What is the best way to see Italy?
Warning: Be cautious of other internet posts that may contain outdated information. Italian Fix posts have been updated for the 2025 season.
Is it a rapid-fire visit to each major monument?
Is it clutching maps on street corners trying to “find stuff”?
Is it consulting Trip Advisor for every hotel decision?
Is it ingesting mediocre food cause you can’t read the menu properly?
I think there are better ways.
But you gotta shift your travel priorities.
You gotta stop trying to SEE Italy — cause you’ll die trying.
Instead, try to FEEL Italy.
Choose nuanced and experiential travel.
Choose FEELING Italy over SEEING Italy.
Because then you will never lose.
You just gain. You gain everlasting memories, friends that can’t wait to see you again and places that you want to return to with your lover. Because they made you feel good.
Travel (done right) can stoke your internal fire.
Travel can make the little ember inside of you burn brighter: it can remind you of life’s true priorities. You want to live well. You want to be inspired. You want to embrace an authentic vision of yourself. You want to love your job, your relationship, your family.
You want to be in love with your life.
Travel can remind you of that.
So, can a week in Italy change your life for the better? Absolutely. And I’m on a mission to make that happen for you.
I just spent three weeks in Italy.
It was incredible. No – better.
I was hosting a group of nine women in the Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera. I showed them how to Fall in Love as well as the beautiful nooks and crannies of a corner of the planet that was my playground for the two years that I lived in Italy with my Italian hubby.
The group of women was incredible. Most were strangers two weeks ago. But bonds were made and invitations swirled among them, “Come visit me! My house is your house”. I needed a tissue saying goodbye to each one of them. Seriously. Jackpot.
We stayed in the small seaside village of Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre in rooms with verandas carved from the steep hillsides with views of village life and grape terraces.
Many people don’t get off the train there. There are no big fancy hotels. No iconic Renaissance paintings. No Gucci, no Pucci, no Ferragamo. Just men watching boats in the harbour with deeply lined faces from a lifetime of hard work. Laundry hanging out of the windows. Geraniums’ stealing are what little space exists on balconies and in doorways. The travellers were fewer in number in Italy this year – Eurozone economic woes are on the lips of every shopkeeper in the country. In comparison to years past, we practically had the village to ourselves.
Here is a dropkick of the highlights of the trip
- Day one was spent in a hilltop village in the middle of nowhere. We tasted local wines with a sommelier and art lover and ate a lunch that never ended in her husband’s family home come kick-ass restaurant. Yes — a four-hour lunch is leisurely even by Italian standards. But jet lag needed to unfurl. And it did. Deliciously.
- A cooking class on our veranda with ravishing co-host and best friend Tim Mcdiarmid who runs her mini-empire of all things delicious and arty and beautiful out of San Antonio for the lucky peeps that get to eat at her Pop-Up restaurant. See the feature article on the Kitchn about this class.
- A cooking class in a family’s 17th-century villa they’ve had for generations. They have their own minuscule church, incredible views of surrounding hillside villages, cherry trees and a wisteria-covered patio. We made delicious things, like pesto with mortar and pestle with the best cooking teacher a gal could ever want: Alberto — a multilingual good looking gent who loved to cook while chatting about food, love and told us charming story after story about…..his kid (sorry ladies – sounded too good to be true didn’t it).
- A shopping trip to Genova. I scored local shopping queen Rosa Batelli to show us the coolest things in this totally gritty and beautiful city that most people skip in favour of the more famous Italian spots. One women (I’m not naming any names!) was so successful in her treasure hunt that she had to buy rolling luggage mid-day just to carry her bags around. Big laughs all around.
- What is a way to make a women feel totally gorgeous and special? Get her in front of the lens of Milan-based fashion photographer Filippo Mutani. Yes, he works with beautiful women everyday in cities around the world. And he also came to our village to capture each woman in her own exclusive portrait session. File that under once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Especially after he just scored a big Armani gig (caution: openly bragging). That just might make him incredibly hard to book for next year — which makes me wonder what magic I’ll have to work.
- Dinners eaten together every night like a big family. I loved that. It was a chance to connect, laugh, and be friends. And where else in your life do you get to do that nightly for a week with no dishes, no spouses, no TV and no kids? Eating meals together is battery charging. We need more of that.
- Outdoors. Fresh air. Every day. Hiking on trails. Walking in villages. Yoga class with Miranda. Workouts with Josh. No cars. No noise (except for those crazy morning church bells). Steep cliffs overlooking turquoise seas. And more stairs than you thought possible. Breathing is good.
- The whole week was captured by the massively talented photographer Leela Cyd Ross. See her stunning trip photos here. Her super feminine and optimistic aesthetic was a perfect match for the Italian Fix brand and watching her work from dawn to dusk as our photographer was incredible. If you like her style then you won’t want to miss next year’s trips. That’s all I’m going to say for now.
Want more insider intel on discovering Italy? Here are the solutions we provide:
- You can join one of my boutique group trips. It’s a week of heaven with zero stress and I plan the whole shebang. Click here to read more.
