Italy

Travel to Europe must include Italy, which has a distinct location between the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas.  Because travel is expensive with the Euro exchange rates, TravelEUonline.com, a travel website, has information on cheap travel, discount travel, affordable vacation packages, hotels, and restaurants.

First time travelers to Italy should look at a map of Italy and plan a trip from top to bottom by car.  Traveling from north to south ensures that travelers will not miss any of the sites that are important in the history of Italy.  It is easy to make reservations through Europe by car.  Fly into Milan and use it as a northern destination for exploring the Italian Lakes Region.  While in Milan, enjoy the fashion, art, and food.  After Milan, Venice on the Adriatic Sea should be the next destination, but make a stop in Verona first.  While in Venice, plan on taking a romantic gondola ride.  Next, travelers drive to Bologna and Florence.  The country side is beautiful so travelers should stop en route for pictures and plan a few days in both cities. 

From Florence, travelers meander to Rome via Sienna and Perugia, an Umberian hill town.  Rome is like no other city, because it is a museum with beautiful columns and statues on almost every corner.  It has the Vatican, as well as many of the historic ruins of the Roman Empire.  Although the citizens of Milan and Florence are very fashionable, Rome boasts the most fashion conscious citizens in the country, so shopping is fabulous.  Also, the restaurants are very interesting.  Visitors in Rome have to plan to visit sites very early because the crowds are tremendous.  After Rome, travelers should visit the ruins of Pompeii and Naples before going to Sicily, where there are interesting Sicilian accommodations and Sicilian towns.

Follow-up trips to Italy should include visits to the islands of Sardinia or Capri.  Also, travelers can locate the World Heritage Sites in Tivoli, Florence, Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa, Pienza, Modena, Ravenna, Ferrara, Urbino, and Assisi.  Other follow-up visits should include the Italian Riviera and Tuscany.

Some people travel to Italy for cooking lessons and taste tours.  Some travelers plan their vacations around Italian cooking schools in Tuscany, Chianti, and Sicily.  Restaurant recipes are also popular as souvenirs to take home.  Umbria also is famous for its food.  Italian farms, wineries, cheese manufacturers, and bakeries have tasting rooms.  In some areas, there are guest houses on farms.

Winter travel and winter vacations in Italy include skiing vacations.  Italian ski resorts in the Italian Alps of Northern Italy provide some of the best skiing in the world with Olympic Ski Venues.  For excitement and adventure, skiers are able to ski from Switzerland to Italy and back!

Even though Italy is steeped in history, it is a very modern country with Internet access.  Enjoy your trip!  Take your camera because you will want to take LOTS of pictures of Italy.