/italy/

>>1247180
want to know too but i'm going bologna, genoa and possibly milan or turin.

>>1247180
it's always worth to visit Italy

That said July is hot as hell, and there will be other tourist everywhere, so be ready for that

>>1247180
Florence is fucking awesome, I may have liked it more than Rome but it's hard to say cause there is a LOT of shit to see in Rome.

Venice is a day trip or one night max unless you are there with a girlfriend/wife or something.

I don't remember what time of year I was there, but dress for warm weather. You can look up weather averages for different times of year for anywhere in the world.

I just came back from a week and a half in Rome, with an overnight trip to Florence. It was fun but most of the things to do there are "see monuments/museums" and "eat food" with a little shopping thrown in so it gets a little dull. I met a local girl on tinder that I hung out with a couple times, but it didn't go much of anywhere.

If you're single and/or traveling alone, I found it really hard to meet people as it's a) very uncommon for natives to speak fluent English, usually just enough to get by, b) Italians don't really like to use online messaging services or things like badoo/tinder, and c) if there are clubs or the like, I couldn't find them. The girl I was hanging out with mentioned them on a few occasions, seemed very much into partying, but I don't know if the scene is accessible to people who don't speak Italian. It might be easier if you stay in a hostel, I was in an airbnb.

Florence was really nice, very pretty and from what I understand the wine in Tuscany is supposed to be really good, but I didn't have a chance to go on a wine tour or really explore much. I think the shopping is much better in Florence and it's a bit of a smaller city, and I think it somehow feels more lively than Rome.

Overall I'd recommend it. Locals are very friendly, almost everyone speaks English or at least will make an effort to communicate with you, never really came across anyone that was rude and I never really felt unsafe anywhere (do beware of pickpockets, but just keep things in your hip pockets and keep your hands stuffed in them in crowded areas).

You certainly don't need to know Italian, but knowing some basic phrases and grammar rules will make your life a lot easier if you visit anything outside of the city center (I stayed in southern Rome, outside the ring road). If you do duolingo or something for like a couple weeks before you leave you'll be fine.

I'm gonna spend 2 months in salerno starting in mid june, I'm going to travel further but this will be my home base. I'm just wondering whar I should expect in terms of necessities, clothing, etc.

I'll never get tired of saying this: Italy is beautiful everywhere.

Every region has lots of things to offer. History and art are everywhere, even concealed in the most little spot. One lifetime is not enough see and experience everything.

I know I could be a little biased because I am myself Italian, but I've also traveled a lot around the world (3 continents) and I know what I'm talking about. Of course there are flaws as well: for example, as the other anon has rightly mentioned, "most of the things to do here are seeing monuments/museums and eating food". Many parts of Italy are not exactly rich in activities and opportunities. Italy is an open-air museum: its culture is not a culture of "doing", but a culture of "seeing". Admire, breathe, taste. It's a slow country, where you just walk around, fantasize, get lost, while you collect sensations and impressions you won't forget. For those who don't understand this, Italy may look boring. That's why young native people mostly feel unsatisfied with life here (and eventually flee abroad). But when you grow up, you just take the road and start observing without touching, you enjoy the simple things of life and Italy reveals itself like a flower. It's very common for adult people here to go hiking, trekking, biking, to visit a castle, an abbey or a small town in one day, to go fishing or gather mushrooms.

Anyway, to get to the point, of course there are other cities worth seeing besides Rome, Florence, Venice and Naples. My suggestions are:

- Milan
- Turin
- Bologna
- Ferrara
- Verona
- Bergamo
- Mantova
- Padova
- Siena
- Arezzo
- Lucca
- Urbino
- Assisi
- Orvieto
- Lecce

Not to mention the charming and countless medieval villages spread all over the "boot". If you're really interested in art, architecture and history, each one of these cities can take you several days of stay. If not, consider doing only the major ones.

P.S.: I've been living in Bologna for 30 years now and I still haven't seen everything.

