This is the last blog post for my Europe Trip series, part two of Italy. First of all, if you’ve read the last three posts and are here now, thank you for your patience… Took four posts, but there was so much to cover in each stop!
Italy Stop 3: Florence
My favorite stop in Italy! The food, the place, the people, the experience – all so memorable to me. Our itinerary for Florence was simple: wine and food. Two things that make me happy!
Food & Wine Tours
We arrived in Florence and immediately checked into the hotel to drop off our stuff. We had over an hour to kill before our first adventure which was a food tour. I figured it would be a good way to warm up to the city and the culture. The tour only had us three and two more people who were actually from Wisconsin! So we instantly got along and we enjoyed the tour from our guide, Teodora, who I’m now friends with online. Haha.
The next day, we had our winery tour! So excited for this part. We booked what we thought was the most bang for our buck for a day. It was an 8-hour tour because we had to drive to the countryside and back. We went to two Chianti wineries and a visit to San Gimignano, which was a beautiful little town!
The first winery was a little too pretentious for our taste, but the wines we sampled were great! I think we had about 5 glasses in the first stop alone, and they had some great food too. We also learned a lot about Chianti wines, which was an interesting and educational experience. In the end, we decided that’s not where we were going to buy any wines.
Our second stop was at this beautiful and scenic winery in the Pietraserena estate of Arrigoni, not far from the Siena region. Our entire experience there was completely different from the first winery. The food and wine were all great. The staff were so helpful, warm, and friendly (and definitely not pushy). Lastly, we met some great people at our table who I’m now friends with! We ordered a bunch of wine to ship home for our friends and family at Pietraserena. We had to take so many photos because it was gorgeous there!
Our final stop was San Gimignano. It reminded me so much of Twilight, where they went to Volterra, because of the colors. I plan on visiting Volterra at some point in my life, haha. We didn’t have too long to visit, but we made sure to get some good gelato and shopped around. Apparently San Gimignano was a good place to get some affordable leather goods! We bought a few gifts for ourselves and our families. I came home with a little leather backpack and crossbody purse, and a belly full of gelato!
Around Town
When we got back to Florence, we had a couple hours before our dinner reservations at Trattoria Pandemonio, which was conveniently in the Santo Spirito area. I cannot rave about Trattoria Pandemonio enough. The three of us agreed that was our favorite restaurant stop in Italy for a few reasons. We had bistecca alla Fiorentina for almost every dinner we were in Florence, and that was the best one (cue meat sweats). The service and the staff were amazing and so gracious (they’re a family owned restaurant!). Our overall experience was great. We sat in the front room next to three other parties of tourists (obvi because we all came for an early dinner unlike Italians would), and had a blast. The wine and the food was so worth it. And to think we almost skipped that dinner res because we weren’t that hungry!
We took our time walking home that night to see more of the city at night before going back to our hotel. Then the next day we spent walking around the city. We checked out the Mercato Centrale for more good food (tried the tripe sandwiches and stopped at truffle shops!), visited the Duomo, and hiked to the other side of the city to the Piazzale Michelangelo, stopping frequently to try more food! Safe to say we did not stop eating in Florence.
Our last restaurant stop in Firenze was at Buca Mario, known for their steaks too! Duh… It was the “nicer” place we booked for this stop. While it was great food, we couldn’t help but compare it to Trattoria Pandemonio – we didn’t like it as much. We felt it was a little too…stuffy. Glad we checked it out though, and they gave me an apron as a souvenir! Early the next day, we were taking the train to Naples where we were staying for a day tour in the Amalfi Coast before flying home.
Overall, I fell in love with Florence and I’m certain I’ll be going back. When that is, I can only home is soon! Firenze has my heart.
Where We Stayed in Florence
We stayed at the Hotel Torre Guelfa – decent hotel and service with great accessibility to everything we needed to see! We also didn’t realize we got a two-bedroom suite, so it was a huge room. They had a decent breakfast, but nothing to write home about. The rooftop bar was a great spot overlooking the city to have a drink, but they didn’t have great drinks. We booked the place because of the area and because we won’t be crammed into a tiny room for three people. I think our room would have fit up to 4 people because the second bedroom had two beds. We also picked it out because they had elevators, which apparently is not as common in Italy… good thing I found that review! Will we stay there again? I think so!
Italy Stop 4: Naples + Amalfi Coast
We didn’t really venture around Naples because of limited time. If I had more days to stay, I would have checked it out more but the Amalfi Coast took priority for us. We’re going back home via Naples airport, so we stayed at a hotel that was not far, and it right next to the train station where we were arriving from Florence. Not to mention our tour bus was going to pick us up at that airport!
One thing I didn’t learn about Italy until later is nobody and nothing is on time (except our one tour guide in Florence lol). We were ready to go at 8 AM outside of our hotel for our pickup, and they didn’t show until closer to 9:15 AM. I was already panicking that I didn’t read the pick-up instructions correctly, but it was all good in the end. The tour drove us to Sorrento first. Such a cute town! We had some time to walk and shop around after a limoncello and truffle tasting, so we picked up a couple small items there too. I definitely wanna go back and stay there one day!
After Sorrento, we stopped in Positano and then Amalfi, and passed Ravello before heading back to Naples. I have never seen so many and such big lemons the size of my head! I made it a point to get some grilled seafood because I was craving it, and we ended up getting some in Positano. We weren’t that hungry so we just got some cocktails and then some fresh grilled fish, which was so worth it. The coast is freaking beautiful – everything felt and looked so vibrant and alive.
We originally wanted to stay in the coast but we planned this trip two weeks before leaving and most hotels were already booked up, so we had to settle for a day trip instead. I’m glad we were able to make it work though because it was so beautiful. I hope to go back when it’s not peak season next time – it was so crowded as it was the beginning of summer.
Where we stayed in Naples
We stayed at UNA Hotels Napoli. It was one surprisingly one of our favorite hotels in the trip. They had a rooftop bar where you can see Mount Vesuvius, and they had amazing food! We were actually very happy with the food and wine at the hotel restaurant – they had fresh seafood, some great steaks, and a pretty good wine selection. Patryk’s favorite wine for the trip was actually from the hotel bar so we ordered one to take home! The service at the hotel was also good, and we had a pretty nice corner room with a balcony, where we watched some fireworks on our last night in Italy!
That concludes my series for our Europe vacation! We had so much fun, and it was definitely such a memorable experience for me (and hopefully Patryk and my brother too. Haha). There were a few hiccups, but it went as smoothly as it could, considering how last minute this trip was. I’m also glad we did it – I don’t know when I’ll get the opportunity again because the coming year will be focused on saving up and starting to think about our family’s future. This first part of the trip was essentially our honeymoon because we never got to go on one after getting married, and the other half was a sibling trip because I’ve never travelled anywhere with my brother!
If you’re planning a trip to any of the cities we visited and wanna chat, feel free to DM me! I’m more than happy to share some thoughts to help you figure out your trip too. It’s not a full travel guide, but hopefully it gave you some ideas! I tried to be as brief as I could, but I hope you enjoyed tagging along through our adventure!
Here’s a few reels from the last two stops…
