I cannot tell you how HAPPY it makes me that I am writing an itinerary right now for an international destination. It feels like a DREAM that we were finally able to make it over to Europe together. After the last 2 years of mostly domestic travel, the joy that we felt being able to go overseas was unmatched. Especially since it was Brennan’s first time to Europe, ever!
When we got married, we vowed that 2020 would be our “year of international travel.” We started off on a high note in January with our honeymoon in Australia, but then we all know what happened shortly thereafter. Seeing that I studied abroad in Italy, and Brennan had some work ventures over there, going to Italy together for our first trip to Europe was a no brainer.
Though COVID was still ever-present in ever step of the way travel, it didn’t stop us from experiencing the magic of Italy; and happy to report we’re healthy upon returning as well. Friendly reminder to keep taking your vitamins friends!! This one is my absolute favorite. Everywhere we went we were asked to show our “Green Pass,” which you get emailed to you if you test abroad. We just showed our vaccination cards everywhere which was also acceptable.
As far as travel advice during COVID times goes, my biggest takeaway was to give yourself EXTRA time at the airport. We arrived about 3 hours early, so when we found out in line to check in that we had to fill out a Passenger Tracking form (had never heard about it prior-to) and that it could take us up to 45 minutes to complete, we weren’t stressed at all.
Our trip to Italy was short & sweet, and full of adventure.
FLORENCE, ITALY
Though we flew into Venice, the second we landed we headed straight for Florence, Italy. ( If I was redoing the travel, I would have flown into Florence or Rome, but we found really cheap tickets to Venice and just went for it. ) We took a fast train out of Venice to Florence and it was only a 2.5-3 hour journey. Since we landed on a Friday, I figured Florence would be the most fun city to spend the weekend in.
We checked into this Airbnb and it was a great start to the trip! It was very spacious, the master bedroom and master bathroom were HUGE – it had dreamy courtyard views and a cute kitchen, and it was right near the Arno river and super close to everything we wanted to see.
Immediately upon check-in we headed out to dinner at Osteria Santo Spirito for their famous truffle gnocchi ( our favorite meal of the entire trip ). This dinner spot is definitely catered to college students, but the food is absolutely unmatched. Cannot recommend enough.
After dinner we walked to my favorite Gelateria – La Carraia – and grabbed 2 huge scoops of gelato each. We wandered throughout town and admired the Christmas decor that was already up everywhere we turned, and just couldn’t believe we were finally in Europe together.
We turned in for an early night ( semi by accident, we went home to “regroup” and passed out on the bed – when we woke up at 1am still fully clothed we realized how tired we were and officially called it a night haha ).
Saturday morning we work up and eagerly headed out for a coffee shop. You know from IG that coffee shops are our love language – there were a handful of recommendations on Yelp but none of them were quite what we were looking for. Breakfast is also so different in Europe – I also quickly realized that I didn’t have much knowledge on where to eat out because when I lived in Florence I was a poor college student that cooked at home for every meal and only spent money out at night at the clubs and bars lol – so we wandered around aimlessly for about an hour.
We walked by the Duomo, I showed Brennan my old apartment, we hid from the rain, and eventually ended up at Caffe Rivoire for a bougie breakfast moment. The interiors were to die for – pink velvet chairs, ornate paintings and gold details everywhere you turned. It was quite the experience. The cafe was also conveniently located in the same piazza as The Gucci Garden, so our after-breakfast activities revolved around exploring the impressive shoe archives and extensive history of one of our favorite high end brands.
The rain was coming for us so we retreated to Signorvino for some wine + charcuterie with a view of the Arno. It was a dreamy rainy-day destination. Located right next to Golden View which is apparently an incredible restaurant not to be missed, so add that one to your list!
Though it was super rainy, we were so close to Piazzale Michelangelo that we decided to brave the rain and head to the top on foot. By the time we made it up there, the rain cleared and we were able to view Florence from above at one of the most iconic spots in town. Another location you can’t miss if you’re in town – rain or shine!
Our next stop was one of the most popular coffee shops I could find on google – Ditta Artigianale – it was a very cool coffee shop concept that emulated the American coffee shop vibe we were after. There are multiple locations in Florence, so regardless of where you’re staying you should stop in!
