Location: Italy

I recently visited several cities in Italy back in May 2017, this was part of Expat Explore's London to Rome tour. I then travelled onwards to Venice after my tour officially ended. With it been in the late spring season with summer approaching it was around the 30°C everyday.

Pisa

Our first destination in Italy on this tour was Pisa. It's most famous attraction is of course the leaning tower of Pisa. We stayed here for around 1.5 hours for an extended lunch stop if I remember correctly.

Florence

Then in the afternoon after lunch we headed towards Florence, which is the capital of the Tuscany region of Italy. We had a delay entering the region as they have a tourism tax, so we had to get that sorted first with a new coach, but after that we made our way into the city. We lost some time with the delay but there was still plenty of time to have a walk around to explore and get a substantial dinner such as the local pizza, and try gelato for dessert.

Rome

The following day we made our to the Italian capital city of Rome. We spent 2 nights here with a full free day to ourselves away from the group. The first evening was a walking tour of the city with the group, showing us how to use the metro and how to get to and from the hotel. On the free day there was the optional excursion for the colosseum which I did rather than doing it on my own. In the afternoon I explored further visiting the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps, Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti to give it the proper name in Italian.

Inside the Rome colosseum.

The Vatican

Now I am aware that The Vatican is not actually in Italy, it is the smallest country in the world. But to get there you walk from Rome so that's why I'm including it here. Expat Explore offered an optional excursion to visit The Vatican so again i chose to join instead of travelling here on my own. I prefer to do this to as you get the benefit of the extra knowledge of group guides with a headset. We visited the Sistine chapel but unfortunately no photos are allowed inside but we got some great photos from the outside whilst here.

Venice

After the tour officially ended I travelled by train onwards to Venice, this is probably one of the most picturesque cities I have ever been to. My hotel was just around the corner from the main station so I didn't have far to walk to check-in. I dropped off my suitcase and started to explore this beautiful city. Right next to the hotel and station is a canal and you can see dozens of gondolas travelling up and down. I didn't go on one I preferred to get lost just weaving through the streets on land. I knew roughly which direction I needed to go in to get to St Mark's Square/Piazza San Marco and after just a couple of wrong turns i soon made it there. One of 4 bridges over the grand canal is Rialto Bridge, this is one of the best places to watch the gondolas pass and eat at one of the restaurants overlooking the grand canal.

View from Rialto Bridge.

Italy was probably one of the last big countries in Europe that I hadn't been to but it was definitely worth the wait and would recommend it to others.

My videos from Italy can be found here: