Tips for Travel in Italy

By M.J. Cryan

I: Living it up on a small budget

Here are some tricks and tips used by Italian students living on tight budgets that tourists may find helpful.  Instead of eating in restaurants, do as the natives do and use the neighbourhood markets and discount alimentari... Buy bread, cheese, fruit and cold cuts at the outdoor markets that are open from early morning until 2 p.m. and have a picnic in the park or in the shadow of a monument. Buy something ready-made at a tavola calda or rosticceria and eat in a nearby osteria or wine shop.  Pizza al taglio is excellent and much better nutritionally than a hamburger and fries. In Rome, save your shopping for postcards, pictorial guides and souvenirs for the day you visit the Vatican and then buy them at wholesale prices Comandini at 151 Borgo Pio and Soprani on via del Mascherino are still the cheapest in Italy...but watch out for the hordes of shoving nuns.

Take your coffee, drink or ice cream standing up at the bar like the Italians do and save the sitting down occasions for very tired feet moments. Sitting at the café table costs at least twice as much.

Always double check the size of the currency you give when paying a restaurant, shop or taxi driver. And count your change right away. Be sure you receive a copy of your restaurant bill or conto and hold on to it at least until you are far away from the restaurant. The Italian tax police are cracking down with stiff fines for customers and owners when receipts are not given. Same goes for purchasing fake designer bags and pirated CDs from street vendors… it's better not to.

Mid-January and all of August are sale days saldi for clothing and shoes in the cities. Usually the big and very small sizes of everything are available at half price. Be sure it fits before purchasing for sale items cannot be returned.

II: The Best Beaches & Islands in the sun
Everyone has a favourite beach along Italy’s 8,600 kms of coastline, but if you ask ten Italians where their country’s best beaches are, nine will give you the name of an island, usually Sardinia.

Italy has about 400 islands, some just uninhabited rocks, others organized as perfect summer resorts. Crystal-clear water, unspoiled nature and unique folklore and culture can be found on the island of Sardinia to the west of the mainland. From the little peninsula of Stintino  to S. Teresa di Gallura in the north-eastern corner, lies a Riviera of emerald water and fine sandy beaches, some of them with pink sand and some only large enough for a couple of beach blankets. Old towns, many dating from the 12 th century are dominated by castles and walls which once held pirate raiders at bay. But the summer villages and hotels are modern and elegant offering facilities for daytime water sports, swinging nightlife and fine eating.

A relatively unknown yet spectacular part of Sardinia is the island of San Antioco in the south-western corner. Here gourmets can gorge themselves on local lobster and the wines of Calasetta.

The 400 inhabitants of Stromboli are not jittery even though they live on a still-active volcano that is part of the Aeolian archipelago north of Sicily. With their black lava sand beaches, the comforts of civilization are assured although drinking water is brought in by cistern ship during the dry summers. Closer to the Sicilian coast is green Vulcano, famous for its beaches, beautiful tourists and mud baths. Both Stromboli and Vulcano can be reached by ferry from Milazzo in Sicily.

Among Tuscany’s many islands, Elba is most famous because it once housed the exiled Napoleon. Its green rolling hills, beaches (like Biodola near Portoferraio) and laid-back lifestyle make it a perfect getaway (take the ferry from the port of Piombino).

In northern Italy the Venetian lagoon holds several islands worth a visit. The Lido is a quick vaporetto ride from crowded St. Mark’s Square and is probably Italy’s most beautifully equipped beach with beach cabins, tents, white-jacketed waiters scurrying with ice buckets from the Excelsior’s bar and a famous gambling casino. It seems to be still the setting for the cult film “Death in Venice” and hosts the annual cinema festival.

Nearby is Murano, a mini Venice with lacy, pastel-colored palaces along tiny canals. Don’t miss the extraordinary glass museum or the free tours in the factories where master craftsmen still make blown glass as it has been done for centuries.

Chioggia, at the southern tip of the Venetian lagoon, is 40 miles from Venice by road or a two-hour cruise from Riva degli Schiavoni. An important fishing center, it boasts the lively Sottomarina beach, plenty of good hotels and wining nightlife.

For those who wish to stay on mainland Italy there are several great beach areas. Cervo Ligure a few miles up the coast from San Remo was a coral fisherman.

Fregene and Ostia Lido near Rome: They are not terribly clean but they do boast crowds of local people in the summer.

Campers love the stretch of coast on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Albinia and Talamone near Grosseto because of several inexpensive campgrounds set among pine woods right on the sandy beaches. Gastronomic delights of the area include wild boar stew in the inland medieval hill towns and the inexpensive Tuscan red wines purchased at the Parrina’s vineyard wholesale outlet in Albinia. Here you can also stock up on cheeses made on site, farm produce and oil.

Worth a beach day are those on the Argentario peninsula near the renowned vacation spots of Porto Ercole and Porto Santo Stefano. La Feniglia (where the topless ration gets higher every summer) and La Giannella (a family beach).

