Future Bucket List Adventures - Italy
- Debbie Goodman
- Sep 2, 2023
- 9 min read
Updated: Aug 25
Italy
I've been lucky enough to visit Italy on three occasions in my lifetime. I have visited Sorrento twice, once with family in 1996, and again for a good friends wedding in 2014. I have also visited Rome in 1996, and the beautiful island of Sardinia in 2016, both with family. I have very few photos of our trip to Rome, therefore, I would like to have another trip to Rome in the future. I would also like to visit Venice, Portofino, Cinque Terre, Tuscany, Lake Garda, Lake Como, the Dolomites, Puglia and Sicily.
Rome
Rome is without doubt one the most beautiful cities in the world. With an abundance of history, museums and attractions, Rome is a perfect travel destination. Some of the most famous attractions in Rome include the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain and the Altare della Patria.
Past Holiday to Rome
We visited Rome as a family in 1996. We took a visit to most of the well known attractions such as the Colosseum, St. Peters's Basilica, the Roman Forum and the Altare della Patria.
The Colosseum
Roman Forum
Altare della Patria
St. Peter's Basilica
The Roman Empire
Italy was the birthplace and centre of the ancient Roman civilisation. Rome was founded as a kingdom in 753 BC and became a republic in 509 BC. The Roman Republic then unified Italy forming a confederation of the Italic peoples and rose to dominate Western Europe, Northern Africa, and the Near East. Caesar Augustus also known as Octavian, was the founder of the Roman Empire; he reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. Learning about the Romans was always a subject that fascinated me at school.
The Colosseum
The Colosseum is the symbol of Rome and is the largest amphitheatre built during the Roman Empire. Inaugurated in 80 AD, it offered gladiator fights, executions and animal hunts for entertainment. Russell Crowe cemented his place as a Hollywood leading man with his portrayal of general Maximus Decimus Meridius in the epic film 'Gladiator' by Ridley Scott. The film is loosely based on historic events and won praise for bringing Ancient Rome to life on screen.
Trevi Fountain
The most famous fountain in Rome and perhaps even the world must be the ‘Fontana di Trevi’, or Trevi Fountain. This baroque fountain, located on the Piazza di Trevi, was built in the 18th century. The landmark and monument displays the god of the sea, Neptune on his chariot.
Castel Sant’Angelo
Originally, the 2nd-century Castel Sant’Angelo, or Castle of the Holy Angel, was a mausoleum for emperor Hadrian. After archangel Michael appeared here in 590 and ended a plague, pope Pius II had a large bronze statue of the angels placed on top of the castle.
Spanish Steps
The Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy, climb a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church, at the top. The steps steps represent figuratively and metaphorically the close relationship between the Sacred and the Eternal city, shown through the elevation and vastness of the monument. The longest and widest steps in Europe are also an important landmark in Rome as they host events and are home to Italian traditions.
The Pantheon
The Pantheon is a former Roman temple and, since 609 AD, a Catholic church in Rome, Italy. It was built on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus, then after that burnt down, the present building was ordered by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated c. 126 AD.
The Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel, dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven, is the main chapel of the Apostolic Palace in Varican City, and is the most famous chapel in the world. Michelangelo's astonishing frescoes in the Sistine Chapel are a masterpiece of Renaissance art.
St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica is a Rennaisance style church in Vatican City. The basilica was built according to tradition above the burial site of St. Peter, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus and the first Bishop of Rome. St. Peter's Basilica is considered one of the Catholic Church's holiest sites and foremost pilgrimage destinations
Aroma Restaurant
Aroma Restaurant is a Michelin restaurant located at the luxurious Palazzo Manfredi, with a really nice and intimate roof terrace with close-up views of Colosseum and Rome's historic sites.
Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome Hotel
The Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome Hotel is a luxury hotel in Rome featuring 19th-century marble architecture. A rare luxury in Rome, Anantara Palazzo Naiadi boasts a tranquil rooftop pool overlooking the piazza.
Venice
Venice, the capital of northern Italy’s Veneto region, is built on more than 100 small islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. It has no roads, just canals – including the Grand Canal thoroughfare – lined with Renaissance and Gothic palaces.
The Carnival of Venice
The Carnival of Venice is an annual festival held in Venice, Italy. The carnival ends on Shrove Tuesday, which is the day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. The festival is world-famous for its elaborate costumes and masks. I would love to visit Venice during the Carnival.
Aman Venice
The Aman Venice is a magnificent luxury hotel in a lovingly restored palazzo on the Grand Canal with a charming roof top terrace and verdant gardens.
Portofino
Portofino is a fishing village on the Italian Riviera coastline, southeast of Genoa city. Pastel-colored houses, high-end boutiques and seafood restaurants fringe its Piazzetta, a small cobbled square overlooking the harbor, which is lined with super-yachts. A path leads from the Piazzetta to Castello Brown, a 16th-century fortress and museum with art exhibitions and panoramic views of the town and the Ligurian Sea. Portofino is to Italy as to St Tropez is to France: the Italian Riviera has grown out of a traditional fishing village to become one of the most stylish towns in the country.
Splendido Mare, A Belmond Hotel, Portofino
Splendido Mare, A Belmond Hotel, Portofino sits at the heart of the charming old fishing port of Portofino.
Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre is a string of centuries-old seaside villages on the rugged Italian Riviera coastline. In each of the 5 towns, colorful houses and vineyards cling to steep terraces, harbors are filled with fishing boats and trattorias turn out seafood specialties along with the Liguria region’s famous sauce, pesto. The Sentiero Azzurro cliffside hiking trail links the villages and offers sweeping sea vistas.
Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore, Italy, is usually referred to as part of a collective: the famous fishing villages known as the Cinque Terre, or “five lands”.
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in central Italy. Its capital, Florence, is home to some of the world’s most recognizable Renaissance art and architecture, including Michelangelo’s "David" statue, Botticelli’s works in the Uffizi Gallery and the Duomo basilica. Its diverse natural landscape encompasses the rugged Apennine Mountains, the island of Elba’s beaches on the Tyrrhenian Sea and Chianti’s olive groves and vineyards.
Borgo Santo Pietro
Situated in the heart of Tuscany, Relais Borgo Santo Pietro was once a healing stopover for medieval pilgrims. Today it continues to provide a sanctuary for modern souls, merging luxury hotel offerings and spa concept with a ‘farm-to-plate’ philosophy on a 300-acre estate. The estate encompasses Michelin-starred restaurant, a holistic spa, organic skincare range Seed to Skin and an extensive working farm.
Saturnia Hot Springs
The Saturnia Hot Springs, known in Italian as Terme di Saturnia or Cascate del Mulino, is one of the amazing wonders of the Tuscan countryside.
Lake Garda
Lake Garda, in northern Italy, is known for its crystal clear water. At the south end, the town of Sirmione is dominated by the Rocca Scaligera, a fortress with harbor views. The nearby Grotte di Catullo archaeological site includes a Roman villa. On the lake's western shore, in Gardone Riviera, is Il Vittoriale degli Italiani, former home of poet d’Annunzio. The Dolomites frame Riva del Garda, a resort in the north.
Lefay Resort & SPA Lago di Garda
Lefay Lago di Garda Resort & Spa is a luxury hotel situated on the picturesque Lake Garda, featuring an award-winning spa and wellness facility.
Lake Como
Lake Como, in Northern Italy’s Lombardy region, is an upscale resort area known for its dramatic scenery, set against the foothills of the Alps. The lake is shaped like an upside-down Y, with three slender branches that meet at the resort town of Bellagio. At the bottom of the southwest branch lies the city of Como, home to Renaissance architecture and a funicular that travels up to the mountain town of Brunate.
Castello di Vezio
Castello di Vezio is a castle located nearby Varenna and Perledo, northern Italy. Characterized in the main tower by square merlons, similar to Cly Castle in Aosta Valley, it commands the Lake Como. It was once connected by walls to the village of Varenna below. The Castelle di Vezio is famous for its ghost sculptures.
Grand Hotel Tremezzo
Grand Hotel Tremezzo is a stunning historic palace set in five acres of tropical gardens that enjoys magnificent lake views from its superb location on Lake Como.
The Dolomites
The Dolomites, also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Valley in the east.
Lefay Resort & SPA Dolomiti
Lefay Resort & SPA Dolomiti is set in the splendid scenery of the Dolomites, declared by UNESCO a “World Heritage Site”.
Puglia
Puglia, a southern region forming the heel of Italy’s “boot,” is known for its whitewashed hill towns, centuries-old farmland and hundreds of kilometers of Mediterranean coastline. Capital Bari is a vibrant port and university town, while Lecce is known as “Florence of the South” for its baroque architecture. Alberobello and the Itria Valley are home to “trulli,” stone huts with distinctive conical roofs.
