{"id":21303,"date":"2023-08-03T07:10:03","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T11:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lightbloomphotography.com\/?p=21303"},"modified":"2025-01-07T15:44:11","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T20:44:11","slug":"travel-photographer-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lightbloomphotography.com\/?p=21303","title":{"rendered":"Travel Photographer | Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, Italy is just an absolutely special place to me, and to get to return to a country I love so much, 7 years after my first visit, just proved that I waited too long in between. This country was my first ever European visit and it changed my life and sparked my genuine love for travel and exploring new places in the world. I love the people, the language, the old buildings, the colors, the food, the culture, the coffee. I love it all. I\u2019m like a kid in a candy store in Italy. I get a lot of people asking for recommendations when they start planning a trip to somewhere I\u2019ve visited before, so I wanted to put together a little list of helpful tips and some of my favorite locations!<\/span><\/p>\n

Let me start by saying, the first ten or so days of my trip were pure chaos and it started off with a huge delay in getting here (I\u2019m literally still in Italy as I write this), I lost a whole day in Bologna, and honestly, I cut it way too close to missing the Harry Styles concert that I LITERALLY planned this trip around. So my first advice? Make sure you\u2019re staying at your first location for at least 3 days so you don\u2019t have to miss an entire town in case of delays! Another fun issue I experienced was the loss of my luggage for the first time. I existed without it for like\u2026 4 days? And honestly, it\u2019s going to change the way I pack for trips forever. I learned I can absolutely exist with less clothing than I usually bring, a carry on and a back pack will work just fine, and it will fit safely with me on the plane. And even in my attempt at under packing, I still could\u2019ve done less. Just bring detergent and commit to doing laundry a few times, it never took away from my trip and TRUST ME when I say you will thank me later when you\u2019re carrying all your luggage up and down flights of stairs in crowded train stations, boarding trains with chaotic amounts of people behind you waiting for you to stash your bag somewhere, and climbing up 4 flights to your Airbnb. That, is Europe, in a nutshell.

Keeping my phone connected on my trip without paying Verizon’s $10\/day plan, I used Airalo for my phone plan! It’s an app you download and it creates a digital SIM card for your phone, and you can go in and choose the country you’re traveling to and book a MUCH CHEAPER phone plan for your trip. I can’t recommend it enough. You can try it for yourself HERE<\/a>!
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Bologna, Italy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I started my trip (so late) in Bologna, I met a group of friends there who had very much beat me there. I didn\u2019t arrive to our Airbnb until 3:30 am the first night, when everyone was sleeping, and got all of like 3 hours of sleep after a 30 something hour travel experience that was supposed to only take around 16 hours originally (I also got to witness a lady get tackled and detained at an airport! I\u2019m telling you it was eventful!) and without my luggage. I woke up the next morning and instead of being brought to life by the joy of my first morning in another country, I was busy having to find basic essentials like a pair of shoes other than the tennis shoes I was wearing on the flight, and things like that, and this was the day of the Harry Styles concert, so time was limited. I missed breakfast, ate the tiniest lunch because of stress, and then we were late getting to the show so I also skipped dinner, was running on exhaustion fumes and pure adrenaline, cried my eyes out at the Harry show, and immediately wished we had chosen to stay an extra day in Bologna. I basically saw nothing there and it was so charming I wish that wasn\u2019t the case. Another night of less than 5 hours of sleep and it was our first day traveling via train to the next town. Now let me just begin by saying that once you have it mastered, train travel in Italy is AWESOME. It\u2019s super efficient, super affordable, and actually really easy AFTER you figure it all out. I learned the hard way that I didn\u2019t have it mastered yet after almost losing my friends on a platform and nearly missing a train, and then later not realizing there were multiple stations in Rome and I got off at the wrong one. But anyway, just download the Trenitalia app, it\u2019s the easiest way. Then everything is in your phone digitally (you need data though) and you don\u2019t have to worry about misplacing a physical ticket or getting your ticket validated before entering the train. If you have a physical ticket and you don\u2019t validate it, you will get fined when they come around to check tickets! And yes, just about every single train, they did come around and check. A lot of people try and skip out on the costs and just hop on and pray they don\u2019t get in trouble, but in the summer they absolutely check. Sometimes they checked even as we were exiting the train outside on a platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cinque Terre, Italy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We arrived in the stunning northern coastal towns of Cinque Terre, which is known for its iconic colorful buildings spread out over 5 little tiny fishing villages along the Gulf. They are little, they are packed, and they are REALLY that cute in real life. We chose to stay in Riomaggiore for two nights. Again, I think at minimum when you\u2019re traveling without a tour bus or anything, you should stay everywhere at least 3 nights. We were so tired and so hot from moving so constantly and I felt like I just got my bearings in each town and then we were off again. I still had a wonderful time and I\u2019m grateful I was able to fit in so many places, but ooooof it\u2019s exhausting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We did a pesto making class at the restaurant Nessun Dorma and it was SO MUCH FUN! This restaurant is located in Manarola, facing the incredibly gorgeous and colorful view, and it\u2019s normally a line that you have to wait in for hours in the sun to get a table, but if you book the pesto experience (\u20ac80 per person) then you get a guaranteed spot, you get lunch, you make pesto (best pesto I\u2019ve ever had – it\u2019s from this region originally!), you laugh and drink a lot, and you get to keep your apron and a bottle of wine! It was definitely one of my favorite things that I did so I highly suggest it! You can book right on their website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hiked up the 380+ stairs one morning to another one of the villages, Corniglia. This was my second time visiting Cinque Terre and this was the only village I didn\u2019t visit last time, and as much as the stairs were absolutely killer, I\u2019m glad I got to see this town too. I wish we had more time to walk around and shop, it was so cute. The other two towns are Monterosso (best beach to lay at all day) and Vernazza. It\u2019s really worth seeing all 5, and you can take the train between towns and they\u2019re all only 5 minutes apart. You can also hike the towns and I would like to return (not in mid summer) and do that one day! Pro tip: bring water shoes, as all the beaches are rock beaches and it HURTS your feet!