Where in Italy do i visit if i like...?

Question

drinking coffee, reading books, scanning architectures, and just living a few days like a real Italian? I don't much like Rome, even if I've never been there, because it's got a huge mob of tourists. I like unknown and friendly places.

Answer 1

Almost wherever in Italy :)
Including of course the cities suggested by the users above, but in many of them you're going to stand the same problem: a lot of tourists :))
But you can easily avoid that, even in Rome, if you just choose a "non touristic" month for visiting Italy (if you can, of course), like May/June or September/October, when you can also find a mild climate.
Otherwise, you can look for some smaller cites or towns, especially if they're not on the sea/lakes.

Answer 2

brush up on some basic Italian language would be my first reccomendation. Lavagna on the coast near Genoa is perfect for coffee and reading books. Not too touristy right now. Get on the train and in your in Genoa (architecture) in an hour for about 8 euro. If you have a car you can take the back roads (narrow) from Lavagna and visit the Cinque Tera region. The auotostrada gets you there quicker but it's not as pictueresque. Abano Terme and the Colli Eugeanea area is my favorite (near Venice and Padova) Padova for architecture for sure. The University there is where Galileo taught. Enjoy your trip

Answer 3

italy is all beautiful, but you're right, especially during the summer and winter holidays a lot of it is taken over by tourists...
if you like city life try Bologna - it's a medium sized university town - with one of the oldest universities of the western world, founded in the 900s (and yes, that is without the 1 in front of the 9) but still very much one of the most important in the country -, has great libraries, wonderful restaurants and cafes (and don't forget the aperitivo in the late afternoon, a tradition you'll find in most of italy) and in the historical downtown everything is easily walking distance (or biking, like most bolognesi do), it's situated kind of in the middle and it could be a good base for excursions both north and south. Because of all the university students (and in italy this means everywhere from 18 to 35 years old) there's plenty of all kinds of nightlife - good jazz or clubs etc - quite a good bit of theatre (both mainstream and avanguarde) and lots to choose from.
if you look for something a little more fast paced go for Milano, a sort of New York of Italy, where you can find almost anything and -almost- at anytime... beautiful architecture of all ages (there's even a small roman ruin downtown), museums, probably the best cappuccino I ever had, and, well...lots and lots.
or try Torino - I don't know it very well myself but what I've seen was really beautiful architecture (a bit more modern that Bologna - Torino was at the end of the 19th century the first capital of the then kingdom), really awesome food and a slow provincial pace inside of a clearly industrial city... I would try it for a few days...
oh, and yes yes yes to Sicily - Catania or Palermo are sooo gorgeous, and with great cafes (try granita al caffe` con panna e brioche, a classic!)!!!
good luck in finding your match, and enjoy!

Answer 4

I would suggest Trieste (east of Venice). It kind of got lost in time because it got traded between Italy and Austria. There aren't very many tourists, the cafes are wonderful, and there is lots of architecture (not ancient, though) to look at. Another place I enjoyed is Siena. You have to be careful about not going during festival times, because it's got a lot of tourist then, but otherwise it is very nice.

Answer 5

Venice - in October would be ideal.
Perugia - lovely university town.
Noto - in Sicily (see the link below. You would fall in love with Noto)
Monza - close to Milan and a short distance from lake Lecco (Manzoni's setting for his famous book). Monza has a grand park where you could easily spend the entire day exploring and reading under it's giant shade trees.
Verona - few tourists and plenty to see and do.
Bergamo (Alto) - the old part of the city. Mostly Italian tourists on the weekends.
http://www.comune.noto.sr.it/english/ind...

Answer 6

Hi there U
Im an Aussie guy living in Paris and I have travelled extensively throughout Italy. I just adore it. My favorite place I have been is Sienna. It is just beautiful there. Its so old and wonderful and a big arena where they use to have chariot races in time gone by. Rich in history and very romantic. I even played soccer in one of the many tiny piazzas there with the local kids and they excepted me to play. I think there was a few American girls playing along with us also. Its in Tuscany and I dont think you can go wrong with Tuscany. From there I went to a place called San Giminano or something along that lines. It is where they filmed Room with a View and its tiny and out of the way from everything, I loved it. I hope this has helped your quest to find something out of the way. Sienna is rarely talked about but I found it truely endearing. Thank you for listening and pleasant trip

Answer 7

What you say could describe 3/4 of Italy!
Florence, of course, but probably too many tourists for you.. I would stay around Tuscany -- Siena, S. Donato in Poggio, Mugello area.. Another beautiful city (not in Tuscany) is Perugia (and Assisi).. good grief! Just have fun; anywhere you'll be it will be just fine, you'll love it!!

(I also know that Rome is just marvelous in August when everybody is gone on vacation)

Answer 8

all of italy gets many tourists since it is so incredibly beautiful -- even italians are tourist in italy when they get out of town!!!!!! many italians live in rome full time so pls don't disregard cities because you will miss a lot of great sites!!!! every city has it's local places -- even venice....

just don't go during tourist season to skip crowds!!!!!! get to the galleries super early to be alone a bit....& ask locals where they eat........

one area in northern italy that is not too touristic is the marmarra near tuscany. you take the train to grosseto -- the largest town of the area but it's small...this is where the cowboys are, a lot of horseriding, wineries, great food......but you need a car to get around. nearby sights are the other small villages, limestone waterfalls, ancient jewish town & more.....

there's a small winery/horse riding hotel i like to stay at in the area......beautiful!!!

in southern italy near naples is the villa poppea in the town of oplontis. take the train from sorrento or naples & get off at oplontis... walk to the villa... this is in the area of pompeii where everyone goes, but no one at all was visiting this ancient summer holiday villa when we were there....!!!!!

Answer 9

I would and I do head to Sicily. Catania has plenty of good architecture and it doesn't get any more Italian (or perhaps I should say Sicilian in this case) than Siciliy.
Plenty of cafes, lots of reading places including on the beach, some good buildings in Catania as mentioned.
Info about flights http://www.investsicilyproperty.co.uk/flying.htm

Answer 10

I don't know what you mean by "living like a real Italian". To me it means waking up in the morning to go to work, fun ; (. Then going out to pranzo , lunch, with or with out some colleague, always trying to save some cents. Later, getting on the crowded, smelly and tourist infested metro cars.
After that, hungry like a pig, getting home opening the fridge to find old ketchup or milk, rushing to the store, because it closes early... standing in the cashier lines for 20-30 minutes just to pay for some pasta.... and then finally watching some bad tv show before falling asleep to start a new adventure the next day......

Are you sure you want to live the Italian life?
'Cause what you picture is the Hollywood movies, or some tourist life......

Regardless, Good luck finding that! see you in Italy.