Top 5 places to visit in Italy

I have lived in Italy for nearly 2 years now and have visited so many beautiful places, today I wanted to share with you my top 5 places to visit in Italy. There are so many it was hard to narrow it down but for me, these 5 were amazing trips and are my personal favourites.

Taormina

My trip to Sicily last summer is one of my favourite trips ever! We stayed in both Palermo and Catania and took a few different day trips but Taormina was by far my favourite. We arrived in Taormina by train and got the bus up the town, after a beautiful but windy road full of hairpin turns, we arrived. When walking around the pretty streets there was beautiful sea views on every corner.

I would highly recommend a visit to the ancient greek theatre as the view from there is incredible. The stairs leading up to the theatre give great views of the town and the sea but once inside and up in the highest seats the scale and beauty is breathtaking.

When we had seen the town and got the bus back down we walked down to the beach and had a swim in the beautiful clear blue waters before watching the sunset with a spritz in the beach bar. Our day in Taormina had every element of the perfect travel day- views, beach time, stunning architecture and relaxation.

Cinque Terre

We visited Cinque Terre in early March so were really lucky to get a sunny day. Our travel plans didn't work out too well in the morning so we didn't arrive in the first town until about 1pm. We went to Monterosso del Mare first as it was the furthest of the 5 towns on the train line from La Spezia and we wanted to then work our way back.

Monterosso has a beautiful beach which we enjoyed walking along and we got a Mojito from the beach bar. We walked into the town to find it was quaint and pretty but the main attraction definitely the sea front.

We then hopped back on the train to Vernazza. We arrived here not long before sunset, we grabbed some gelato and sat in the little cove of beautifully coloured houses by the sea. It was clear that this town would have looked even more beautiful with a view from further back but the atmosphere was lovely nonetheless.

The last town that we visited before sunset was Manarola. This was definitely my favourite, mainly because you can walk out into the cliffside to see the town built into the opposite side. The colours and the structure of the town are just amazing and watching the sun go down here was beautiful.

Pompeii

When visiting Pompeii I was surprised by the sheer scale of it, there is so much to see and the preservation is amazing. When walking around you can imagine what life would have been like there all that time ago. 

When we visited Pompeii last April there was many large sculptures that were created by artists to demonstrate the ruin of the city. I'm not sure how long they were there for or whether they are still there but I loved them. They added so much interest to the areas in which they were placed and fitted well with the history. 

Siena 

 I visited Siena recently and was blown away by it's beauty. The town's main attractions are the Cathedral and Piazza del Campo which is a square originally used for horse racing, so you can imagine it's size. However, my favourite thing about Siena was the views. We stumbled across so many beautiful viewing points accidentally.

I often find the best travel experiences are the hidden secrets that you can't read about in travel guides or on travel sites. When visiting the Basilica of San Domenico we walked around a corner to see a sea of terracotta rooves. We walked down the road a little and at the back of a car park found a gap in the trees with views of both the Cathedral and Torre del Mangia. I climbed through the hole and honestly could have stood there for hours, just admiring the city.

Sorrento

 

Sorrento had been on my 'to visit' list for a long time and it didn't disappoint. It was always be a memorable trip for me as I visited on my 26th birthday.  The town itself was busy with tourists but still managed to keep it's ancient Italian charm. We walked down to the coast and scoured the sea front bars and restaurants for a good place to eat. We ended up eating in a restaurant situated right on the water with a table on the pier. The gnocchi alla Sorrentina went down a treat with the beautiful view.

Sorrento is full of luxury hotels with sea front terraces so it is certainly somewhere you can treat yourself. From here there are so many other beautiful towns along the Amalfi coast that you can get to easily, I can't wait to return in June!

So these are the 5 places I think are not to be missed as part of an Italian trip. I am by no means an expert but having visited many places in Italy, both tourist attractions and hidden gems, these are my favourites.

All photos are my own.