For dinner that evening we were able to meet up with some of my friends from San Diego who were in town – we headed to Trattoria Za Za without realizing how popular it was! There was a huge line outside (I recommend making reservations), but it was absolutely worth the wait. The evening was filled with good conversation, great food, and even better wine. We ended up shutting the place down, and headed to YAB – which, if you were ever a study abroad student then you KNOW the significance of YAB. It is one of the most popular nightclubs in town, and full of hysterical memories from my time in the city. We just got the urge to keep the night going and thought, “why not?!” We were absolutely the oldest people in there, and for sure the most clothed girls – but we had a blast. 10/10 recommend experiencing a European nightclub if you haven’t yet.
The next morning we slept in as long as it took to ensure we were not hungover from simply being awake and full of red wine until 3am the night prior. We kind of wasted the day in bed, so when we finally got ourselves out of the house we headed right to Caffe Gilli. It ended up being one fo the dreamiest moments of our time in Florence because we sat on the covered, heated patio to people watch and it ended up pouring down rain and then hailing. We sipped cappuccinos and then ordered Burrata with Truffle – chef’s kiss.
When the rain subsided we headed for the rooftop at the Westin Excelsior. Another highly recommended spot that I can confirm is absolutely dreamy! It’s not an Italian vibe spot, BUT you get views fo the entire city and it’s right along the Arno river so it’s a dreamy spot to sip wine & snack.
That night we headed to Pizzeria Dante which was my FAVORITE spot during study abroad. Again, definitely catered to college students because they give out free wine if you’re a student (DANGEROUS), but it is so good and a great price point! I got the spicy rigatoni – which I basically lived on while studying in Florence – and introduced Brennan to the restaurant that introduced me to wine for the first time. We of course ended with a nightcap at La Carraia which is right next door, and then retreated to a bar to watch the Vikings game.
Our final morning in Florence was spent at Todo Modo Coffee + Bookshop which was my FAVORITE coffee shop the entire trip. It was so cozy, FULL of books, and packed with people studying, working, and having conversations ate every table. I could have sat there for hours.
We walked to our car rental shop to pick up our car and we were off to Montepulciano! This part of the trip was a surprise for Brennan – we LOVE Montepulciano wine, and when I realized we had to pass through the town to make our down to Rome, I knew it was a must that we stopped by. Especially since it’s a super small town; there’s such a different vibe from the big cities and I wanted to show Brennan how even more magical the tiny towns are.
Renting a car was easier than expected; I booked through Expedia and had no issues. The only hiccup – I read some blogs that said you needed an International Driver’s license to drive abroad, so I signed up for one on a website I’m pretty sure isn’t legit after all lol. The car rental spot looked at it and basically disregarded it, but there was no issue renting a car with my California driver’s license. I can’t confirm or deny that you need an International license if you were to be pulled over, but we had no issues. The GPS helped with how to get around, and we basically copied whatever the cars were doing in front of us when it came to Italian signage that we didn’t understand.
Our Florence Airbnb
MONTEPULCIANO – TUSCANY
You could tell the town was definitely more of a weekend destination – it was mostly closed up on the Monday that we explored it; there were remnants of a Christmas market from the weekend, and lots of dreamy decor that I wish we could have seen in its glory, so I highly recommend checking this spot out on a Saturday.
We walked around and finally found a spot open for lunch – La Grotta Dei Sapori D – a tiny hole in the wall that served up incredible, fresh paninis and Montepulciano wine. On our walk back to the car we discovered a street that had a ton more open so we popped into Caffe Poliziano Locale Storico D’Italia for a cappuccino and pastry. The last stop we made was into Enoteca Borgo DiVino to pick out some wine with the shop owner. It was a quick stop, but so worth the detour.
ROME, ITALY
I was most excited for Rome simply because of our Airbnb. It was another surprise to Brennan so when I saw his face as we approached the Trevi Fountain, and then again when he realized it was our VIEW from the airbnb, my entire trip was made.
We didn’t have much time in Rome so we packed as much as possible in from the moment we checked in.
Our first dinner was at La Carbonara. I had been to the original restaurant before with my mom, so we went to their second location. One is super bougie vibes, the other is very hole-in-the-wall. After trying both I’d recommend the smaller, hole in the wall version! Definitely more of the Italian vibe vs fancy restaurant vibe.
The next day we saw literally EVERYTHING you could see in a day. We walked 39,000 steps around Rome lol. Here’s what we did in order:
Trevi Fountain
Spanish Steps
The Colosseum
Roman Forum
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
The Pantheon
Piazza Navona
Castle Sant’Angelo
The Vatican
The Vatican Museums
Sistine Chapel
& anything and everything in between
It was a MISSION. But so worth it.
