able to sit yourself down on a piece of stone a couple of thousand years old, and eat your Paninis while sipping delicious Italian coffee is an experience no-one should ever miss.

We spent 10 days in Campania - and based ourselves in an apartment on the cliff at Vietri Sul Mare. This photo is taken from our balcony at dusk - it was just so magical! Vietri Sul Mare is known for it's rich and colourful ceramics, and we definately bought many as souveniors for family members and friends. It's about 1 hour by car to the town of Amalfi, and probably about another 20 minutes to Positano. It's not that it's a long distance - but for those of you who have travelled this winding road by car, you'll know why it takes soooo long!

No trip to Campania would be complete without at least a day trip to the Island of Capri.

We took the hydrofoil over, and it was a very quick trip! We arrived at the Marina Grande and spent the day walking through the old streets and then down to the Marina Piccolo - beware though - it certainly itsn't a trip for the faint hearted! The winding walkways take quite alot out of you on the way back up to the top again!