positano and ana-capri (the other side of the island) are possibly the most spectacular locations in all of europe. and nearby naples is perhaps the most disgusting place on the planet. allocate your time accordingly.
Not only the TA app, but also the TA offline city guides. Extremely useful. Big fan of TRIP, heck I'm even an investor.
If you can get into the Sistine Chapel before the crowd, you might be able to actually enjoy the experience. I went in the thick of the crowd. Once I got into the actual room, it felt more like a train to Auschwitz than a place of worship. The whole room was packed shoulder to shoulder. As soon as I got in, the anticipation was gone and all I could think about was getting out again. But, Butterfingers, I wouldn't pay $1,000/day for a guide in Rome. The privileged access stuff might be worth the money, but you should be able to look and travel around a city without paying (and, surely someone could do it for $200 instead of $1,000).
Ahahaha i wouldnt say the most disgusting. Just a little garbage problem. also op and anyone else visiting italy. Be careful not to be taken advantage of. In the past years more and more they try to take advantage of american tourists. Ask for the catalog always and see thr prices beforehand. A coffee and a gelato should NOT cost 10 euros except if you are in the most touristic places. If you plan to stay days always look to eat at places where the locals go.
imo it's similar to what i would imagine for a post nuclear fallout zone :grin: also, the OP mentioned that cinque terre might be too similar to amalfi coast. i would disagree here. the drive along the coast from sorrento to atrani is breathtaking and the setting of the towns there is simply far beyond what you will see in cinque terre. however the actual towns in the latter are far more charming, compelling, and down-to-earth. and doing 1 or 2 of the hikes between them is a completely different experience from anything at amalfi. additionally, that region (liguria) is another world away from the amalfi region (campania) in terms of culture, cuisine, people. try to do both
In Florence, be sure to visit the Accademia Gallery (Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze), where Michelangelo's David rests, along with more amazing art than I would ever attempt to describe. Truly a stunning city. A day in Venice is fine. I've spent much longer there, but not during the summer. The crowds are absurd. Spend a lot of time at the Vatican in Rome. You'll be glad you did. Being able to "cut" in line sounds wonderful, especially at this time of the year. If you happen to be near the church of San Pietro in Vincoli, stop in and see Michelangelo's Moses. It's scary good. The veins in his arms look real. I don't know how the guy did that! Listen to those who say to be careful in Naples, but by all means, spend time at Pompeii. On Capri, take the boat that goes into the Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra) Very, very cool. The views along the coast of Capri are stunning. The Faraglioni (huge rocks rising from the sea) will blow your mind. There are great views from the Villa San Michele in Anacapri.
These are tours we used in Rome and Florence. The first afternoon we arrived we did this tour: https://www.walksofitaly.com/rome-tours/welcome-rome-walking-tours Not completely necessary but it was a great way to get a layout of the city and it's history, plus there was only 2 other people on the tour with us so it was very personal and the guide gave us lots of tips and restaurant advice. Pretty cheap too but certainly skippable, you can always get the layout by just walking around. You're gonna have to do the colosseum. We went with this one: https://www.walksofitaly.com/rome-tours/colosseum-underground-tours There are other companies that offer a similar package at about the same price. Probably can't go wrong with any of them. Our guide was fantastic, of course skipped all the lines and saw all levels of the colosseum. The most valuable thing you can do is the Sistine Chapel skip the line, which we did here: https://www.walksofitaly.com/vatican-tours/pristine-sistine-chapel-tour I didn't see another company that offered something similar and this may be a little early timewise for a vacation, but it is completely worth it. Like Juan mentioned, the chapel gets super packed and they usher you through super quick. On this tour you go in before anyone else and you stay in there for about 20 minutes. It's breathtaking. You can sit down on the side benches and just take it in. The tour takes you back through after going through the vatican museum and you can see what the real crowd is like. You won't even see those benches, lol. Can't recommend this more. You can do everything else more or less by yourself. The subway is really easy to use but Rome is so walkable that we used public transportation a total of 2 times, to and from the Vatican. We also love to walk so YMMV. For Florence, also a very easy city to navigate and walk: https://www.walksofitaly.com/florence-tours/florence-walking-tour-david This one gives you a great city overview/history and skip the line access to the David which you'll definitely want to see. We did everything with walksofitaly and they were all fantastic, but there are a number of other similar tour companies on trip advisor that may have better times for you, etc. You can't really mess up Italy, lol.