I have been in Italy for a week now; have so far stayed or seen San Gimignano, Florence, Lucca, Orvieto, Civita di Bagnoregio and now Rome. I am loving everything here from the food to lifestyle to people to history to art.. everything has been going right so far even with rainy and stormy days. There is so much personality here you can forgive it for anything

>>1247180
Are Italian stereotypes true? Like, really?

>>1247586
I'm italian, originally from Sardinia. Lived in Rome 3 years and Milan 3 years. ama

>>1247586
We make a lot of hand gestures and eat a lot of pizza yes

>>1247427
>Necessities
In what sense? Your swimming shorts, I suppose.

>Clothing
Summer clothes. Nothing else. It gets *hot* down there.

The only real advice I can give you is learn some Italian. Even among younger southern Italians, good English is not that common. Among the older ones, practically inexistent.

>>1247502
>I've been living in Bologna for 30 years now
Come troverei un lavoro a Bologna? È la città italiana dove mi piacerebbe vivere di più, o almeno provarci per un anno.

>>1247180
I went to these places in the winter this year. Had a fun time even if the weather wasn't ideal.
Rome was my favorite.
Food was great
Way too many "refugees". I tried my best to ignore them but they're everywhere.
Learn the basic "hello"/"thank you" language.
One full day in Venice is enough

>>1247662
Bologna ha moltissime cose, c'è un quartiere industriale smisurato e dal lato opposto trovi i colli. Questo significa che puoi fare l'operaio o diventare un viticoltore tra le villette dei ricchi. La seconda è più improbabile. Se invece miri al centro storico credo ci siano buone opportunità, per lo meno rispetto ad altre città italiane. Qui c'è molto movimento, la gente passa e va, gli immigrati (non so come) riescono a impossessarsi delle botteghe e magari dopo un po' chiudono e cedono l'affitto a un italiano. In generale posso dirti che Bologna assomiglia a un grande campus universitario, un po' come Oxford o Cambridge, soltanto più anarchico. Di conseguenza molta gente trova lavoro nei servizi per gli studenti, come i minimarket e le copisterie (queste fanno un sacco di attività illegale, praticamente tutto in nero, ma le autorità chiudono un occhio). Alcuni danno ripetizioni, altri fanno i PR per le discoteche o i buttadentro per i locali. Infine non dimenticarti del cibo: avendo una tradizione culinaria importantissima, Bologna è piena zeppa di ristoranti, per cui anche il cameriere o il barista è una possibilità da tenere in considerazione.

>>1247356
>>1247720
>One day in Venice is enough
Well I guess if you're happy with just a walk looking at buildings from the outside, you're right. I won't fight to contradict you btw, 'cause Venice has way too many tourists these days. Just know there are 42 museums and 164 churches, not to mention the tours to the nearby islands like Murano, Burano, Chioggia and the cemetery of San Michele. And the surrounding laguna IS part of the beauty. If you're interested in such things you need at least one week.

>>1247180
Rome is overrated tourist trashy shithole with a tiny bit of history

It's nothing compared to the glorious and staggeringly superior Swiss cities

>>1247586
All jokes and shit aside, yes, not in a bad way but most of them are true
>loud
>hand gestures
>LOUD

Italians are very energized people, I was in Naples with a group of American friends going around Europe, and Italy was the only place where we were the quiet ones

Also not as many hot Italian women as you'd expect

I'm going to Lyon, France in the summer and I was thinking about checking out the Cinque Terre. Is it worth it? I dislike that I would be going during a major tourist time

>>1247742
>staggeringly superior Swiss cities
The best part of Switzerland is the nature. Bern is really the only city that stands out to me.

>>1247763
Basel is prolly the best architecture wise, Lausanne fun wise, Geneva and Zurich are awesome if you are rich, and Lugano is a nice Italian-like city

>>1247763
I lived in Bern and there isn't much to do party wise but it's a beautiful and fun city

Plus being ~ 30 minutes from the greatest ski spots in the world helps

>>1247770
>Lugano is a nice Italian-like city
The problem with that is there are far better Italian-like cities in Italy.

How do I avoid getting pickpocketed in Rome?

>>124778

Line your pockets with tiny crabs.

