September….our last month in Europe before Jess’s tourist visa for Europe came to an end. So we spent the month ticking off the bucket list destinations (read: “Jess’s bucket list destinations” Haha)
Here’s a little video of our time in Italy, Paris and London – 3 weeks of travel in 3 minutes. Watch in HD.
As a side note, we were able to extend our whole time in Europe over the standard 90 days allowed by visiting non-Schengen countries, which don’t count toward the 90 day tourist visa limit. These countries include Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro and United Kingdom. The Schengen Short-Term Visa Calculator helped us work out the final date Jess could stay in the Schengen region of Europe until.
Italy trip – 4th to 13th September 2017 🇮🇹
Nearing the end of our time in Europe, thanks to my time-limited Tourist Visa (not!), Italy was one of the countries I knew I wanted to visit before leaving – ’cause what 3-month trip to Europe isn’t complete without a visit to Italy, right?! Although Pavel had already visited several times in the past, it was my first trip to Italy…but definitely won’t be my last! From the rich culture, amazing food and wine, fascinating history, and atmospheric places, it’s not hard to fall head over heels in love with this country from a sensory overload. Although our time there was only enough to skim the surface, we still managed to get a taste of a variety of cities, coastal towns and villages.
We arrived in Italy with a rough idea of the places we wanted to see, but no set itinerary in place. All we had booked was the flight into Venice, flight out from Naples 10 days later, and the first two nights’ accomodation in a hotel in Venice. Our, accomodation in Venice is pricey if you want to stay amongst the action – always book in advance! After our extensive road trips around The Balkans and Norway in July and August, we wanted a break from driving, so opted for the public transport option to get around the country. We had researched extensively the option of using a Eurorail pass as this was suggested by some friends in the past, but with very little idea where we’d be from day-to-day, and with the need to keep our “plans” flexible, we decided against Eurorail. We ended up using the bus company Flixbus the majority of the time, even though the bus routes take slightly longer than trains. But our bus seats were usually booked only the night before (but for a reasonable price!), there was free WIFI onboard each bus journey, and when you’re lucky enough to get seats up the front of the bus (like the cool kids we are, ha!), you get the best views all the way. Bus-ing around Italy, from our experience, is definitely an option we’d recommend.
Below are some of the experiences from the places we managed to visit (see map below), with a few lessons we learned along the way!
Venice (A)
This was one of my favourite places, not just of our time in Italy, but also our whole time in Europe. Not being a huge “concrete jungle” fan, there aren’t many cities that feature high on my “faves” list, but Venice has that something special that sets it apart. I’m not talking about the smells that Venice is known (or infamous for)…luckily, we didn’t experience much of that being there outside of the Summer season. We were so intrigued by this city built amongst canals and over 100 islands. We later learned that the original foundations for the buildings of Venice were wooden stakes and wooden platforms, which have surprisingly lasted the test of time.
Venice feels like a life-size labyrinth of narrow alleyways, bustling canals and arched bridges, but it’s the kind of place you love getting lost in. It’s not just the stunning and unique sights that will lose you, but the atmosphere too – this city is full of it. Although you don’t have the convenience of driving around the streets in your car, that also makes it the beauty of truly exploring and taking in every bit of the city at a slower pace – by foot, boat or gondola. There’s no shortage of shop windows filled with traditional Venetian masks and costumes, Murano glass products and Italian baked treats, atmospheric restaurants along the canals to enjoy traditional cuisine with a view, and gelato stores on every street to satisfy your sweet tooth.
This is where I first developed a love of the drink, Spritz Veneziano, a traditional aperitif drink in Northeast Italy. The same can’t be said for Campari Orange though – not a fan! We also tried for the first (and most likely last time) a nut based confection called Croccante – it’s delicious, but you’d better have strong teeth before chomping into one of them!
We decided against a gondola ride after discovering the hefty prices charged (80€ for 30 mins or 100€ for one hour – a bit much for our backpacker budget!), so instead took the vaporetto (public ferry – think: public bus on water) around the canals we hadn’t already walked before for 15€. As with most of Italy, there’s no shortage of fascinating historical buildings to discover and learn about.
