What to see and eat on a last-minute trip to Italy

I recommend "The Golden View" restaurant in Florence. The food was good, the prices were reasonable, and the view of the Ponte Vecchio Bridge was very memorable. You will need reservations for dinner unless you eat early.

Hi Ronda -
What a wonderful opportunity! You must be so excited! :O)

Because your question is so broad and your trip involves so many locations, your best friend is going to be a guidebook. Maybe two. Go to the nearest bookshop, look them over and buy whichever types appeal. "Memorable experiences" are often those which were not pre-planned, and must-sees are entirely up to personal taste? I could send you to art museums and really old churches all day long but if you're not into either, then doing so wouldn't be helpful. Make sense?

Make sure that your guidebooks include not just WHAT to see but HOW to do that: where to get tickets; which attractions require pre-reservations; how to get to/around the cities (trains/metros/etc.) and that sort of thing. Days/hours the attractions are open would also be helpful, if included, but details like hours and entry fees can change long after a current version has gone to press so they can't always be completely accurate. Websites of the attractions themselves are always best for the most current information.

Also, spend some time browsing previous threads on this site as you'll find a wealth of information regarding restaurants and attractions in the cities/towns you'll be visiting. Up on top of every forum page is a search box: see the grey magnifying glass and "search" text?

Enter key words such as "restaurants, Florence, Italy" and hit "go".

A new page comes up. On the left of the page is a "Filter by type" box. Choose "Travel forum".

On the next page that comes up, there's a "filter by date" box. I'd probably choose the "1 year and newer" option.

All the forum posts for/including the desired topic will come up.

If you are bringing a device with you and have access to wifi, you can also post questions to this forum once you arrive.

My friends were in "The Golden View" restaurant. They told that it was amazing.

As to what to eat, assuming you eat whatever, just ask for the local special or what is fresh from the market. Every town, every city has it's own set of special things, and those things change with the season. Eating what is fresh is usually better and eating what is the house special or the local dish is always an experience.

Caserma Ederle is the name of the post where your son-in-law will be assigned in Vicenza. The Ederle Inn - located on base - offers very nice accommodations at extremely affordable prices which your son-in-law (as your sponsor) can book you into for short or long term stays. From the main gate of the post it's a short bus ride (one Euro) into the city center, and from the central train station in Vicenza it's a short, cheap journey to Verona, Padua, Venice and other popular destinations in northern Italy. There will also be an ITT (information, tickets, and tours) office on base that can assist you with day trips and more extended tours at discounted prices. They can also assist with travel and accommodation arrangements for the rest of Italy.
Spending several days on the post might be a good way to deal with your jet lag, generally get your bearings, enjoy the pretty little town, and get yourself organized.

I find the search function on this website not very helpful. Rather than using it, I'd just scroll backwards through the Italian forum, skimming through any threads that sound as if they might include comments on northern Italy. But a good guide book with broad coverage is your best starting point.

You don't have time to scroll here--just head to a bookstore.
For dining, I download the Slow Food app.

I just got back from Italy yesterday. We stayed in Milan and did day trips to various cities. Granted, we didn't spend a whole lot of time in each place, but we got enough of a taste to get the feel (and definitely want to come back again).

We booked a tour that drove use from Milan to Cinque Terre. That was really nice since we didn't have to worry about transportation. We would have enjoyed it more, but weather was less than ideal (it was cloudy and rainy). Because the water was so choppy, we could not do the boat excursion part of the trip. However, it was a nice place to go to and I would love to go back and check out each individual cities more in-depth. Pesto is big there, so you might want to try a dish with pesto to get the local flavor. We ate at Pae Veciu in Monterosso al Mare.

We took the train from Milan to Verona since it was a short trip out there. One of my friends wanted to check out Casa di Giulietta. It's admittedly a tourist trap. If you decide to check it out, I would recommend going there early since the place is just a little courtyard that people cram into. If you plan on checking a bunch of things out in Verona, I would recommend looking into the Verona Card which can save you money on various attractions.

In Venice, we decided to take a nice slow boat ride around the grand canal. That took about an hour to get to Piazza San Marco. We took a faster boat (25 minutes) back to the train station. We did not do a gondola ride this time, but I would definitely do it the next time if I had more time.

In Florence, we did a hop on/hop off bus ride. I think that was the best value if you just wanted to sit and enjoy the views of the city. They also provide you with headphones so you can listen to the history behind some of the landmarks you will pass. There are two routes. The red line takes you farther out to Fiesole. As with all hop on/hop off buses, you can get off at any stop, explore a bit and catch the next one. The routes also take you to the Piazzale Michelangelo, so you can see a panoramic view of Florence. Before leaving Florence, we wanted to try Bistecca Alla Fiorentina. We ate at Il Portale which is close to the train station.

If you haven't considered it, I would recommend going to Lake Como, as well. It's beautiful up there.

Admittedly, Yelp was a good reference for finding restaurants in the area. I also had a Kindle version of the Italy books by Rick Steves and Lonely Planet on my phone.

If you want to have a tour do all the planning for you, I recommend Zani Viaggi and Viator for booking.

Hope this helps!

What a fun trip! We went to Rome, Florence and Cinque Terre and we actually had a lot of luck finding restaurants using google maps (quick scan of rating/reviews) and Trip Advisor. We only had 10 days so we didn't get to try all that many restaurants but the best ones we found were also well-reviewed. Cinque Terre was amazing but Rome was our favorite-maybe you can take a side trip there!!

A couple good places here in downtown Vicenza are Conchiglia d'Oro right next to the train station and Al Company which is attached to the Hotel Victoria near the Vicenza Est toll booth exit. Never had a bad meal there.

In a recent trip report I wrote about several dining experiences in-and-near Venezia. You can read it here. (Ignore the part on Ortisei and scroll down.) I highly recommend getting out to Burano and Mazzorbo if the weather cooperates. Nothing like a sunny day in the Laguna!

"Most of Tuscany" is hard to envision. You could spend an entire month there alone. What towns are you focussing on so we can be more specific outside of Firenze?

Ravella is a long way south of the rest of your journey. Do you mean, perhaps, Ravenna?

For restaurants, there is a really good app - Eat Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli -an American expat who has lived in Italy for over 25 years. Used it a couple of years ago on a trip and her restaurant descriptions were absolutely spot on. The restaurants we chose from the app were the best meals we had on the trip. The app not only provides the address but you can use it to navigate to the restaurant - very, very helpful!!

For Venice and Florence, I recommend the Streetwise maps for getting around - they aren't huge and are laminated so you can use them in the rain. We generally use our phones to navigate but the map helps with the bigger picture!!

What a fun adventure!!