Non touristy things to do in Italy

Yes, these places are all crowded and touristy but it's also easy to get away from the touristy areas. In Venice get out to the islands in the lagoon, also touristy but go early or late when the day trip and cruise ship crush is not there, or just wander off the main drag and into the back streets and small canals - wonderful place to just wander and get lost. The same pretty much goes for all of them, if you're staying in town, try to do your sightseeing of the popular sights early and late and then during the middle of the day visit a nice outdoor cafe for a sit-down and watch the world go by.

I compiled a list this year for visitors, many of whom have been here (in Roma) before. Not exactly "non-touristy" as everyone is, after all, a tourist, but there may be some things you haven't thought of. Things to do in Roma.

Food. Wine. Coffee. Pastries. Fashion. Design. Passeggiata ... the essentials of life for most Italians.

Tru paddling around Venice in a kayak. Venicekayak.com finds them, and the day is great fun.

Laundry. Do some laundry & get a taste of the high life...

When we arrived in Florence in the middle of a 17-day trip to Paris, Lucerne and then on eventually to Salerno, we had planned on finding a lavenderia the first full day there. So we did, about a block away from our apartment on Piazza Santa Maria Novella. Got there, and the woman running the place was intent on doing it for us, and kept lowering the price for that service. We finally agreed, and said we'd be back in a couple of hours.

Right next door we stumbled upon the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, which we found out was Italy's oldest pharmacy, dating back to 1533, and their only client was the Medici family. Very neat place, so we wandered around there for awhile, went and had a caffe, then moseyed back to the lavenderia and picked up our laundry--had to fold it ourselves, but so what?

Enjoyable afternoon!

Some how being a tourist has gotten a bad reputation. There is a reason the "touristy" spots are what they are. It is because they are some of the best of what they represent. Just remember to spend some time as a tourist - you've come a long way & spent a lot of money to be there. There are unique ways to see the touristy spots - Rome on a vespa, be a gladiator or the colosseum at night. Google unique tours of__________

Enjoy your first trip!

While you are busy doing "non-touristy" things please also see and do all the beautiful things that have drawn people to Europe for centuries. It's all very well to kayak in Venice, but go to the Guggenheim, too. Visit the gorgeous churches and the Doge's Palace. Don't spend too much time searching the back streets and alleys for non- touristy experiences Otherwise, why go? Really, why go? Is there any point to being in Rome and not seeing the Forum, or St Peter's because they are "touristy"? People (that is, tourists) have been appreciating the beauties of Europe for centuries and the Grand Tour was once available only to the very privileged and the educated.

Christi, as a former resident of Roma, I really love the idea of another tourist on a Vespa.

apy, go to the back streets - on your way you will bump into many beautiful, historical, touristed sights anyway!

Zoe - the particular tour I was thinking of has the tourist riding on the back with a local driver. Never would I encourage a tourist to drive a Vespa through the streets of Rome! 😲

My favorite non-touristy thing to do anywhere is go grocery shopping. Seriously. Tourists mostly don't buy groceries, and you don't find grocery stores in tourist areas. Look at the interesting foods they have that aren't available back home. Enjoy the different ways they have of dealing with checkout.

Other stores can offer the same kind of experience. Home improvement stores, hardware stores, pharmacies. It's a great way to learn about the culture of regular people where you're visiting.

Lane's approach is so true: the small practical things get you in touch with the place.
After a day in the wild I love an afternoon yoghurt back at the hotel. I find it deeply satisfying to find a supermarket which has the right variety in the right size. And it's interesting to see how countries differ in what's on offer and how it's presented. In Italy it sold with references to South Tyrol, but in Poland they prefer a Greek connection, and in Germany it's with all the sentiments of healthy countryside. I wonder how it will be on the next trip, in the Czech Republic.

Ask yourself "What is it that convinced me to book this trip to Europe? What was the impetus?"
There had to be something that made you decide to go on this trip. Whatever that was should be the basis of what you do there, even if it's touristy things.
If you heard from family/friends about a trip some of them took, pick their brains and glean from that what sounds interesting to you.

