Ever since I’ve returned from my road trip this summer, I’ve been telling people how great Italy is. The weather, the food, the scenery; all of it was perfect. The only downsides are the crazy Italian way of driving, and the fact that there’s just too much to see. Even though my grand tour of the country took three weeks. I feel like I could’ve just as easily spent three months exploring every part of this fantastic country. And still it would’ve been be too short.
Continue reading 12 photos to inspire you to visit Italy
Tag Archives: 2017 Italian road trip
5 reasons why you should visit San Marino
Small countries fascinate me. That was my main reason for adding a visit to San Marino to this summer’s road trip plans. I wasn’t sure what I’d find. I’m not even sure what I expected of the country that proudly calls itself the oldest republic in the world. In the two days I spent there, I didn’t really find out what sets it apart from the country it’s surrounded by. Nor did I find out how a country with less inhabitants than the city I live in manages to have a successful economy. What I did find out, is why it’s one of the most charming places I’ve ever visited and why everyone who is travelling to Italy should consider taking a small detour. These are my 5 reasons why you should visit San Marino.
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Travel Journal: Two days in Rome
As it turns out, big cities aren’t exactly ideal road trip destinations. During my tour of Italy, this became particularly clear in the capital city. Despite that, I only needed two days in Rome to fall in love with this city. I can’t wait to return for a more extensive visit of Rome and the smallest country in the world: Vatican City.
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Travel Journal: The worst day of my Italian road trip
Travelling is hardly ever a continuous series of perfect, carefree days. Every trip is bound to have a bad day. The worst day – technically it was the worst night – of my recent trip to Italy started when my friend and I arrived in a coastal village in the vicinity of Rome.
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The truth about Cinque Terre: What you need to know before you go
During my recent road trip through Italy, I visited the famous coastal towns of Cinque Terre. I instantly fell in love with them. There is an abundance of information out there on visiting this area, but I feel like a lot of what I’ve read is incorrect or outdated. The trip was quite a bit different than I’d imagined it to be. Despite the multitude of blogs that have already been written on this topic, I felt like the internet could do with an honest and updated post about visiting Cinque Terre.
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Travel journal: Life on the road
‘Turn left here.’
I take a look at the road Dom’s pointing at.
‘Are you sure?’ I ask him. The road doesn’t look very inviting, but he’s sure it’s the correct one, so I turn left. We’ve been on the road for nearly 16 hours and all I want is to find a place to sleep as soon as possible. My car is protesting quite heavily and threatens to stall a few times as it fights to climb the incredibly steep and narrow road, at the end of which is the most picturesque agriturismo I have ever seen.
Earlier in the day we’ve taken a detour over the St Gotthard pass to avoid the long traffic jam at the tunnel. At the top of the pass we discussed our plans for the day and decided that if we wanted to make it to the Italian coast on the first day of our trip, we’d have to find a hotel instead of a campsite. So here we are. Unfortunately the challenging trip up the mountain road has been in vain. The agriturismo is fully booked.
After an equally challenging trip back down, we try another hotel, which turns out to be so busy I can’t even park the car. Dom attempts to ring another hotel, but after repeating “Pronto?” four or five times without understanding our replies, they hang up on us. A quick check online doesn’t leave us with many options, so we decide to revert to our initial plan. Let’s just find a campsite before the sun sets. Thankfully, the first one we try has plenty of free spots. It’s a small campsite right next to the motorway, but it’s 9 o’clock and we’re losing the light, so it’ll do for now.
It’s time to hit the road
It’s been far too long since I went on a road trip, but that’s about to change. After a very busy period around moving into my new flat, the time has finally come to hit the road again. This weekend I will be on my way to Italy for a couple of weeks. I thought I’d share my plans.
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