Category Archives: Explore Italy

How to Get Pompeii Tickets (and Skip the Line)

Updated October 2023 I have been to Pompeii several times, and I always manage to forget how large it is. Once you step inside, you realize that it really is the ruins of an entire ancient city. With Vesuvius looming in the background (now heavily monitored by scientists), you can imagine the level of eruption […]

Santa Marinella: Picturesque Beach near Rome

boat in the port at santa marinella

How does a weekend day trip to the beach sound? It’s especially wonderful during offseason, when there’s plenty of space on the sand and the water is almost exclusively yours to relish. The best part? Santa Marinella beach is just 45 minutes away from Rome by train! There are direct trains from Rome to the […]

Linate Airport to Milan: How to Get to and from the City Center

Text how to get from linate airport to milan layered on an image of an airport with a plane in the background

Located just 7 miles (11 km) outside of the city center, Linate Aiport is one of the three Milan airports and the closest airport to the city center. Linate is the second largest of the three Milan airports and the one which you are most likely to fly into if taking a flight within Italy. […]

Claudia’s Feast: Lunch at Agritourismo Parco dei Cimini near Viterbo

Most people think of Rome and imagine the empty ruins of the Forum or the aerial grandeur of St. Peter’s Basilica, but Rome is also filled with the sounds of screeching trams, car honks, and a never-ending stream of ambulances. If you want to get away from it all, you can retreat to an agriturismo […]

Farmer’s Markets in Rome: Speaking to Campagna Amica’s Pietro

man cutting prosciutto by hand at a farmer's market in Rome

Where did you last do your grocery shopping? Chances are, you probably went to a supermarket–I know I did, and so did many Italians. In 2016, there were some 30,000 supermarkets in Italy, and that number has only grown since.  Traditionally, Italians did their shopping at mercati rionali, open neighborhood markets usually held in the main square […]