Laura Talks Italy

Laura has travelled to many destinations its hard for her to pick a favourite, aside from her homeland of Wales the call has been made… Italy is her ultimate travel destination, read on to learn Laura’s tips, tricks and highlights of Italy. A country on most people’s bucket lists Italy is on everyone’s mind, whether you have been there or not you can picture the scenes, of crystal-clear seas along brightly colours coastlines, where rainbow homes hug the cliffs. Or rolling hills where grape vines are aplenty and amongst it all sits an old Tuscan stone home, where Nonna is whipping up a batch of her heirloom sauce and fresh pasta. Regardless of the location your dream takes you, you cheers with a robust full bodied Italian red and delight in a serve of pizza and pasta and top off the meal with a gelato, three flavours please. Welcome, you have arrived in Italy!

Laura has been lucky enough to visit Italy five times in the past ten years and over those many visits she has fallen in love with the food, the history and the language, and believes that even if you have been before there is always something new and exciting to discover. Laura recommends first timers sit back and relax on a guided tour whilst exploring Italy, you will learn all about the major tourism site and will receive express entry to the must-see attractions like the Vatican Museums, Colosseum and Pompeii. For those visiting for their second or third adventures it may be time to branch out and travel Italy in your own time, by train or car. The established rail networks in Italy are incredible with fast trains from Rome to Florence, Milan and Venice to name a few. Getting around by train is a breeze and saves you time! Instead of waiting in airports and check-in you can jump straight on the fast train and score a window seat and you have the bonus of taking in the views of the Italian countryside whilst you travel from city to city. For those confident travellers, it is relatively easy to drive in Italy, once you overcome driving on the “wrong side” of the road and get an understanding for the traffic flow the chaos all seems to make sense and the traffic just works. Having your own car gives you the flexibility to explore at your own pace and go anywhere you please, on her family holiday last year Laura chose to drive for flexibility. Having 2 small children, it gave them the option to stop where and when they wanted and needed and also opened up the opportunity to visit places off the general tourist path like the stunning Tropea Beach in Calabria, a spectacular costal town dubbed as one of Italy’s most beautiful beaches (picture on right).

Laura’s top tips when travelling to Italy:

- stretch out your trip and make the most of the location by including lots of multi-night stays, this way you can settle in and immerse yourself in the destination, and maybe even find yourself a favourite restaurant or café to frequent.

- pre book your day tours before you leave Australia, including skip the line passes to the Vatican and other popular attractions, this will ensure you know exactly what you are getting for your money and ensures you will have the best and most efficient access to all the top sites. With out a skip the line pass you can waste hours of your trip in lines, and some of these passes aren’t on offered locally so get your travel agent to lock them in for you before you leave.

- a hop on hop off bus is a great way to familiarise yourself with the city and get a snapshot of all the major tourism sites, ask us how to make the most of your stay with a hop on hop off bus.

- save confusion and time at train stations by pre booking your train tickets. Avoid the language barrier struggle of purchasing a ticket to your next destination by having them ready to go, just arrive and ride its as easy as that.

- indulge in local delicacies and excite your tastebuds with the wonder of Italian cuisine, like Cacio e Pepe in Rome, and pizza in Naples.

- dine with the locals and eat in restaurants away from the tourist areas, you will be delighted by what you find hidden down an alley way or out the back of a cobble stoned home.

...

Have we got you dreaming of Italy? Come visit the team at PHT and we can make these travel dreams a reality; Italy doesn’t float your boat? Well how about a cruise, or travel to anywhere else in the world? PHT can take you there, just give us a call or drop in store, see you soon.