Florence (B)
We only had a stopover in Florence for a day, with it being on the way to Cinque Terre. A day was probably long enough here for us though, as the main attractions of the city are historical galleries and museums, which don’t feature that highly on our must-see list, particularly when on a budget. Sorry giant naked David statue, perhaps we’ll visit you on a future trip to Florence. The city is nothing short of stunning though, with its striking architecture and marble statues depicting historical moments. We started our visit with a short walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo for a panoramic view of the city filled with terracotta roofs and towering cathedrals dominating the skyline.
The standout building is the famous il Duomo cathedral with its red brick domed roofs – definitely worth checking out from close up for the detail put into the design and architecture. Just the sheer size of it is incredible too. And to think it was built in the 14th century!
Walking through the city, you can’t help but be tempted by the endless gelato and sweets stores. A display of pistachio cannoli caught my eye in a store nearby the river. Best. Cannoli. Ever.
Pisa (C)
Again, it was a quick stopover here as well (just a few hours), with it being on the way to Cinque Terre. Of course, we were here for the oh-so-touristy shot with the Leaning Tower of Pisa, along with hundreds of other tourists all in the same arms-forward, lunge pose. Pretty amusing sight, actually!
La Spezia/Cinque Terre (D)
We only spent a day visiting Cinque Terre, but wish it had been longer (total regret!). Due to our last minute plans, we weren’t able to find any reasonably priced accommodation in any of the five Cinque Terre villages (2nd regret!), so ended up staying at the closest city, La Spezia, the night before our trip to Cinque Terre. We woke up early the next day to try to beat all the tourists to the train station for Cinque Terre, but many tourists had already beat us there! We ended up waiting for about 40 minutes in line to buy our Cinque Terre passes (3rd regret – we should have bought them the afternoon before when we first arrived to La Spezia and the queue was empty).
The Cinque Terre pass essentially gets you a permit to hike the tracks between the five villages of Cinque Terre, free WIFI and use of the toilet at the train stations, and unlimited trains between between the villages and back to La Spezia. Due to our limited time set aside for Cinque Terre, we decided to skip the northernmost village, Monterosso, and just do the remaining four.
Starting with Vernazza, we hiked the short trail to the next village, Corniglia. Unfortunately, this was where our hiking ended as the trails from Corniglia to Manarola and Riomaggiore are currently closed long-term for maintenance. Although the short hike we did was scenic, the views along the way are comparable to Noosa Coastal Track on the Sunny Coast (Aus), but not any nicer, in our opinion. The best part of the track was within 500 metres or so from the village when you get views from afar of the multi-coloured hillside buildings and some great photo opportunities.
We spent our time in the villages wandering the narrow streets, climbing up and down stairways discovering hidden gems of old houses, alleyways and spectacular views from different angles. Although the endless stair and hill climbing does get a little exhausting, it’s the best way to get a full experience of these villages.
After the walking, we rewarded ourselves with a cold Birra Moretti beer and serving of fresh calamari. Our favourite villages visited were Manarola and Riomaggiore, probably the most beautiful in our eyes. Both seemed to have better swimming spots too, with plenty of rocks to jump off into the water. We were both very envious of the people sunbaking and cooling off in the water on the hot sunny day we were there! We will have to save an overnighter and swim at Manarola or Riomaggiore for a future trip to Italy, I guess!
We did seem to get one thing right though starting our journey from the north and working our way down south. We noticed there were always quite a lot more people on the other side of the train tracks. When you’ve been in such a tourist-packed location for a while, any reduction in tourist numbers is a bonus!
Rome (E)
Although Pav had been to Rome before, it was my first time, so we spent our two days there covering all the touristy famous landmarks and attractions, including the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Altar of the Fatherland (“Altare della Patria”) and Piazza Navona. We were lucky enough to have a great accomodation host (through Booking.com) who gave us an easy-to-follow map of Rome and a suggested plan of attack for seeing the main attractions, which we covered by a mix of Metro and by foot.
