As you may have guessed from the title of this post, I am no seasoned Italy traveler. I have been there once and we only did 3 cities – Rome, Florence, and Pisa. I’m not here to give you professional tips, I am certainly not qualified for that. Instead, I hope to give you the perspective of a a newbie. Share the things that surprised me most. Things that probably wouldn’t phase a pro or local, but stuck out to me as a first-timer. Hopefully this will be akin to picking your best friends brain who just got back from a trip!

Another reason I’m sharing my perspective is because I’m an easily overstimulated person. I don’t particularly like that about myself, but I know that if I just try to ignore it I’ll probably end up breaking down halfway through a trip and locking myself in the hotel room for a day (which is definitely not what I want). So instead of letting it hold me back, I try to be conscious of it and manage it the best I can. I wanted to share my experience so others who struggle with similar issues can have a heads up too. Sometimes just knowing what’s coming can help manage expectations and feel more prepared.

Disclosure – This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission from.

Quick takeaways 

I know, sometimes you don’t want to read through a wordy post – that’s okay! Here’s my main thoughts distilled down. Keep reading to get the full breakdown on each point.

• The traffic in the big cities is hectic, especially as a pedestrian. You may feel like you’re fighting crowds of not just tourists, but cars, motorcycles, scooters, and bikes everywhere. It definitely has a different feeling than traffic in the states!
• Where you stay can make a big difference. Spend the time to find the right location for your needs.
• A good tour is often worth the investment – book them early!
• Public bathrooms almost always require euros to use, so make sure you have coins on hand.

The traffic 

We’ll start off with something that surprised me the most. Having lived and worked in Philly for years, and spent plenty of time in places like New York, Miami and Vegas, I thought I knew crazy traffic, busy sidewalks, and aggressive drivers. But I was wrong. Every taxi ride we took in Italy put New York City cab drivers to shame. Every time we were in a car I felt my vertigo kick in.

Personally, you couldn’t pay me to rent or have a car in Rome. Not only can you walk to everything if you stay centrally (which feels well worth the investment to me), but driving looked incredibly stressful. The thing about walking in Rome as a pedestrian is that it’s not as simple as modern big cities. The picturesque old roads are small and often don’t even have a sidewalk. Some of the alleys are so tiny it seems like it would be impossible to even fit a car down, but they somehow do.

Areas that feel like they would be pedestrian only almost never actually are (although at certain times of the year they apparently do). Cars will even drive right through the tourist packed piazza in front of the pantheon. You’ll regularly (if not constantly) find a car coming up behind you. In Rome it generally wasn’t too bad, cars would just slowly creep behind you until you noticed and found a way to get out of the way (which can be hard in big crowds). However, In Florence we felt like the car were much more aggressive and would come absolutely flying out of no where at times, and there were almost no sidewalk to escape to. 

Also, the crosswalk signals on the bigger roads often felt very quick. There are spots, like in front of The Alter of the Fatherland, that are incredibly busy but have no signals at all – you just have to go. We always tried to spot a local and follow their lead when trying to cross at those cross walks. 

I know it sounds like I’m a country bumpkin afraid of traffic, but I assure you, I am not even phased by traffic in the big US cities. I don’t bat an eye about walking through Times Square or the dirt bikes that fly down Columbus Blvd in Philly, but Italy’s traffic felt completely different and was one of the biggest surprises of our trip.

Location, Location, Location

During our trip to Italy we visited Rome, Florence, and Pisa. From our experience, and from talking with friends who have traveled through Italy, I feel confident in saying that thoughtfully choosing where you stay in each city can make a big impact. (This is pretty true of most big cities anywhere, but it felt particularly true in Italy vs our US travels.

While in Rome our hotel was in the heart of the downtown, but on a quiet back street. We were almost directly between the Vatican and the Colosseum (about a 25 minute walk from each), and just a few streets away from good food. We absolutely loved the location and the hotel (which certainly wasn’t cheap, but we’re really glad we invested in it looking back). 

