I started writing this blog on our train ride from Florence to Naples. Jay (my husband) had been journaling and sending updates back to our family at home, so I’m glad I took notes! (And now thanks to COVID-19, I’ve had plenty of time to reflect and finish this blog!) Being away from home for three weeks was truly an amazing experience and gave me some time to unplug. It took a little persuading to get Jay onboard, but I would high recommend at least 14 days when planning a trip aboard - gives you time to settle into the time change and pace of new cities. While on our trip, I challenged myself to not work and be present (I didn't even pack my computer!). As you can imagine, it was challenging at times but coming home I felt recharged and had a little bit of a different perspective on my work/life balance. I know there are so many travel blogs out there, so thank you for taking the time to read mine! Whether you’re reading to hear about our trip (thanks, mom!) or your looking for some travel advice and insights, I hope you enjoy it.
London, United Kingdom
Being Jay’s first time in Europe, we both agreed London was a perfect first stop. We landed in London around 9:30 am, to help kick our jet lag (or so we thought) we hit the ground running. We rented bikes and rode through Hyde Park and Kensington Garden, then took a long walk to Buckingham Place – sadly they were not doing the changing of the guards that day, but it was fun to people watch anyway. Our first dinner was at Maggie Jones, a recommended restaurant where we enjoyed a very traditional British meal (shepherd’s pie) and went to bed early. Quick note on the Jet Lag: It was a very real thing! It took me a solid 5 days to get into a normal routine. I would recommend: sun, fresh air, lots of vitamin c and melatonin. Our second day in London we took a river cruise to see it all - Big Ben, The Tower of London and many other iconic sights in London. We had pub lunch, afternoon tea at our hotel and a nap before dinner. We left bright and early day three, on our way to Italy!
Where we Stayed: The Milestone Hotel
I loved our hotel, it was in the perfect location. Right crossed the street from Kensington Garden and so much British charm. They have two lounges, The Conservatory and The Stables - The decor in both was so unique and cozy.
Highlights:
The Ivy
The Builders Arms Pub (restaurant - great for an afternoon drink!)
Hyde Park and Kensington Garden
Take a Boat Tour (touristy, but allows you to see it all)
Ride The Tube
Eat Shepherds Pie & Fish & Chips
Enjoy Afternoon Tea
Shopping at Harrods
Drinks at Sketch
People Watch at Buckingham Palace
My Favorite Part: Riding bikes in Kensington Garden and Hyde Park.
Lake Como, Italy
We flew from London directly into Milan and had a private transfer to Lake Como. Lake Como had been on my bucket list for a while (currently on my bucket list to visit again!). We arrived early afternoon, the weather was a bit overcast with some rain sprinkles. But we still decided to sit out on the patio and enjoy our first italian pizza and wine. We spent the rest of the day exploring the resort grounds, it is a stunning property with some very old fashion charm. On the second day, we got lucky and the sun came out. Sadly, it wasn't warm enough for the pool, so we decided to take a boat ride to Bellagio for lunch and then hit the spa in the afternoon. I enjoyed the pace of Lake Como. It was much less touristy than other places and the lake view never got old.
Where we stayed: Grand Hotel Villa D'Este
Highlights:
Il Gatto Nero Ristorante (favorite dinner spot!)
Boat Ride to Bellagio
Dinner with a view (really anywhere!)
Morning run along the lake
My Favorite Part: Dinner at Il Gatto Nero. It was our first dinner in Italy, and it was a true beautiful Italian experience. Multiple courses of fresh pasta, amazing wine and a stunning view!
Venice, Italy
We planned for a long day trip to Venice but due to some train delays we arrived later than expected. We made the best of it and hit the streets to explore. After a few hours of getting lost, we stopped in for a cocktail at the Aman Grand Hotel (we found our later, it was where George Clooney was married!). We had a romantic dinner at Ivo Ristorante, the food was delicious. We had three courses of pasta and split the branzino. It was a bit chilly in Venice, so I was glad I packed a pair of jeans and my blazer!
Where we stayed: Hotel Bonvecchiati
Highlights:
Dinner at Ivo Ristorante
Get Lost. Seriously! The city is small, so you will end up back where you want to be.
Don’t miss St. Marks Square, Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Campanile
Take a private Gondola Ride
People watch on the Bridge in the Grand Canal
My Favorite Part: Drinks at Aman Grand Hotel – super fancy spot, fantastic martinis!
