My Tour of Italy from Venice to Verona
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Before my girls arrived on the scene, I spent a lot of time travelling around Italy with my close friend Louise. Louise had lived in Milan for much of her adult life, and it was too good an opportunity to miss to go out and visit her and spend some time travelling around to some of my Bucketlist destinations around Northern Italy. We later returned as a couple and went on a more romantic Italian break.
Now the girls have arrived on the scene, I would love to revisit some of these destinations, as well as explore some of the other glorious locations Italy has to offer, perhaps opting for camping holidays in Italy as opposed to the hotels and B&B’s I stayed in before. With two young daughters, the thought of going back to the busy cities doesn’t particularly appeal, but one thing I can be confident of is that the Italian food offering will certainly appeal to them both! For good food, some calm and peaceful views and some sunshine, I would love to take the girls to visit Lake Garda, or maybe visit Tuscany or central Italy for a slight change of scenery.
Here’s more information about the locations I have visited so far…
Milan
I didn’t really know what to expect from Milan, with its fashionista reputation and being a busy bustling city. That said, Milan is home to some really impressive venues, in particular the absolutely magnificent Duomo, one of the largest cathedrals in Europe. We also spent a lot of time in the shopping mall Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II where Lou took me to the tiled mosaic floor and got me to spin on the Bull’s Balls for good luck. This might sound like some kind of weird joke, but this is actually a real Milanese tradition – a person who puts their right heel on the bull’s testicular region and turns around 3 times will be bought good luck. Obviously I was prepared to give that a go!
When I visited with Mike we also went to the San Siro Stadium tour, before watching a local friendly between AC Milan and Catania. Despite not being a massive football fan, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the scale of the stadium, taking a moment to sit in what had been David Beckham’s chair in the dressing rooms. The fans at Italian football games are VERY passionate, so it was a really impressive day out, and something that we will both remember forever.
Venice
Another one off the bucketlist was a visit to Venice, where we couldn’t leave without having our first ever gondola ride. I had been warned that Venice was a bit smelly in summer, but I didn’t notice this at all. It does however get VERY busy, and at times the crowds were a little overwhelming. The gondola ride was fantastic though, and a great way to see all the sights of the city. I would recommend bartering with the gondola sellers however as they do try and get the best deal, which isn’t always the cheapest option. Be prepared to walk away! 🙂
Whilst staying in Venice we took a little day trip out to Borano, which is much calmer and an instagrammers dream with all its beautiful pastel coloured buildings – definitely somewhere I would like to go back to!
Verona
One of my favourite locations to visit in Northern Italy was Verona – which really lived up to the town of love reputation I was expecting. Whilst we were there we visited the loaction of Romeo and Juliet including the infamous balcony, where you could stand and recite those oh so famous lyrics of “Romeo Romeo where for art thou Romeo?”. With so many more fantastic traditions here, you could queue to place your hand on Juliet’s breast (again for good luck), leave a lock with a romantic message on the gates or write your own love message on the Verona Wall of Love. It was a really fun day out, and the city itself was just beautiful in the sunshine.
On the evening we headed to my first ever opera, sitting on the old stone seats at the Arena di Verona to watch Aida in an open air performance. Whilst the stone floors were a bit hard on the old bum (and therefore I wished I had taken a cushion) the opera was a truly amazing experience.
One thing I know for sure is that Italian holidays are definitely my idea of a fantastic break, and I can’t wait to explore more of what the country has to offer.
Have you been to Italy? Where would you recommend visiting as a family?