Rimini: The stretch of beaches along this part of the Adriatic coast is a swinging summer spot with 15 kms of white sand, clean water and droves of Scandinavians, Russians and Anglo-Saxons from spring to autumn.  Each year the best beaches are awarded prizes signalled by a   “bandiere blu” flag.

In southern Italy folks dote on Calabrian coast and the islands of Pantelleria and Stromboli:  far away places invaded by water and scuba-diving enthusiasts each summer. Remember that they are at their best in July, September and even the beginning of October because the latitude is the same as northern Africa. 

Fregene and Ostia are Rome’s seaside resorts where a midday dip in the Med is possible before returning to the city. These beaches are fine during the week but are guaranteed to be very crowded on weekends. Ostia is connected by a rapid train and has the added attraction of a mini-Pompeii, Ostia Antica, a few stops before the beach.

Fregne has lovely homes, cleaner beaches; great fish restaurants and one can even rent the villa that once belonged to film great Federico Fellini for the weekend.

Near Pisa the Marina di Pisa is the place for beach life.

To avoid are the millionaire resorts on the Costa Smeralda of Sardinia where a gelato can cost up to $5 in August. Also to stay clear of are beaches near large cites and the peak season of August 15-18, Ferragosto holiday. Instead save up to 50% on hotels in the other summer months and the service is much better.

III. Where the Girls Are

Whether in small towns or big cities, young people in Italy have retained the custom of the late afternoon and evening “passeggiata”.  This evening stroll is a combination of window shopping, boy and girl watching and the time for a rendezvous.

In Rome girl-watchers paradise is the triangle of side streets off Via del Corso and the Alberto Sordi Gallery. Shops specializing in music and sports gear are a good excuse for a gathering. While older Romeos grab a table and drink at the sidewalk cafes of Piazza del Popolo or Piazza Navona, the younger ones stake out a step at Piazza di Spagna, Piazza del Pantheon and Piazza San Pietro to view Roman girls and newly arrived female tourists.

Venice’s strollers prefer Le Frezzerie and Piazza San Marco. Milano and Bologna are easy places for girl watching even when it rains. Take a stroll through Galleria dei Longobardi and Galleria del Corso and those at San Babila, Passerella, San Carlo and De Cristoforis. Bologna’s kilometres of arcaded walkways means it’s possible to windows shop and stroll for hours without using an umbrella.  In all Italian cities, keep an eye out for wall posters or banners announcing pop concerts, activities and special shows.

Italian girl-watchers claim that the Florentines are the most beautiful with their naturally elegant way of dressing and walking. You can judge  for yourself along the shopping streets or at the top cafés Giubbe Rosse, Caffe Strozzi, Doney on Via Tornabuoni, Giacosa (famous for its chocolate) or at  Gilli and Paszkowsky in Piazza Repubblica where live music lives up the atmosphere.

IV. Keeping Cool

Here are some cool spots to try in and around Rome.

Tivoli-Water, water everywhere. Follow the Via Tiburtina outside of Rome to the hilltop town of Tivoli. It has two famous villas, but it’s important not to confuse them. Hadrian’s Villa, at the base of the hill, is where the eccentric emperor relaxed between conquests of the ancient world. In high summer it is only for history buffs who don’t mind the heat and dust.

Villa d’Este which tumbles down the hillside is lush, green and cool. You can avoid the midday heat by roaming its tree-lined walks, ducking under the hundreds of gushing fountains or simply sipping a cold drink at the terrace bar which commands a wide view over the countryside all the way back to Rome. The gardens at Villa d’Este are particularly romantic and cool at night, especially by the lighted fountains. For a swim, stop at the sulphur baths in Bagni di Tivoli, where an Olympic-sized pool is the meeting place for locals seeking alternatives to sandy beaches.

North of Rome the Renaissance gardens of Villa Lante in Bagnaia just outside Viterbo are a match for the cool greenery and fountains of Villa d’Este. Hot baths abound here too, but for summer time its best to bathe at Le Masse which boast a frigidarium pool as well as the usual caldarium waters that make the thermal baths of the area so famous.  The three volcanic lakes in the Viterbo region promise cooling days: the choice can be made among Lake Vico, Lake Bolsena and Lake Bracciano.

The catacombs in Rome are fascinating year round, but in the summer months they also become perfect “refrigerators”. The best are those of San Callisto and San Domitilla on the ancient Via Appia Antica.  Many people are surprised to learn that there are catacombs also in northern Lazio. Those of Nepi are hidden in an ancient church behind the cemetery and the catacombs of Santa Cristina beneath the church dedicated to the saint in Bolsena.

Keep cool by eating lightly. A favourite summer dish especially in the mid-South homeland of the mozzarella-producing buffalo cows is the Caprese.  It’s a salad of freshly sliced mozzarella cheese alternated with tomato slices and topped with basil leaves, a drop of balsamic vinegar, maybe a few olives and the best extra virgin olive oil you can find. Match with a cold white wine such as the Sicilian Rapitala or an EST EST EST of Montefiascone for a superb light summer lunch.