travel guide to the most photogenic places in the south of Italy
hello everyone!
long time no see!
We finally had our first trip this year, so happy!! I was going to ask you to guess where, but first, you might´ve already seen it on our Instagram channels, second...well...i just realized i already wrote it in the title...(think Irina, think.. ;)
Anyways..one of the things i love most about travelling is the excitement before and all the research. You might think it´s easy to go to all those nice places , but believe me, it´s not :D Some locations are very well known, true, like the Coliseum in Rome, for instance. But what about all those hidden gems or islands like Procida, that you don´t really see on social media? And to answer your question: yes, i do most of my locations research on Instagram and i usually decide where to go depending on how photogenic a place is...what can i say.. ;)
That´s why my guide here will mostly focus on instagramable locations, some good hotels and a few food tips. My itinerary before the trip was huge! Lots of places to see, nice cafés, etc. But guess what? We had such "good" luck, that it rained every day, all day long during the 2 weeks we were there...yes..in Italy! I know, you wouldn´t associate Italy with rain..neither did i, but i..but..
so tip number 1: February might not be the best month to visit, just sayin´ ;)
Now, let´s start:
Naples
We booked our flights Vienna-Naples, Naples-Rome (Naples is the nearest airport to the Amalfi Coast)
We rented a car at the airport there and returned it in Rome. I would suggest to visit Napoli and Rome by public transportation, both cities are overcrowded and their traffic extremely chaotic. In Naples we parked in one of the car parks near the center. Don´t worry if they ask to leave your car key there, some of the parks are so overcrowded, that they need to move the cars around so that they can all fit.
*see the pdf guide here for Naples locations
Procida
I am pretty proud to have discovered Procida, i must say. It is just a 20 minutes boat ride from Naples and the island is extremely cute and colorful. I wonder why almost everyone goes directly from Napoli to the Amalfi Coast without visiting it first.
* see more on the pdf guide
Amalfi Coast
We finally got to see the famous Amalfi Coast, yay!! It rained 90% of the time, but we also had 2-3 sunny hours and we loved it. We had some cool projects in mind, but couldn´t make them happen because of the rain, so i´d really hope to go back soon, maybe in May?
Tip: 90% from the hotels are closed from November-March. (i found out only after we booked our flights...yeap...bummer). They all open on the 1st of April, so i´d suggest you to visit either the end of May/beginning of June or the end of September/beginning of October. The weather is beautiful, not too hot and there are not many tourists.
* see more on the pdf guide
Matera
Contrary to the Amalfi Coast, Matera is not that well known, doesn´t have a beach and it is one small city. But, oh, so charming!!! You´ll see ;)
To enjoy it even more, i recommend you to stay in the Sassi di Matera part of the city. It is well-known for their ancient cave dwellings. The Sassi have been defined by Fodor's as "one of the most unique landscapes in Europe.
There you can stay at the same romantic deluxe cave we stayed at. We found it through Glamping Hub and we loved it there!!! A lot, in fact! They not only have the tastiest food (they really do!!), but they also have this extremely enchanting medieval vibe.
Fun Fact about Matera: 2 very important movies where filmed right next to our accommodation: Ben Hur and The Passion of the Christ, say what?? ;)
* see more on the pdf guide
Rome
All roads lead to Rome, they say...well it turned out to be true in our case too. It is quite difficult to describe this city, though...So special, so full of history. Despite of all the tourists i still love it and this time even more because it snowed!!! It hadn´t snowed in ten years and even if everything was gone in less than 5 hours, we got to see the city all covered in white first thing in the morning.
Here some pictures of 2 beautiful luxury hotels, one classical, the other modern. You can find more on the pdf guide.
*see the pdf guide here for Rome hotels and instagrammable locations
So, i hope i took you too a colorful, virtual trip to the south of Italy. If you haven´t already, go visit all these places, they are even prettier in real life, i promise ;)
love,
i