Everybody has "the" reason why they decide to go. A lot of times it's because the sites and places that are touristy are historic or architecturally beautiful or have some meaning to the traveler.

My first adult trip to Europe was last year. Most all of it was touristy, but that's because those are the things I wanted to see, that interested me.

I'm leaving in 10 days for another European trip. I will do the same as last time, without regard to other tourists. I didn't care about anybody else being there and I won't care this time. I am there for my enrichment, not because it is a place to "check off" of some list of places you must visit.
Only you can figure out why you decided to go. Use that as your guide of what you will do with your time.
Eat. Drink. Be merry. Enjoy it.

If you go grocery shopping, be prepared to bag your own groceries - the cashier will offer you a plastic bag for a few cents, or you can bring your own.

And get a haircut/style.

Laurel, what a wonderful compilation of what to see and do while in Rome! I'll be saving that list for a hoped for trip with my family summer 2017. Thank you for sharing it. Lane, exploring the local grocery stores is also one of my favorite things to do when traveling. I could spend a couple hours "just looking". apyfiz19, I think you've been given some wonderful ideas. Enjoy your trip!

Get out and meet people! Patronizing businesses that deal in other than the tourist trade is one way -- haircutting/stylist establishments and laundries have been mentioned. Last year my grandson and I attended a Sunday evening church service in Munich, and met several wonderful people. One couple invited us to their home in the suburbs for dinner. It was a highlight of our trip, and we have new friends for life.

I am so with you Norma, couldn't agree more.

Thanks guys for your responses. I really liked how Ribaholic put things in perspective and all other ideas Food, wine, Kayaking, back streets, laundry and specially grocery shopping seem to be fab ! I hope I will explore most of these. Thanks Laurel for putting up the list. I am sure many others would benefit from this :) And Christi it was not about "being tourist has a bad reputation"; but more about exploring something more local, different than the rest. Who knows what one can fall in love with after all :)

In Venice, the Architecture Biennale runs from late May to late November 2016. It is more or less the Olympics for architects.

Consider going to the part of the Biennale that is in the Arsenale. The Arsenale was the progenitor of the military/ industrial complex, pumping out galleys one per day, like Lockheed Martin nowadays. The buildings alone are worth seeing, and the Arsenale is otherwise closed for visitors. I'm going to Venice in late September for a couple of weeks, just for the Biennale.

Check out the Querini Stampalia Foundation (Google it) to see the best, Zen like, garden and a great renovation by Carlo Scarpa, Venice's most admired modern architect.

Check out the Olivetti showroom in the Piazza, north side and fifty metres to the left of Quadri. Another Scarpa job, a bit of Frank Lloyd Wright combined with Japanese Shoghi screens, a staircase that reminds me of Falling Water.

Find the Hotel des Doges in Cannaregio, and there is an underground ice house in the very romantic garden.

Find the brass survey marker in the Piazza that marks the exact centre line of the Basilica. There's a challenge for you - it took me an hour of strolling around to spot it.

Find the location of the print shop where Italic font was invented. A paer saving device, with that font you can get more letters to a line.

In far Castello, at San Pietro, there is a whitem paving stone let into the path from the canal to the door of the church. It marks the exact spot where the Patriarch of Venice would greet the Doge when he visited, exactly half way. It is visible on Google earth.

In the church of San Polo, check out the Sacristy, a brilliant, brutal Stations of the Cross by Tiepolo, the story of the Crucifiction told like a newsreel in fourteen frames. No Gentle Jesus Meek and Mild told there, but the story of a political assasination, politics of Judea in oil.

From the Rialto bridge, looking towards San Marco, high on your left, is a golden head. All that remains of a pharmacy that had a licence to produce a particular drug, teriaca.

The pharmacy in Campo San Polo. The pharmacy goes by the name "Alla Colonna e mezza", a column and a half. It was called "Alla due Collone". There was another pharmacy by the same name a t San Canciano, so by ordinance in 1586, they were made to change their name. Lopped off half a column, in the same way that now if you try to name your business iAnything, Apple will see you in court.

