Pre-Trip Planning
Congrats! You’ve booked A Rick Steves’ Italian My-Way Tour. For many including myself, this is a chance to experience La Dolce Vita or “The Sweet Life”. But before you depart there are several things must look into before your trip. Unlike other Rick Steves’ tours, this one is great for those who want to see things at their own pace rather than have their day planned. This means you are responsible for figuring out your itinerary at the different stops on your trip. But have no fear, this is where the fun begins and many great resources will give you a preview of what you can see on this amazing adventure you’re going embark on.
Research
Let the fun begin! One of my favorite things about an upcoming trip is researching and getting excited about the different sights that you will see when visiting somewhere new. Spending two weeks traveling and exploring Italy was no different. But it can be extremely easy to get overwhelmed by the number of different websites all providing information about what you need to see and what you should expect on your Italian adventure.
With that said, I highly recommend reading the Rick Steves’ guidebook. This is a highly reputable resource providing you with a ton of information about the different cities you will be visiting. It also goes into great detail about the different sights and what you should expect at each one.
Another fantastic resource is the Rick Steves’ TV show where he goes into great detail about different places and what you need to see in your limited time. This is also helpful because it gives you an idea of what you can expect before you travel there.
Here is a YouTube playlist of episodes from Rick’s show where he talks about different cities and regions in Italy and what you might experience on your trip.
The final helpful resource that I encourage you to check out is ricksteves.com. Here you will find a ton of valuable resources about each destination that you will see on your trip. The website has a fantastic forum that allows to connect with fellow travelers and hear about their experiences when traveling to Italy and what they recommend.
The website also has important information regarding your specific tour like where you will be staying at each one of your stops.
The final resource worth checking out is the Rick Steves’ Audio Europe App for iPhone and Android. This app is fantastic because it provides insights from local Italian tour guides and self-guided walking tours. It also links to things like travel lectures, and other helpful resources.
As you can see, I spent quite a bit of time going through and flagging my book so I could easily find it and review it later.
Making Reservations
After you’ve spent some time thinking about what you want to see on your trip it’s important to make reservations for these places. Many Italian sights like the Colosseum, the Forum, Doge’s Palace, and the Academia (home of the David) require reservations. If there are any specific places that you're hoping to see it is critical to book them in advance because you don’t want to spend large portions of your limited time waiting in lines. Your time is valuable especially since you will likely only have a day or two in each city.
What to Pack
What to pack is a personal decision and depends on the trip and what time of the year you’re traveling. Traveling to Italy in the middle of Summer will require completely different clothes than what I took in October. However, regardless of when you’re traveling it’s highly encouraged to pack light to maximize your trip. This is also critical because it ensures that your bags won’t get separated from you by the airline causing additional unwanted stress. This is also important because unlike in the U.S., you may need to walk several blocks to your hotel since most cities prohibit large tour buses in city centers.
Rick also has a fantastic video on his YouTube channel where he offers advice on what to pack for your upcoming trip.
“Packing light is essential for happy travel. Think about it, have you ever met anybody after five trips brags every year I pack heavier? Learn now or you’ll learn later the importance of being mobile with your luggage. Pack light!”
Main Bag
For my main bag, I used a TravelPro Maxlite 5 International Carry-On Rollaboard. This is my second time taking this lightweight bag on a long international trip. I’ve been very impressed by the build quality of this bag and I’m confident that it will last me quite a while. I’ve also discovered that it has plenty of space to pack enough clothes to make it through most of the trip especially if you use packing cubes.
Backpack
Most airlines will allow you to carry a second bag that will qualify as a personal item. As a photographer, I brought my Peak Design 30L Travel Backpack. I’ve owned a lot of different camera bags over the years and this is one of my favorites because I didn’t have to compromise the gear that I wanted to take with me. Many camera bags have space for a camera block on the inside. However, instead of using this to protect my gear, I used a Peak Design 10L Sling which doubled as my day bag allowing me to leave my backpack at the hotel.
I have also made a video discussing different camera slings and why I chose the Peak Design 10L Sling.
Taylor Tip!
Before leaving for Italy make sure your bags will fit on International flights since the overhead bins and under-seat spaces are often smaller than on domestic flights in the United States.