>>1247778
Yeah but the difference is Switzerland is actually a desirable and great place to live
Italy is a place to live

>>1247803
You Swiss people always bring up that argument for just three reasons:
1) you totally hate immigrants
2) you know Italy has shitty politicians
3) you have a better bureaucratic/administrative system and you feel superior for this.
Nice... I mean, you're right about everything, but...
THAT'S NOT A REASON TO CONSTANTLY SHIT ON ITALY AND ITALIANS, SO FUCK OFF.
Italy is a way more difficult country to govern than Switzerland, everything here is damn complicated. It's not our fault if the political class is shit, we're in the same situation as many other European countries.
Stop being so fucking tofee-nosed.

>>1247920
Lol Italy does have a more cultured charm to it though, and more interesting people, Swiss people get calmer and more relaxed as time goes by and Italians don't

plus Swiss food is okay, nothIng really special, and as weird as it is to say, I don't like chocolate that much so for good food I usually travel abroad

>>1247920
Remember the line in "The Third Man". Italy had hundreds of years of strife and produced Galileo,Michelangelo and Da Vinci. Switzerland had hundreds of years of peace and contentment and they made the cuckoo clock.

>>1247783
Keep things in your front pockets, in crowded areas try and keep your thumbs in your pockets as well. I went when it wasn't super hot yet so I could get away with wearing a jacket with inside pockets; I kept only my phone and some cash in my pants and anything else I would stash inside my jacket. I didn't have any problems just doing that.
If it's too hot to wear a jacket, it's a harder problem.

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>>1247748
They get very busy during summer. Last time I went was April (last year), and even then it was busy. I don't want to imagine what it would be like in August.

>>1247920
> 1) you totally hate immigrants
who doesn't?
italy gets all the fresh-off-the boat dindus, so there's that.

>>1247725
Hmmm, ho fatto il barista mentre ero studente, ma finora ho sempre lavorato in ufficio. Conosco le lingue e mi hanno detto che il mio italiano è molto buono (belga, di origini altoatesine), quindi non dovrebbe essere impossibile. Grazie per il post!
Continua la ricerca.

>>1248083
Pensavo fossi italiano! Secondo me non è impossibile, cerca più che puoi su internet. Auguri!

I'm going to art school in Florence in Fall.

Are the arts still well and alive in Italy in any shape or form? I know the air there is supposed to practically embody the european spirit or from what i imagine reading goethe.

>>1248106
I think I had a conversation with you on /lit/ but I'm not sure you're the same person

>>1248106
In university environment, definitely. I don't know specifically about Florence but in Bologna there's lot of stuff going on.
In business environment: not so much.

Anyway the immigrant/criminality problem in cities is overrhyped by the media, just keep your wallet in the front pocket and don't hang around by night in shady suburbs.
Yeah there are more beggars recently, but you can just ignore them or say "no" firmly if they try to follow you, which almost never happen.

>>1248241
Dubs confirmed

>>1248248
He didn't get dubs you dipshit

>>1248284
If you look closer he did

>>1248080
Different anon here. My girlfriend and I are doing two weeks in Italy in August. Right now it's Rome (yeah, I know it's tourist Mecca) and then either Cinque Terre or Amalfi coast. Have you done time in Amalfi? Is it better during tourist season?

>>1248364
Cinque Terre and the Amalfi coast are quite similar, they fill up with tourists during the summer period. There's not much you can do to avoid this, just be respectful towards nature and architecture and have fun.

>>1247502

Senta, vado in italia fra due mesi per studiare e poi continuo per il mio primo vero viaggio - con un zaino dal nord al sud.
Forse potersi aiutarmi con il mio itinerario?

(and with that, my italian? :) could really use a review of my route from a local. maybe via email if you can.)

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>>1248364
>Have you done time in Amalfi
That's an oddly intimate question to ask, don't you think?

Both get insanely busy during July/August. Last time I've been to the 5 Terre was April last year and it was busy even then.

>>1249056
Non sono italiano ma ci sono per tanto tempo e ho percorso quasi tutta la penisola. Qual è l'itinerario?