Monopoli
Monopoli is a town on the Adriatic Sea, in southern Italy. It’s known for the Baroque Monopoli Cathedral, featuring a tall bell tower. In its crypt is an archaeological museum with sculptures and ancient tombs. On a promontory to the north, the 16th-century Castle of Carlo V has a huge stone portal. Nearby is the frescoed Palmieri Palace, built by a wealthy local family in the late 1700s.
Alberobello
Alberobello is a town in Italy’s Apulia region. It’s known for its trulli, whitewashed stone huts with conical roofs. The hilltop Rione Monti district has hundreds of them. The 18th-century Trullo Sovrano is a 2-level trulli. Furniture and tools at the Museo del Territorio Casa Pezzolla re-create life in the trulli as it was centuries ago. Southwest of town is the Casa Rossa, a WWII internment camp.
Polignano a Mare
Polignano a Mare is a town on Italy’s southern Adriatic coast. It’s known for beaches like the white-pebble Lama Monachile, also known as Cala Porto, which is bordered by a Roman bridge. The Ponte dei Lapilli is a cove nestled at the bottom of a cliff. The Museum of Contemporary Art Pino Pascali displays photography and paintings. Overlooking the sea, San Vito Abbey has a Romanesque church and a 16th-century tower.
Grotta Palazzese
Grotta Palazzese is an exclusive restaurant in Polignano a Mare, in Puglia. It is located in a natural cave and it is one of the most exclusive restaurants in Puglia.
Vieste
Vieste is a coastal town in Gargano National Park, in southeast Italy. It’s known for its beaches, like Scialara, home to the imposing Pizzomunno limestone monolith, and the broad Spiaggia di San Lorenzo. Marine fossils and rare shells are on display at the Museum of Malacology. Nearby are the Castello Svevo, a medieval fortress, and the 11th-century Vieste Cathedral, with its baroque bell tower and painted ceiling.
Grotta Sfondata
The cave Grotta Sfondata is a hole in the rocks near the town of Vieste. It's actually not a cave as it has a hole in the roof. Grotta Sfondata is located within the Gargano National Park.
Parco Nazionale del Gargano
The Parco Nazionale del Gargano is one of Italy's largest national parks, a place of sweeping coast and deep, ancient forests, sits on the spur of southern Italy in Puglia, jutting out into the Adriatic Sea.
Borgo Egnazia, Savelletri di Fasano
Borgo Egnazia is an indulgent luxury hotel in Puglia with a stellar line-up of Michelin star dining, pools, spas, golf course and beach club. The hotel was meticulously designed to look like a typical village of Puglia. I would love to stay at the Borgo Egnazia.
Spiaggia di Torre Lapillo
The beach of Torre Lapillo is one of the most beautiful and famous in the Salento. It stretches for 4 km along the Ionian coast.
Bahia
Bahia, is an exclusive beach club that overlooks the beautiful beach of Torre Lapillo.
Spiaggia di Pescoluse (Maldive del Salento)
The beach of Pescoluse, also known as the beach of Marina di Pescoluse, is one of the most loved and visited of the Salento Ionian coast, in Puglia.
Sicily
Italy's largest island, Sicily offers exceptional beaches, charming villages and towns, as well as an abundance of ancient ruins and archaeological sites.
Valley of the Temples
The Valle dei Templi, or Valley of the Temples, is an archaeological site in Agrigento, Sicily. It is one of the most outstanding examples of ancient Greek art and architecture of Magna Graecia, and is one of the main attractions of Sicily.
Taormina
Taormina is a hilltop town on the east coast of Sicily. It sits near Mount Etna, an active volcano with trails leading to the summit. The town is known for the Teatro Antico di Taormina, an ancient Greco-Roman theater still used today.
San Domenico Palace, Taormina, A Four Seasons Hotel
San Domenico Palace, Taormina, A Four Seasons Hotel is a unique hotel, with terraces overlooking Mount Etna and the Bay of Taormina. The hotel was used as a filming location for the television series 'White Lotus'.
San Vito Lo Capo
San Vito Lo Capo is a small seaside town in northwestern Sicily, Italy. It’s known for its white sand beach, which is on a sheltered bay overlooked by Mount Monaco.
Cefalù
Cefalù, a charming small town situated on Sicily's north coast, is known for its picturesque beauty.
These are just my selection of places that I want to visit on a future trip to Italy.
Check out my adventures in Italy here:
Sardinia
Sorrento
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