This was probably my second favourite city that we visited. It was an incredible experience to walk through a modern city and randomly stumble across such well-preserved Ancient Roman ruins on your path. So much of the ancient history has been kept alive in the city and is easily on display for the public to see without going behind museum doors. It was very much like open-air museum, which to me, gave Rome a bit more character and atmosphere than other cities.
When we visited the Colosseum, we expected the lines to be long, but not as long as what they actually were when we arrived. It was madness! With no tickets pre-purchased, it wasn’t looking too good for us. Looking at despair at the masses of people continually adding to the long queue, we were instantly bombarded with people offering “skip the queue” tickets. Always sceptical of tourist “scams”, we sussed it out through a Google search on our phone, which came up with a Trip Advisor forum discussion saying that these people essentially charge a premium for “skip the line” tickets which are essentially just tickets bought online from the official website (although the official website isn’t that easy to find). We confirmed with one of the Colosseum staff members supervising the ticket lines that if we purchased our tickets online we could walk straight through to the entry, and it was true. So that’s what we did. Ten minutes later, we had our audio guide set and were in the Colosseum ready to explore. We couldn’t believe how easy it was to dodge the one hour plus queue outside the Colosseum, and were so thankful to had mobile data on the go! We might be under-prepared in some ways, but we make up for it sometimes!
The Colosseum was undoubtedly worth the money for a visit inside, and paying a little extra for the audio guide made it all the more meaningful. The history being this place is incredible. We shared one audio set between the two of us and it worked perfectly fine. The added bonus of the Colosseum tickets was free entry to the Roman Forum ancient ruins adjacent to the Colosseum, which we visited that same day too.
That day was filled with the type of ancient history we love seeing – the type that has stayed in its exact location since it was first created, and apart from wear-and-tear and scars from a historical battle or two, has remained as well-preserved as possible to this day.
Amalfi Coast (F)
We were up early the morning of my 30th birthday to catch our bus for the Amalfi Coast. Our timing was good as it started to storm heavily as we were walking to the bus station – not the kind of weather you’d like to be exploring Rome by foot in. Although most of the day was spent on buses, it was well worth it for the final destination – the small town of Minori on the Amalfi Coast.
For anyone who has done the Amalfi Coast, they would well and truly understand this coastal road is no easy road to travel by any form of vehicle. It is narrow, it is windy, and during the busy periods, terribly crowded and slow.
After our Flix Bus arrived in the nearby major city of Salerno, we took a local public bus for the Amalfi Coast, which we ended up waiting in line for for almost two hours. Not only are the buses typically delayed and the queues super long, but when you have local Italians in the queue who immediately run to the start of the line and push their way onto the bus as soon as it arrives, it makes for a very long slow day. Despite that, we were delighted to arrive at our beautiful accomodation in Minori, which we had paid slightly more for to have coastal views (totally worth it though!)
As with most buildings on the Amalfi Coast, our hotel was built on the side of a hill, so quite a few narrow stairways were climbed to get there. As with most tough climbs though, the views at the end are usually spectacular! With it being my birthday, Pavel had secretly booked us a three-course dinner at a restaurant called Sal De Riso just a short stroll from our hotel. After marvelling at the incredible array of intricately-decorated sweets and baked goods on display in the restaurant, I soon learned that the place is owned by one of Italy’s most renowned pastry chefs, Salvatore De Riso, who happened to be walking around the restaurant greeting and chatting to customers. The love put into his restaurant is evident in the food – it was one of the best meals we had of our time in Italy. Highly recommended! I was even serenaded with the Happy Birthday tune by him as he brought out a slice of beautifully decorated chocolate mousse cake with candles after our main meals. Top guy!
Unfortunately, we experienced a lot of overcast, stormy weather during our time on the Amalfi Coast. It was far from the typical sun-soaking beach holiday you’d expect on the famed coast – the sea was so rough that the water looked like chocolate milk and the ferries which typically operate between the various coastal towns were out-of-action. This added even more load to the already busy roads and public buses.
We spent our first full day seeking shelter from the rain in our hotel room, only venturing out for lunch, which was at another spectacular restaurant near our hotel called Giardiniello. On the second day, we ventured out to explore the two more popular coastal towns, Amalfi and Positano. Both towns were stunning and oozed of typical Italian coastal charm, Positano probably more so with the buildings just that bit more colourful and splashes of perfectly manicured trees and flowers decorating the streets.