Alternatively, we stayed at an Air BnB in Florence that we were both really disappointed in. The space itself was poorly designed, the wifi barely worked, and it was next to a restaurant so I heard dishes clanking all night long. It was also on a back street, but this one had a lot more traffic on it, and zero sidewalks, so even stepping out of the front door felt a little hectic. I try not to let it taint our experience of Florence, but I do wonder if I’d feel more excited to go back if it hadn’t been for where we stayed.

We are generally not late night party people. We’re the nerds who are genuinely excited to see the sights and learn the history. I am also highly unpleasant when I don’t get descent sleep, so I deeply appreciate a quiet hotel. What’s most important to us is being in walking distance to the sights, good food, and being able to fully relax at the end of the day. You may love to go out late and check out the party scene, good for you! But in that case you may be bored at the hotels we love. 

My point is, you want to carefully consider your priorities when traveling and use those to research the best spot for you. Read reviews and look for people with similar needs and see what they say. I really do feel it’s worth investing both the time and money to find the right spot – it can make a big difference on your overall feeling of the trip. It’s a shame to spent the time and money and then getting all the way there and hating the experience because you stayed someplace that didn’t work for you.

Plan your tours early 

If you’re anything like me you may be tempted to think you don’t need to do tours. When we travel we generally prefer to wander a city and self-guide through museums and sites, but while researching I quickly realized we’d miss out on a lot in Rome if we didn’t book tours. Not only is there so much history to each site, but tours can also save you hours by letting you skip the general public line. Especially in a city with seemingly endless things to do, just the time saved can be worth it.

Of course, tours aren’t cheap when you’re talking about big spots like the Vatican and Colosseum. There are plenty of more affordable tours that still offer “skip the line” and they may be a great option if you’re not really that interested in those places (maybe you just want to cross them off your bucket list – that’s fine!), or you don’t mind big groups. 

I mentioned before, traveling can often be a lot for me to take in, and I hate to travel all that way and feel like I’m being rushed through something I’ve waited my whole life to see and may never get to again. Big crowds can stress me out and cause me to rush and not actually pay attention. After research we decided it was worth it to invest in the small group and special access when it was available. 

We were able to do the early access tour at the Vatican. It was a small group (12 people or less), and we were able to get in nearly an hour before the general public. The only other people there were other limited groups (some rooms were still busy, but we never felt like we were packed in there). We were also able to be let into a few special rooms that are generally not open to the public. Our tour guide said that that typically during public hours it’s so packed that you can’t even see the floor!

In Florence we booked the hidden terrace tour at the Duomo. At first I thought it may not have been worth it, but I was so wrong! Once we went in the church we got to go in a separate entrance and take it in from a private spot with just our little group. We climbed about 3/4 of the way to the top and got to spend a good amount of time on a terrace not open to the public with an amazing view of the city! 

Unfortunately, the underground tour of the colosseum was already sold out when I went to book. We were able to book the arena floor tour, which was still more limited and was also very cool to see! We also went through the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Our tour was great, but we both agreed we would have gladly spent the extra to do the underground if it had bee available.

Another note about tours? Get there early. Like really early. Until you see it, it’s hard to explain how many different tours are starting at once, especially in front of the Colosseum. Often the meeting places are somewhat vague too, which makes it hard to figure out which one is yours. For our colosseum tour we had to be escorted to catch up with the group when we couldn’t find the meeting spot (thankfully the tour company was very kind and helpful). 

The cost of bathrooms

Okay, maybe this is weird? But something that gives me a little anxiety when traveling is not having any idea where to find a bathroom. Rome actually does have many public bathrooms, most of which you can find by searching on google maps (yay!). But here’s the thing – almost all the bathrooms we came across cost a euro to use. From what I understand now, this is common across most of Europe, but we didn’t know that before we went.

In general paying for things in Rome was easy using our credit card (that does free exchange – make sure you check yours before going!), trying to use the bathroom was the first time we actually needed euros. It’s not fun to try to figure out the best way to get euros out when you already need to use the bathroom. Do yourself a favor and get some from the start and have them on hand.