Buongiorno!
My recent trip to Italy was such a dream and I am so excited to finally be able to share some of the highlights from my trip! After a lot of rescheduling and moving parts, I am so grateful this trip was able to happen. My husband and I spent a lot of time planning the perfect trip and it is right there near and dear to hearts just like our honeymoon. Read more about it here in my blog posts to Saint Jean Cap Ferrat and Provence.
This was my first time in Italy and hoping never my last! We went in early August, and while it was hot, I was just so grateful to be on vacation! It was a little crowded in some parts since a lot of Europe was also on vacation in August, but it didn’t stop us from doing anything on our list. We started our trip by flying to Rome and then driving straight to Florence where we stayed for a day before heading to Chianti Tuscany. Florence was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and wish I had more time there! The jet lag got me good this part of the trip, but have some wonderful but foggy memories of Gucci Garden Museum, Four Seasons for dinner, and The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. On our way to Chianti, we stopped at Piazzale Michelangelo and had the most spectacular view of the city! It was a great stop especially since we weren’t spending as much time in Florence but still made it feel like we did more than time allowed.
TUSCANY
On our way to Tuscany! About two hours later we made it to Hotel Le Fontanelle where we would be staying for 5 nights. This hotel was on a vineyard and so picturesque. There was also a beautiful spa, swimming pool, and its own botanical garden that I absolutely loved. We ate all of our meals outside in their beautiful garden served on the most beautiful Richard Ginori china.
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DRESS BY SUE SARTOR // HAT // TWILLY & SHOES HERMES
We had a blast on the tour at their vineyard Vallepicciola where we explored the grounds and sampled everything we could on the tour! The Perlinetto Bubbly was our favorite and is a must-try if you ever visit. We loved doing this late morning and then went into town in Sienna for lunch!
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DRESS BY ROLLER RABBIT // HAT // TWILLY & SHOES HERMES
We explored Sienna for two days and is a stop you don’t want to miss. I would suggest wearing comfortable shoes anytime you visit – it is a town built up a hill, but the views are worth it! We especially loved the gelato, beautiful cathedral Duomo di Siena, and Piazza del Campo. We ran out of time, but next time we visit I would love to see the Salvador Dali Museum! I love his artwork and also came to us highly recommended.
Besides Sienna, a little town we loved about 30 minutes from our hotel was Monteriggioni. It is another beautiful medieval town. It has a small town square perfect for exploring, sampling cheese, and had delicious gnocchi at Restaurante IL Feudo, which was nice to break it up from pizza! We ran out of time to go to Montepulciano, another popular medieval town but will just have to go back and visit!
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DRESS 1: ROLLER RABBIT // BAG // DRESS 2: MAXWELL & GERALDINE
Lastly, we took a cooking class from Nonna Ciana where we learned how to make pasta from scratch and a traditional Italian four-course meal! We absolutely LOVED our instructor and had so much fun taking this class. I am not the best cook but we learned lots of other useful tips on how to chop our food and food preparation. We also got to eat our meal at the end and was very rewarding and delicious. There was another couple with us and this would be a fun activity to do with family or couples on a trip!
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DRESS // BLOUSE // SHORTS // SNEAKERS // BAG // SCARF & SANDALS HEREMES
POSITANO
After spending five wonderful nights in Tuscany, we made our way to Positano! This was about a five-hour drive from Tuscany. The roads did get a little windy as we got closer to Positano but it was so nice to have a car with us on our trip.
We actually stayed in a town called Nocelle, which was a short walk or bus ride near Positano. We absolutely loved our Bed and Breakfast, Casa Cuccaro run by the sweetest Italian family. We had the prettiest views and had a delicious breakfast every morning. During this portion of the trip, we were determined to relax even more after lots of exploring.
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Every day we went to the beach and would either take the bus, with our pit stop of limoncello along the way or walk down a trail by our hotel. We loved going to the beach clubs in the morning and having pizza and Aperol spritz while we soaked up the sun! The Mediterranean ocean felt so nice and the views were out of this world! There was a lot of shopping near the beach. They are known for their delicious lemons and ceramics, and was so fun to find a few to take back home with us! There was a beautiful Missoni boutique and loved shopping in Emporio Sirenuse.
A few of our favorite places to eat were Il San Pietro, Rifugio dei Mele, Le Sirneuse, and Santa Croce. We loved San Pietro for drinks on their beautiful Instagram-able patio – we spent hours here and it was so much fun! Santa Croce was where we had dinner our first night and we had the best calamari. Our last evening, we had dinner at Rifugio Dei Mele and was the best meal of all! It was a seven-course meal with the most beautiful view to end our trip on before heading back to Rome the next day.
Positano is not only beautiful but also close to Amalfi and Capri. We ran out of time to go to Capri, but we took a ferry to Amalfi one day and had an absolute blast! We ended up buying our ceramic plates there, had MORE limoncello, and enjoyed their beautiful beach and pool club as well! Capri was another short ferry ride from Positano, but we will just have to go back to visit another time.
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HERMES SCARF & SHOES // SHORTS
The day before our flight, we drove from Positano to Rome. This was our last day of travel, and we tried to do lots of walking so we could sleep on our flight. We stopped in Pompeii which was SO interesting and highly recommend. We were there for about 3 hours but wish we had more time to explore! When we made it to Rome we spent the rest of the afternoon at the Vatican Museum. It was such a cool experience and so happy I was able to see the Sistine Chapel. Sidenote* – going to these churches, make sure your shoulders are covered and clothing is right above the knee or longer. I thankfully had on appropriate outfits each time (it was so hot) but I would have had to wear a cape if I didn’t have my shoulders covered or go back and change.
We ended our trip with a lot more walking around Rome and pizza for the last night. Our flight was so easy from Dallas and would recommend flying Rome to Dallas again! It was a trip we will never forget and I hope a few of our recommendations help you if you ever visit!
xo,
KBS
