This weekend, my friends and I went to Italy. We went to the Amalfi Coast for 2 days and Florence for 2 days. We had the most life changing experience. I have never seen a place full of so much beauty before! However, you need to be prepared to go to Italy. These are the things I wish I knew.
Cash is Still King
Make sure you have plenty of cash when you get to Italy, specifically the Amalfi Coast! In Amalfi, everything is so spread out. You must fly into Naples and from there we took a bus to Piano di Sorrento, which is where we were staying. This bus was 10 Euro and we paid in cash. Then we wanted to go to Positano for the day. To get there, it was a cab that only takes Euro’s, and these cabs ARE NOT cheap. And you cannot walk or take a metro. The towns are all pretty far apart, so it was like this for when we went to Sorrento as well. We also had to pay for our boat tour in cash and our tip for the captain in cash. Basically, just bring cash with you in Italy. You will run into less problems that way!
Plan Ahead
We figured we would just be able to hail cabs on the street and buy tickets to monuments when we got there. We were so wrong. In Sorrento, we had to have the waiter at our restaurant call us a cab. From then on out, any cab drivers we had would hand us their card so we could call them to pick us up. Cabs often would not come for 20 or 30 minutes, so we were late for our boat tour. We finally decided to plan ahead the last night when we had to get a cab at 5am to take us to the Naples train station. We scheduled a cab driver to take us there and we had asked him about it the night before and negotiated the price then. This ensured we got to the train station with plenty of time in the morning. We also wish we planned ahead for monuments in Florence. We went to Florence Sunday and Monday, and we did not realize that literally every single museum was closed on Monday. So we did not get to see The David or the Birth of Venus, which was kind of sad but I’ll live. We had left these for Monday and on Monday we were super bummed out when we realized we had gotten up early to be first on line for the museums however the museums were closed. We bought fast passes to the Duomo for Monday, which was so worth it and so amazing. Every time we planned ahead, we had the best time. Every time we didn’t, we were kind of bummed out. So plan.
It Is So Much Better Than You Thought It Would Be
Especially for Amalfi, our time spent there was more than I had ever dreamt of. Our boat tour was absolutely lovely! We planned ahead and asked girls we knew what company they went through, so we knew exactly what we were signing up for. However our boat was more lovely than we thought it would be. We had a huge place to all lay out and talk and take pictures. We had a platform to jump off of into the Sea. We even had a cabin below, some pool floats, and a shower on the back of the boat so we were not salty after we went swimming. The views got more and more amazing as we went on. We went to natural caves and arches and grottos and saw beautiful towns like Capri. This is the perfect way to do the Amalfi Coast. If you go, you must do a boat tour. This was one of the best days of my life!
Florence too was beautiful! I had no idea what to expect with this city. It is very relaxed and easy to get around, which is much different than Barcelona! You can walk everywhere, which was great for the bank account. The gelato was also so amazing! We got a lemon flavor after dinner one night and it was so refreshing and delicious. The food we ate in all of Italy was so good, I’m still full!
The Italians were also so nice. With every meal, we got a free drink whether it be a small champagne to start the meal, limoncello to end the meal, or an entire bottle of champagne, the Italians have generosity in their culture. Our captain, Luigi, was also amazing. He said he considered us his daughters and sons for the day and called us family. Maybe Luigi just wanted a nice tip, but family is really important in the Italian culture, and it was awesome to feel that from the boat captain to the champagne.
You Will Never Go Hungry
What’s better than the views and the people in Italy? THE FOOD. From the best pizza of my life to the coolest truffle pasta made in a cheese wheel to mouthwatering gnocchi, I’ve literally been full for days. I could not stop eating. I could make an entire separate post about what I ate in Italy. I even had chicken cutlets and if you know me you know I love a good cutlet. I would highly recommend eating everything you can in Italy, even if you’re not hungry. This is so bad for you but I would literally eat until I thought I was going to throw up. The taste was that good that it would make me sad to stop eating that I needed to reach the brink of being physically ill to stop eating. Seriously, try everything you can. If you don’t leave 5 pounds fatter, you did it wrong.
Seriously, Italy was amazing. I could not have asked for a better trip. It was full of great food, lovely people, and amazing experiences. I am already dreaming about the day I get to go back.
XOXO
Kristin
Great info! The Amalfi coast is beautiful ❤
Omg it’s let legit looks amazing !! Definitely on my bucket list !
– Marina W
http://www.waitmarinawho.blogspot.com