Bologna, Italy
On our way to Florence, we stopped in Bologna for a cooking class. The class took place in the chef’s home (she lived right in the heart of the city). We went to the market and picked up fresh herbs, cheese and meat for our meal. We made: bolognese, fresh tortellini pasta and ice cream. We were absolutely stuffed afterwards, but it was possibly my favorite meal of the whole trip!
Florence, Italy
One of my favorite cities in the world! I studied abroad in Florence in 2007, so it was very special returning to experience it again with Jay. We spent four nights in Florence, so we had three full days to explore – lots of time to eat and enjoy all the wine! Our first day we spent touring around and made several pitstops for cocktails. I loved sitting outside at cafes and people watching with a glass of wine. I found some time to shop as well, and I convinced Jay to tour the Gucci Garden with me - A Gucci Museum in Florence that showcases 90 years of fashion. I enjoyed it - Jay was underwhelmed, ha. We also enjoyed the markets - It was fun to walk around and taste all the fresh produce and local meats and cheeses. We found plenty of time to eat and we didn’t hold back! But we did tend share courses so we could enjoy everything - It still boggles my mind how skinny Italian are. On our second day, we rode bikes through the city and up to Michangelos Garden. We love to bike around cities, such a fun and active way to see everything!
Where we Stayed: Rocco Forte Hotel Savoy
We loved our hotel in Florence. It was located right in the middle of the city, with gorgeous Italian inspired rooms and it had a street cafe where we spent many mornings sipping coffee as we mapped out our daily itineraries.
Highlights:
Locale (drinks)
Westin Rooftop (sunset drinks)
Wine & Live Music on the Ponto Vecchio
Bike Ride along the Arno and through Piazzale Michelangelo
Visit and have drinks in Piazza della Signoria
See the Piazza del Duomo (walk up to the top of you can!)
If you’re into museums, don’t miss the Uffizi Gallery.
Eat, Eat and Eat more! I have so many memories of different restaurants around Florence, so we ate a lot.
My Favorite Part: Re-exploring the city, it hadn't changed much, although we were eating at much nicer restaurants then when I was there in college! I loved your day trip to Tuscany. I could have spent multiple days in wine country.
Tuscany, Italy
This is a MUST do when you’re in Florence (or Italy in general!). I suggest carving a couple days into your itinerary to fully enjoy it. We spent just the day in Tuscany, the Chianti Region. Looking back, I wish we would have spent a couple days – it was beautiful and much needed break from the busy city. We hired a driver visited two wineries. In between we stopped at a restaurant and had a delicious lunch on the patio, I got my first sunburn and wasn’t mad about it! I love wine, so this experience was probably my favorite.
Wineries:
Castello Della Paneretta Winery
Capannelle Winery
Capri, Italy
From Florence we took and train to Naples, and from Naples we took the hydrofoil to Capri. It was a pretty long travel day. We missed our original departure time for the hydrofoil, so we killed some time at the dock with a few aperol spritz and played Gin Rummy. We got into Capri in the afternoon and hit the pool at our hotel as soon as we could (we were very ready for sun and lounge chair!). I had been dying to visit Capri and it did not disappointment. The town had so much character, less touristy then I excepted and sooooo relaxing. I enjoyed the shopping in Capri, they had the cutest shopping boutiques! I got a beautiful pair of leather sandals and some beach coverups. On our first day we spent the afternoon at La Flotelina (an instagramable beach club in Capri) and enjoyed the sea, more aperol spritz and people watching. It was a much-needed boozing beach day! Our second day, we spent exploring the town. I really feel in love with Carpi, and I absolutely loved being surrounded by lemon trees. What I loved most were the caprese salads. I probably ate one for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you know me well, that is my favorite salad. So, between the beach clubs, lemon trees and caprese salads I was in heaven.
Where we stayed: Hotel La Mirvana Capri
We loved our hotel in Capri, we’d highly recommend. It was a boutique style hotel with only 54 rooms, so it had a cozy feel to it and beautiful details throughout the hotel.
Highlights:
All the lemon tress, serious everywhere!
La Flotelina (Beach Club & Restaurant – make a reservation!)
Take a boat tour around the island and see the Blue Grotto and jump in the sea!
Buonocore (our favorite Gelato!)