- Check out Gigi Guides, our digital guidebook. It’s chock-full of insider recommendations for the Cinque Terre, Venice, Rome and Florence. (More cities coming soon too!)
- We offer City Maps of Cinque Terre, Florence, Rome & Venice. Instant access to a pre-loaded Google map with insider suggestions.
- Planorama a 14-day trip planning boot camp. Plan your Italy trip with our guidance. Your timeline, your budget, our expertise.
- Don’t forget to join the mailing list to be the first to know about future trips we run.
Can a week in Italy change other people’s lives too? Yes! We are proud to support entrepreneurs in developing economies. A percentage of sales from this trip have been donated to fund small business loans for the working poor through Kiva.org
Thanks for checking out our blog!
Are you interested in travelling to the Cinque Terre with us on a current trip?
Check out our Tours of the Cinque Terre HERE!
(We’ve also got tours in Florence)
We’d love to see you in Italy!
Thank you for encapsulating THE TRIP for the 6,840,506,994 of us that weren’t there with you!!! I can imagine just how hella much fun you all had and the depth of the connections made. Delicious. Congratulations Bianca on making your dream a reality and to the rest of the entourage…aren’t you so happy you were there?!? I’m sure Italia is a tiny bit quieter … oh wait …my sister should be landing there any minute. (btw her travel itinerary also booked by Italian Fix)
Hi Gillian,
Thanks for stopping by!
Yes, the Cinque Terre is a little quieter with us all gone now. And less good looking!
xx Bianca
Sounds like it was just as much fun as I thought it would be!! Sooo sorry I couldn’t have been there too! Maybe next year……
Ciao!
I’ll save you a spot! Thanks for your comments.
xx Bianca
I’ve traveled Italy through two time frames in my life…the first as a single backpacker in my 20’s and then with my Italian husband and two young children in my 40’s. We bought a house in the mountains and renovated. Living a local life showed me Italy in an earthy intimate way.
Both times I saw beyond the tourist Italy to the heart of this passionate country. I totally agree with all you say and am sure that your group got to see the Italy that I know and love. I’m off to explore your post further, ciao lisa
Lisa,
Thanks for coming over to my (blog) house.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I can only imagine how many adventures you’ve had exploring Italy as traveller and resident. And yes, just like me, your husband is Italian so you “live” with Italy no matter what country you call home.
xx Bianca
What a beautiful post. I am so honored to have been part of this trip. Amazing things happened and we definitely all fell in love. With Italy, with each other, with many many things…LOVE!
Tim!
I am so honoured you could be a part of it and I can’t wait till next year! Till then, Bianca
Sounds amazing! Better than Eat, Pray, Love! The idea of culinary lessons in Italy is as close to Heaven as we can get…
Hi Charu,
Tim is a mega talent. Every time she cooks a meal somebody is just raving. You hear things like…”best meal of my life”, “oh my god i’m gonna die if i can’t eat those glazed carrots everyday” and all sorts of passionate needing for more.
Tim will be coming back to Italy with me and showing you her best recipes and how to rock your own kitchen. here class is outdoors on the incredible massive deck of our hotel with views of the entire village and the terraced hillsides.
We also have an incredible opportunity to eat a a local villagers home. He is known in the village for making great eats and him and his dad make some of the best local wine. He just happens to be one of my dear friends, has a beautiful house near the castle and had invited me and all my guests to have a cooking lesson and dinner to follow. Find that opportunity here.
Hope to see you there Charu.
xx Bianca
Are there are better places to go than Cinque Terre in March?
Hi Bianca! I’ve been reading all of your blog posts and I’m so excited to plan my trip to Italy for spring break. I’m currently studying in Dublin, but two of my girlfriends and I want to spend our 11 day, 10 night trip in Italy from February 26th to March 8th. We want to hit Rome, Florence, and Venice for sure, but were considering going somewhere else for a night at some point, possibly by the coast (hence why I was googling “Cinque Terre” and found your blog). I was wondering if you could give me any insight on this, and if you thought it was worth it to head to Cinque Terre during that time of the year, etc. Thanks so much! X
Melissa,
Awesome!
I don’t think heading to the Cinque Terre for one night is the wisest with your current itinerary, unless you would stay for 2 nights or more. The train with your plans would look like this: Rome – Florence – Venice – back to Florence (that’s how the train runs). If you add Cinque Terre for one night that would be north, instead of south back to Rome — so why not head back to Rome and hit the Roman coast instead?
Bianca
What I like about countries like Italy is that it is not so modern it keeps its great heritage which makes Italy seem beautiful and different to other countries, although there are some modern town and cities like Eur which I don’t like but compared to other countries it is good which have become too modern and all look more or less the same.
Tomas,
Thanks for your comment.
Bianca
Ciao Bianca!
When is your next trip to the Cinque Terra region?
Is the end of September a good time to go?
Thank you!
Annie
plese help me to come.