>"Senta" è molto formale. 4chan non è il mezzo più formale che ci sia sull'internet.
>Per parole maschili che iniziano con z e poi hanno vocali si usa 'lo', quindi: lo zaino, uno zaino.
>Potersi. Hai sbagliato lo spelling (o se vuoi fare il purista, la compitazione).
Per il resto il tuo italiano non è per niente male!

>>1249278
>ci sono per tanto tempo
... ovviamente ci sono *stato* per tanto tempo.

Is Naples really THAT terrible of a place? I only hear bad comments regarding it on the Internet.

>>1249321
It's beautiful but different from the rest of Italy...Feels more like a Mediterranean Africa capital. Loud, brimming with life, sketchy in places. Not as awful as you read on the internet but not for everyone

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>>1249321
Naples is wonderful, but it's for strong people.

>>1249056
Un viaggio con lo zaino in spalla da nord a sud è il modo migliore per conoscere l'Italia. Cosa ti interessa vedere? Città grandi o piccole? Arte o natura? Quali regioni in particolare?

Going to Bari with friends in a bit more than three weeks. What are the surrounding region's three must-visit towns, and what should we do in the area, besides hitting the beach, visiting churches and eating a lot of fish?

>>1249278
>>1249714

Grazie per l'aiuto, ragazzi! (con l'itinerario pure la lingua. scusatemi se sono troppo formale o basso. lo so...)
In generale: ho circa 4 mesi per viaggiare in italia- cerco di conoscere la cultura. Mi interessante particolarmente l'arte - i musei e le chiese. ma spesso propio "walking around" o andare in biccicleta mi basta. Vorrei mescolare citta grandi e picole, mi ho scrito che villaggi o paesi ci sono vicino al ogni citta che visitero.
"Night life" non mi interresa per niente.

Il mio itinerario per adesso, piu o meno.

-Milano
-Verona/Padova/Mantova/laghi (studiero vicino al brescia per circa un meso, allora le visitero intanto sono la.)
-Bergamo/lecco
-Torino
-Bolanzo e dolmiti

(spero che saro al nord dal fino del'agosto... non voglio iniziare scendere quando e cosi caldo e populato)..

-Venezia
-Ferrara
-Ravenna
-Bologna
-Lucca
-Firenze
-Arezzo e siena
-Assisi
-Perugia
-Roma e Napoli

Forse anche le cinque terre ma non so sicuramente quando... Viaggio al fino di lullgio per milano e per un corso, ma non inizio veramente al fino di agosto. Poi avro dal settembre al fine di novembre per farlo.

/// switchin' to inglese to get my point across without sounding too much like a tool.it's piuttosto scattered for now, as you can see... but i'll probably start figuring it out once i start travelling. anyway i know these are the places that i'm building my trip around. don't even know why bout most of them, but when reading about them i got really charmed. I know that for the duration of august i'd really like to stay up north- mostly in bergamo and turin, and sidetrip to see the sacri monti. then when it hits september i think i'll start going south. have any recs for me? as dull as it sounds, i really want to get a sense of true and local italy.seeing rome and studying and reading in italian really got me this yearning and i can't wait to try it out.

>>1250045
Tutto quello che posso suggerirti è di visitare un certo numero di borghi. Ti dico i primi che mi vengono in mente facendo riferimento al tuo itinerario:

Borghetto sul Mincio: tre case affacciate su un fiume, ma è una delle cose più belle del mondo. Si trova vicino al lago di Garda, dove potresti andare a vedere anche Sirmione (ha un castello sull'acqua) e il Vittoriale, ovvero la villa del poeta Gabriele D'Annunzio.

Orta San Giulio: è sul lago d'Orta, ci puoi arrivare da Torino. Alla sera ci sono le luci dell'isola che si riflettono sul lago, è incantevole.

Bobbio e Vigoleno: sono vicini ma molto diversi tra loro. Il primo è un borgo di pianura con un ponte romano lunghissimo (il Ponte del Diavolo), mentre il secondo è praticamente un feudo medievale con il castello arroccato sulle colline. Se da lì scendi verso Bologna, fermati a Castell'Arquato.