Maybe go to church - the Anglophone community gather at St Georges (what else!) in Campo San Vio in Dorsoduro at 11:00 on Sundays.

The book, Secret Venice by Jonglez has all sorts of details in it. Small things, strange things, things that the casual visitor (I hesitate to call anyone a tourist) does not sight.

You can spend months in Venice discovering these things, and somehow it keeps you in touch with the ordinary, the everyday things. And if the guy doing paintings just near the Guggenheim trys to sell you one of his God-awful works, just ignore him.

I'll second (third?) the idea of going grocery shopping and some other "everyday" personal things. I love seeing all the differences in other countries' grocery stores and love love love food markets/halls. I also had one of my best experiences in Spain finding a way to book a pedicure at a tiny hair salon and chatting with the pedicurist in my beginner's Spanish.

Finally, I would also suggest going to music concerts or other performances in the city/town where you are visiting, and or going to churches or temples for services vs. as a tourist (or in addition to the visit as a tourist!). I have heard some gorgeous classical music performances in Westminster Abbey and parish churches in London and Paris.

Hey peter ! Can't thank you enough for the detailed list..And yeah casual visitor seems to be more appropriate than "tourist" ! Not sure if I can get my hands on Secret Venice online though.
Amy- yeah Amy and we can bring some of that stuff back home as well. I am sure that would be lesser inexpensive than the typical souvenirs and how the family back home would love that. Music concerts/free operas already on the to do list :)

I just got back from Italy. The last week of 2 we stayed in Reggio Emilia. Known world wide for their schools its a beautiful smaller city. I think I was the only tourist ...and its close to Parma , Modena and so on.

Susanne--

Did the same thing a year ago March, 5 nights in almost-tourist-free Salerno, and then a heritage daytrip an hour away to the mountain village of Sant' Arsenio, where I am absolutely sure I was the only tourist in town.

There is something liberating and fantastic about observing foreigners just living their lives without intrusion by the tourist hordes. I loved it.

Meet the locals!!! As a firefighter, I thought it would be fun to meet my Italian counterparts. I brought magazines and shirts to give to an Italian Pompierre and connect with a brother firefighter. I cold-called a small fire station in Stresa (Lago Maggiore) and met several firefighters. This was 20 years ago and we have been friends ever since, going on vacations together and visiting many times. Plan to seek out people in Italy that have similar interests to you. Be brave and you will be rewarded! I love seeing the sights, but I'll take a new friendship in Italy anytime.

The "non-touristy" things tend to happen by mistake.....we all can plan touristy things, but really...non-touristy, not so much.

2 memories come to mind from our trip....my first night we arrived in Venice, I had some type of jet lag and basically ended up getting up at 3am....just sat around the hotel room until about 5am and got up and walked the city.

It was a great memory....before the city wakes, there are tons of vendors in boats driving around delivering food and supplies to their customers. The sunrise was spectacular and I got to share it with absolutely nobody!

Another time....just a little thing. I'm a huge softdrink person and I found in Italy that stopping into the local grocery stores were slightly cheaper than the tourist spots to buy Cokes. After visiting near the Spanish steps in Rome....I stopped into a small grocery store that was pretty "large" in Italian terms and walked around. It's amazing what food options they had and there was one room devoted to pasta...a WHOLE room devoted to pasta and it was interesting to see the locals buying their daily pasta fix.

I always make it a point to visit department stores wherever I go in the world. I particularly like looking at the appliance and kitchen sections. The way that people think about design, storage, and how things are used is often very different from country to country. Not that I would ever bring home a refrigerator or washing machine but I have found some very interesting and beautiful kitchen gadgets that I've brought home.
Wherever you stay, consider eating multiple times at the same cafe or small family-owned restaurant. The owners and wait staff might recognize you and make conversation as you become more frequent. It's a great way to get to know local people!