Exploring Italy Family Style

• Italy has a free wine fountain, found in Caldari di Ortona.
• Italy is the fifth most visited country in the world.
• All three of Europe’s active volcanoes are in Italy.
• Italians invented pizza in Naples.
• Italy has the most UNESCO World Heritage sites in the world.
• Italians have eaten pasta since the 4th century B.C.
• There are over 1,500 lakes in Italy.
• Italy has significantly more acres dedicated to vineyards than olive groves, with roughly 1.73 million acres under vineyard cultivation compared to around 1.14 million hectares (approximately 2.8 million acres) of olive groves.
• The largest crop in Italy is considered to be rice, with the country producing a significant portion of the EU's rice supply, mainly grown on the Po plain.

• Italians consume 14 billion espressos each year.
• One-fifth of Italy is covered in hills and mountains.
• Italy is the world's largest wine producer.
• Italy has a low birth rate and the oldest population in Europe.
• Tourists throw €3,000 into the Trevi fountain every day.
• Rome is over 2,000 years old – but Italy is one of Europe’s youngest countries.
• The Italians have over 2,500 types of cheese.

Due to the very diverse locations we had decided upon for this trip, our planning had to take into account a number of factors; accommodations, transportation & which type, to rent a car or not, what to do & see in each location, etc. The research we performed took place over several months, as we would develop tentative plans and then discuss them. Once we had decided that a rental car could be isolated to "only during our stay in Florence", our focus then shifted to determining train station locations and train schedules.

I am not going to describe how we flew to Rome, suffice it to say that we had a pleasant flight and got there jet-lagged. Yes, it is difficult to sleep in an airplane seat and yes, we all arrived feeling like we had to find coffee immediately!

Note that we flew into Leonardo da Vinci International Airport, which is 32 kilometers from our apartment rental near the Vatican. Using a taxi would have been very expensive, so we arranged to use a "hired car" (remember this is pre-Uber). As you can see in these two images, the airport was very crowded and it was a good decision to use a hired car!

Exploring Rome Italy

From ancient ruins to Renaissance treasures, Rome is a city that overwhelms in the best way. We stayed just steps from the Vatican, giving us a perfect home base to explore everything from St. Peter’s Basilica to hidden trattorias tucked into cobbled side streets. Whether you're chasing history or just a great espresso, Rome delivers adventure at every turn.

Want to learn more about what we explored in Rome? Check out our Rome page here.

Florence, Italy

The next stop (and the first stop after Rome) on our trek through Italy was Florence a beautiful city; full of amazing architecture, historical sites and incredible art collections residing in various museums.

Yes, Florence is only 270 kilometers north from Rome on the Italian E35 Autostrada, but the train service between the two cities is frequent & fast and our game plan called for us to rent a car only while in Florence. There are over 60 trains per day between Rome & Florence, the fastest requires a 1.5 hour ride - and the scenery between the two cities is the beautiful Tuscan countryside.

Check out our Florence page here.

Siena, Italy

We left Florence early in the morning, knowing that the narrow streets of Siena would soon be packed with visitors jostling for parking. Our goal? To experience the legendary Palio di Siena, a bareback horse race unlike any other, held twice a year in the dramatic shell-shaped Piazza del Campo. The city buzzed with anticipation — flags fluttering, crowds cheering, and centuries-old rivalries coming to life. Even beyond race day, Siena’s medieval charm makes it an unforgettable stop.

Check out our Siena page here.

San Gimignano, Italy

We had decided to drive to the Livorno area of the west coast of Italy, and came across San Gimignano as we drove across the Italian SP1 highway. This is a beautiful route, most of this area is involved in various types of agriculture, and the area is well known for it's Vernaccia wine.

San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. Known as the Town of Fine Towers, San Gimignano is famous for its medieval architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of its tower houses, which, with its hilltop setting and encircling walls, form "an unforgettable skyline". Within the walls, the well-preserved buildings include notable examples of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture, with outstanding examples of secular buildings as well as churches.

Check out our San Gimignano page here.

Livorno is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It has traditionally been known in English as Leghorn.

The construction of the Roman road "Via Aurelia" in 241BC, coincided with the occupation of the region by the Romans, who left traces of their presence in the toponyms and ruins of towers. The natural cove called Liburna, later transformed into Livorna, before becoming Livorno certainly in eighteenth century.

We had decided to visit Livorno (after our visit to Siena & San Gimignano) partially because I had visited it repeatedly while in the Navy. The other reason was because it has a beautiful beach and we were in the mood for some relaxation after our drive from Siena.

The route we selected was SR68 to the Italian Coast from San Gimignano, turned north on the Italy SS1 and drove to the Livorno area. This was a nice drive along the Italian coastline, and took us through some interesting villages as we proceeded north.

 The above Fortezza Vecchia image is the property of Imehling via Wikimedia Commons using the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

We decided that since it was such a nice day, that a beach outing would be a really good idea. However, we soon found out that there is no such thing as a "free" beach chair, everything has to be rented from whomever "owns" that section of the beach. This beach is near Calambrone, 9.6 kilometers north of Livorno.

Even though the beach was initially sparsely populated when we arrived (image to the left), by mid-afternoon it had become packed (image to the right). However, since it was such a nice day and we had already paid for our beach chairs, we hung out longer. The Mediterranean water temperature was comfortable and all of us enjoyed our time here before driving back to Florence.

Click here to see a Google Images set of pics from the Calambrone beach & vicinity.

Pisa, Italy

Driving to Pisa was straightforward, however the final miles were on city streets and conditions were very crowded. Parking was a major challenge, as the tourists had already taken up every available parking place for blocks surrounding the Piazza del Duomo. You will need a good source of information about where to go and you should have your mobile mapping device set - or you might wind up driving aimlessly around Pisa!

Want to learn more about Pisa? Check out our Pisa page here.

Ferrari Factory Maranello, Italy

Since we were already in Florence, a drive north across the Appennine Mountains to Maranello, Italy to visit the Ferrari Factory seemed like a fantastic idea. We decided to drive the A1/E35 route which resulted in a 140 kilometer trek (one way, 173.984 miles round trip).

The drive through the mountains was spectacular, but then the navigation to get from the Autostrada to Maranello was a challenge (think country roads & no signs), but well worth it.

Want to learn more about Maranello? Check out our Maranello page here.

Venice, Italy

After our stop in Florence was completed, our next stop is Venice. We had decided during our trip research that it would be logical to turn in the rental car in Florence, and take the train to Venice. This is because cars are not allowed in Venice, and the only place to park is on the mainland and no parking anywhere else. Since it was clear that all of our exploration there would be either by walking or by boat (water taxi, gondola, etc) the rental car was now unnecessary.

This image is the property of Jakub Hałun via Wikimedia Commons licensed via Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International.

Want to learn more about Venice? Check out our Venice page here.

And so this trip comes to a conclusion - we caught the train back to Rome, so we could get onto our return flight to Virginia. This was an excellent way to have seen quite a bit of Italy, and even though we did not see everything, we plan to return on some future trip and see what we missed.