Ristorante Terrazza Brunella
Ristorante Panorama
Have a drink in the Piazzetta and walk through the center of Anacapri
Positano, Italy
The Amalfi Coast had been on my bucket list since I studied aboard, I've drooled over photos on Instagram and honestly it surpassed all my expectations! The weather was perfect, mid-80s and sunny every day. By the time we made it to Positano, we were both ready for some down time poolside. So, we spend three days just relaxing and exploring the town. My favorite part was our boat ride from Capri to Positano. We decided to charter a boat from Carpi to Positano - Which I highly recommend. It gave us time on the water and we were able to see everything. Our captain was very knowledgeable, so between rose pours we learned a lot about the island. We stopped at a waterfront restaurant for lunch and had the best seafood linguine! We spent the next few days lounging and exploring.
Where we Stayed: Le Sirenuse
Highlights:
Brunos Ristorante (favorite dinner spot, more casual)
La Cambusa Ristorante
Franco's Ristorante
Ristorante La Sponda
Get on the water! Take a boat ride to Praiano, Amalfi or Ravello.
Sunset Drinks Il San Pietro di Positano
Hike: Positano to Praiano
Casa e Bottage (delicious lunch spot)
My Favorite Part: Exploring the city and lazy beach days!
Rome, Italy
We arrived in Rome early afternoon via train from Naples. We took a private transfer from Positano, the roads are crazy so I highly recommend a private driver! We hit the ground running – we went to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Foundation and toured the Colosseum. I've seen most the monuments around Rome but re-seeing is still just as incredible. We did a guided tour of the Vatican on day two, we both really enjoyed the tour and our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable. It was really humid, so we were both very ready for a cocktail and shower after our playing tourist in the afternoon. On our 3rd day, we slept in and had a lazy day in Rome. We sat at lovely cafe and sipped coffee and people watched. We stayed in the less touristy neighborhood, so the streets were a bit quieter. We walked everywhere, tried to see everything and eat all the pasta we could. Seriously, we averaged 20k steps a day. On our last day, we checked into a spa. Jay got a massage and I got a mani/pedi; it was delightful and much needed after two weeks traveling!
Where we stayed: Hotel Barocco
Highlights:
Ristorante Dar Sor Olimpio al Drago
Restaurant Roscioli (best pasta of the whole trip - make reservations!)
Taverna Trilussa
See Everything! Don’t miss: Vatican, Trevi Foundation, Spanish Steps, Pantheon and Colosseum
My Favorite Part: The romantic evenings. All the restaurants in Rome were so romantic, we loved the late evenings and walking through the city at night. Every night was a date night!
Pairs, France
Ah, our last stop. We landed in Paris in the late afternoon, so traffic was crazy. We ended up getting to our hotel later then excepted so we showered quickly and headed straight to dinner. It was my first time in Paris and honestly, I'm was slightly overwhelmed with how big it is and ALL the things to see. Since we came off three full days touring Rome, we picked a few things to see: Eiffel Tour, Louvre, Tuileries Garden, Versailles and Notre-Dame Cathedral. Our first day started off a bit slow, we had a huge room with amazing balcony, so we enjoyed sleeping in and having breakfast in bed. We spent the rest of the day exploring the London streets and cafe hopping. The second day we went and had a delicious brunch and we decided to do a boat tour. There were no lines where we brought our ticket and we were able to see it all: Notre Dame, Hôtel De Villa, Louvre, Place De Concorde and Tour Eiffel. We did a lot of cafe hopping and shopping on day three. It was relaxing few days and fun to explore different neighborhoods! I enjoyed Paris WAY more then I thought, definitely on my list to visit again.
Where we stayed: Hotel Littre
Highlights:
Eggs & Co (best eggs benedict!)
Le Brebant
LouLou Restaurant Bar Paris (loved this restaurant, great spot for lunch or drinks!)
Matignon (make a late reservation, turns into a dance club!)
Boat Tour (all day pass just for 17€)
Have lots of Champagne!
Don’t Miss: Musee D' Orsay & The Eiffel Tour at Night
Favorite Part: Wine under the Eiffel Tour at Night. We rode Birds scooters to the tower and opened a bottle of wine and enjoyed the light show - it was truly one of the most amazing things I've ever seen!
Lastly, we’d like to give a BIG shout out to the travel agency we worked with to build and organize our incredible trip! Thank you, Tangerine Travel. Can’t wait to plan our next adventure!