Rome is interesting because it’s honestly one of the most iconic cities to see if you’ve never been. It feels like you’ll just be walking the streets, and then all of a sudden the colosseum will pop up right in front of you. The history is so ingrained into every corner of the city that you can’t go anywhere without walking by something iconic. You are fully immersed in the past and present at the same time. It’s the strangest, most captivating experience.
Once you’ve been, though, I do think there are much better cities to spend your time in. Rome is SO huge, and very busy – it’s also very touristy. Spending time in spots like Trastevere are much better than trying to dine around the tourist attractions.
On our final night we stumbled on a spot called Cantina E Cucina and it was on the cutest street – there were tons of dinner spots that seemed to be full of locals, so we waited for a table to be open and it was one of the best experiences. The waiters were so fun & made the experience unforgettable. Highly highly recommend this spot for dinner.
On our final morning in Rome we headed to La Tazza D’Oro Caffe for coffee. This was a spot that was highly recommended for coffee on google – it was a typical Italian coffee bar where they stand at the bar with their espresso shot and a pastry before heading out for their day.
The longest journey we had was our train from Rome to Venice. We bought tickets ahead of time online simply because the Rome train station can be really hectic. The fast train was still about 4 hours to Venice, so we splurged for fancy seats in our own little room in Business class to make it a fun experience.
Our Rome Airbnb
VENICE, ITALY
We didn’t get to Venice until about 3pm, so we had to work quickly. We took the water taxi to our stop, and then walked to the hotel that had our Airbnb keys.
I wasn’t expecting this, but our Venice airbnb was my absolute favorite. It was HUGE – 3 bedrooms, 2 giant bathrooms, a huge kitchen and living room – and even a jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom. It was along a canal so our balcony had stunning views, and the wood floors were herringbone. It was basically my dream European apartment. It killed me that we only had technically one night there.
We quickly hit the streets & canals of Venice to explore as much as possible before the sun went down. Venice is another spot that is so dreamy and romantic if you’ve never been, but you don’t need too much time here in my opinion. It’s fun to walk around and explore, getting lost in the labyrinth of winding streets connected with ornate bridges over flowing canals. But once you’ve spent the day exploring, there’s not much more that you’ll find different from what you’ve already seen. You can visit the glass blowing shops, take a gondola ride, hit the iconic landmarks, and grab an espresso or fresh plate of pasta, and then you’ve basically done it all.
That’s how we filled our evening in Venice until it started raining. That night we cooked a meal at home to take advantage of our dreamy kitchen and get to bed early to prepare for our last day in Italy.
The next morning we had a super early train to catch, so on the way we stopped into Farini Bakery. This was such an amazing coffee shop concept! It was still very Italian in that it was mostly standing room at the bar, but it was brand new and modern. There were TONS of croissant options, and the vibe was very cool. If we had more time in Venice, I would definitely head here every morning for an espresso and warm croissant.
We trained West to spend the day with one of Brennan’s colleagues and had the best day. We boated on Lake Garda (a surprise to me). Highly recommend Bertoldi Boats, which was the company we used! It was dreamy even in the cool temps, so I can only imagine how incredible it is during the summer months.
After that we drove to Verona to explore. We walked through a mid-week market and sipped on warm Mulled Wine, then made a visit to Juliet’s balcony, which is a must if you’re in the area. After filling our tourist cup we headed to a pizzeria and then some quick shopping. The rest of the night was spent at a bocce club that we’ll be visiting next summer with Brennan’s travel company. It was such an incredible experience to spend 5 hours with people we couldn’t communicate with through words, but through the sport of bocce there was still such a connection. Luckily Brennan’s colleague translated everything, which obviously made it doable, but we played the sport of Bocce, then had an appertivo together, and ended up staying for a freshly cooked pasta dinner. The locals bought us wine, and we shared stories for hours. It was so special.
We had a super early flight the next morning, so to set ourselves up for success we pulled an all-nighter to get back on California time. The water taxis were running super early so we didn’t have to worry about walking to the train station on cobblestones before the sun was up, and we were able to easily jump into a taxi to get to the airport.
Our layover was in Germany, and other than the long wait to get through customs, we didn’t have any issues arise due to COVID. It was super easy to get a test at a Farmacia in Venice with no appointment; we did have to go to 2 different locations to find one with open spots, but it was still super easy. Each test was 25 euro and the results were emailed to us within 20 minutes.
Our Venice Airbnb
The trip was over way too quickly, but it was so special to get time in Europe after so many years away.
If you have any other questions, comment below and I’d be happy to elaborate on anything regarding our experience! Everything I listed in this blog is saved here if you want more photos 🙂
xx