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Florence, Italy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After two very warm nights in Riomaggiore, we took the train into Florence. We got word on the way that my luggage had been found, but I was already actively on my way to Florence – even farther from my bag. Once we got there I had to leave and train back to Bologna, and I was so sad to lose a full day in Florence, my favorite city. But I was still traveling for another 3 weeks so I just really needed that darn bag. Once I got back to Florence (with ALL MY THINGS!!!) I found us a rooftop bar with a sunset view directly next to Duomo, my favorite building in the whole world. The rooftop bar was called View on Art and you should absolutely go for sunset if you\u2019re ever in Florence. And then we actually stumbled upon a restaurant that we literally picked out by how cute it looked in the street, and it turned out to be one of my favorite meals of the whole trip. And the worst part? I didn\u2019t even get the name of the restaurant. But any dish here involving truffles is a great idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day, one of our friends flew back to London, and two left for Rome, and just one friend and I stayed to do a Vespa tour of Tuscany! I didn\u2019t think it was a scary idea until we started practicing and watched multiple people crash the Vespas, hurt themselves, and when I tried, I was very shaky and terrified. LOL. But I still got to drive a Vespa, even if it was brief, and I still got to do the half day adventure riding in a convertible through the Tuscan countryside, taking photos, stopping at a local estate for a fresh pasta lunch, wine, and of course, more photos. We made friends with an Australian couple and an American couple, and had such a blast with our driver, Chris. I still think this was worth every penny even though I chickened out of driving the Vespa for 50 something miles! I figured I should just keep surviving instead of risking my life for a Vespa ride hahaha<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best sights in Florence: duomo, Ponte Vecchio, and literally\u2026 all the food you can get your hands on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rome, Italy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After, again, not nearly enough time in Florence, we were off to meet our friends in Rome. We got off at the wrong train station, but we made it just fine anyway, and our Airbnb was literally a block away from the Colosseum. In just one day I managed to squeeze in some delicious pizza, pasta, the colosseum, the pantheon, and the trevi fountain. And I didn\u2019t even walk as much as the last time I was there!!! Rome is cool but I had already been there before and it\u2019s just chaos in the summer so I opted to only do one day there. I was super excited to try a restaurant over next to the Pantheon that came highly recommended by the one and only Stanley Tucci, but they were so full they couldn\u2019t fit our group of 4 in even after we waited in line before they opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Salerno, Italy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We headed down south after Rome to the STUNNING Amalfi Coast. When we first started looking up places to stay, it was ridiculously expensive and very booked up in all the main towns like Positano and Amalfi. So I did some research and I found a town called Salerno, which is even farther south than the rest of the towns, and you can take a train direct from Rome or Naples! The other towns require a train to Naples and then either a ferry or a long terrifying drive by public bus or VERY EXPENSIVE private transfer, and that just didn\u2019t sound like what I wanted to do. You can also stay in Sorrento as a home base and ferry into the towns, but I had already been there before and I wanted to stay somewhere new. From Salerno, you can take a \u20ac32 round trip ferry to Positano, and spend the whole day there. Same with Amalfi, and for even less \u20ac\u20ac. So that\u2019s what we did!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My friends left after day two, and I stayed solo for the next 5 nights in Salerno. I will say, it is the most NOT English-friendly town I stayed in so far, but everything has been totally manageable! The people are much more local, and while there is still plenty of tourism, it\u2019s a lot less chaotic than both Positano and Amalfi. Salerno is still vibrant and there is night life and all the restaurants close down between 3:30 and 7:30 for a mid day break. The food is incredible and even when I go into a place where no one speaks English, we can communicate enough for me to place an order and then say \u201cgratzie\u201d when I leave!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Salerno, I scheduled multiple boat activities, because the best view of the Amalfi Coast is from the water. One day I booked a whole day private boat tour (with just two families on board with me) which paused for multiple swim stops at private beaches or just out in the middle of the water, and stopped for 1 hour each in Amalfi and Positano. I used those hours to wander the streets and take photos and also sweat my life away in the mid afternoon heat. Summer in Italy is no joke, I expected it to be way less hot and humid than North Carolina and I was incorrect. Jumping into bodies of water is key for survival. Anyway I had the best day on the small boat and visits to these bustling little towns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Salerno<\/figure><\/div>
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As I write this I am getting ready for bed and tomorrow is my last full day in Salerno, and I\u2019m so sad to go. I\u2019ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here and I\u2019ve actually really loved the solo travel part, especially that I\u2019ve just stayed in one town and haven\u2019t been going going going between cities. I have favorite restaurants, favorite waiters, favorite meals, favorite gelaterias. I love to wander the pedestrian path and to take a book and sit under the walkways of gorgeous blooming trees at the marina, and walk to the free sand beach about 20 minutes away. I love the pizza and the pasta most of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some notable favorite restaurants:<\/p>\n\n\n\n