San Gimignano: questo è famoso, l'avrai sicuramente già sentito.
Loro Ciuffenna: non troverai neanche un turista, ecco perché ci devi andare.
Monteriggioni: qui non c'è niente da fare, ma la forma del paese è unica al mondo.
Pitigliano: altro posto incredibile, soprattutto per come è stato costruito su quella rupe. Se ti piace dai un'occhiata anche a Vitorchiano (Lazio) e a Sant'Agata de' Goti (Campania) - sono molto simili.

Orvieto: non è esattamente un borgo, ma te lo consiglio perché la cattedrale è mozzafiato. Inoltre puoi vedere il pozzo di San Patrizio e la città sotterranea.

Civita di Bagnoregio: è anche detta "la città che muore", perché la roccia su cui è costruita si sta pian piano sbriciolando. Vacci perché un giorno non ci sarà più.
Viterbo e Tuscania: la prima era una residenza papale, la seconda è una specie di vallata piena di necropoli etrusche, rovine e chiese romaniche.

Furore: quando sei a Napoli - dopo aver visto Pompei, Ercolano, Sorrento, Capri, tutta la Costiera amalfitana e magari anche la reggia di Caserta - vai a fare il bagno qui.

http://borghipiubelliditalia.it/

>>1249760
Alberobello, Polignano a Mare, Monopoli, Ostuni

or

Altamura, Gravina in Puglia, Matera

>>1250360
thanks man, didn't know about Ostuni and Gravina

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>>1250375
You're welcome bro. Another one that pops to my mind is Locorotondo. Alternatively you can just visit Castel del Monte if you have enough time.

>>1247502
Want to hang out in July if youre still in Bologna? I will be coming to Italy for two weeks and am really excited to see historical sights. Fishing by a lazy river sounds excellent to me as well.

Is there a good place in Northern Italy to see Roman ruins?

>>1250500
Aosta

>>1250501
Thanks for that.

Do you know if there's anything in the Northeast?

>>1250502
Aquileia is amazing

>>1250502
There is also a Roman theatre in Trieste.

>>1250500
Verona

>>1250491
Hey why not! I'll be there only the last week of July though

>>1247180
>Rome, Florence, and Venice
Crowded as fuck. Hordes of tourists moving around like cattle, especially in Venice.
>The rest of Italy
Chiuso per ferie.

Last night of 16 days in Italy. Was always a struggle to find actually happening bars besides fucking Irish pubs of all places.

>>1251073
I'm sorry you got some bad weather. Where have you been?

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>>1247180
I just got to Tuscany last night. Beautiful country side and plenty of cheep whine and good cheese. was wondering what are some good ways to find weed and other drugs while i'm here I don't know a lick of Italian.

Best sites to see in Sicilia?

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>>1252012
The eastern edge of the island is the best for ancient sites, if you mean those. Segesta and Selinunte are well preserved greek temples, Mothia is an entire phoenician city, Marsala has some roman ruins and a cool museum, Mazara isn't great but has the most fucking amazing bronze statue I have ever seen. Also the scenery are great. In the west I know that Taormina and Siracusa are nice, also Piazza Armerina in the central part has some amazingly well preserved mosaics from a roman villa. Keep in mind that Sicily isn't just ancient stuff, there's plenty of medieval and baroque.

>>1252021
I swiched east and west, brb off to kick my retarded ass

I know Venice is for tourists, but I'll be living there for a month. What are some cool things to do that aren't just seeing churches and museums? Hopefully stuff that's not frequented by the masses.

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>>1252270
>I'll be living there for a month
How lucky you are! Stuff that's not frequented by the mass are the surroundings, no doubt. The Venice lagoon is just the continuation of a far bigger thing, the territory of Po Delta. If you can rent a bike just go and eat some fish in a rough cabin by the salt ponds. Two nice towns over there, similar to Venice but without a living soul, are Chioggia and Comacchio.

>>1248106
Hey me too! Might see you there m8. Which school are you going to?

>>1248152
It may have been me, I recall making a thread a month or so ago.

I am still curious about the ins and outs of Florence, tips for long term newbie visitors...