Getting to and from, and between, these towns though was an absolute nightmare. With the option of ferries unavailable, the public buses were on overload. After waiting about an hour in the long queues just to get on a bus, we were packed in like sardines – though none of the passengers cared after waiting that long just to get on! Seems like their bus safety standards are extremely lax on the Amalfi Coast.
We would have loved to have visited the town of Ravello, which was recommended on several travel sites and by a friend, but the weather wasn’t on our side this time.
Pompeii (G)
With our flight out of Italy departing from Naples, we stopped in at Pompeii on the way back up north. What intrigued me about Pompeii was having learned about it in Year 8 History class as the Ancient Roman city that was completely wiped out by one of the most deadly volcanic eruptions in history. We just had to see it for ourselves!
With the train station which we’d arrived at being right near the entrance of the ruins of Pompeii, we headed straight for the ticket box. With both of us carrying small backpacks, we had some trouble getting in though – no backpacks allowed in the site. Luckily, we managed to convince the ticket lady that we needed to take our backpacks as our accommodation was on the other side of the ruin site and it would be a big hassle to come back just for our bags. We just had to assure the Security guy that we wouldn’t knock any of the ruins with our backpacks, and we were good to go in.
The ruin site itself was incredibly vast, with a large portion of it so well-preserved. A full day could easily be spent here exploring each section of the ancient city. To start with, we watched an introductory video showing at the on-site museum, which gave some great insight into the various sections of the town (as determined from archeological findings) and how the people of ancient Pompeii lived before the fatal eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD. With market places, public baths, a courthouse, extravagant homes with courtyards for the wealthy, and even brothels, it seemed that life in Pompeii almost 2,000 years ago was surprisingly advanced. As we were short on time while visiting Pompeii, we didn’t opt for the audio guide when purchasing our tickets. We soon realised after entering the site how big it actually was – having an audio guide probably would have been helpful to save us from getting slightly lost amongst the maze of ruins.
As a side tip, we took a train from Sorrento to Pompeii – this seemed to be the easiest and cost-effective option, but it also looked like we travelled in the right order too. We had hardly anyone on our train, but when we arrived at the Pompeii train station, there were loads of tourists waiting to board the train for the Amalfi Coast. May have been a coincidence, but any tip to avoid hoards of tourists is a good tip, we say!
Mount Vesuvius
As a follow up from our Pompeii ruins discovery, we took a half-day trip by local bus to visit the infamous Mount Vesuvius the next day. The bus stop was outside the Pompeii ruins and tickets are bought aboard the bus which roughly runs every 50 minutes – a very simple process, and also the cheapest way to get to Mount Vesuvius. The bus ride took about 40 minutes, dropping us at the ticket office to enter the Mount Vesuvius trail up to the volcano rim. After passing through the ticket barrier, it’s a steep but gentle walk of about 20 minutes up a gravel path to the crater rim. Included in the entry ticket is a scheduled tour by a volcanology guide, so we joined in on one of these guided talks as we were near the top. The tour only lasts for approx. 10 minutes, but is very informative, if you manage to understand the guide’s very thick Italian accent! I’m usually pretty good with deciphering accents, but at times I wondered whether our guide was speaking Italian or English.
From the crater rim, there’s not only great views inside the crater, but also of the surrounding Bay and City of Naples. We even spotted a few clouds of smoke seeping out from inside the crater, which alarmed us slightly. Even though it is the only active volcano in mainland Europe, we were assured it is totally safe to visit. Well worth the trip if you have a free half-day in the Naples area!
Naples (H)
With our flight departing from Naples, we only had time to get to the airport there and missed out on any actual sightseeing unfortunately. From what we saw on the way to the airport though, the city was bedlam – cars and traffic in all directions, and a lot more rubbish on the streets than other parts of Italy we had visited. We’ll have to save our search for the beauty of Naples for another trip…
Paris trip – 13th to 17th September 2017 🇫🇷
Again, with it being Jess’s first time in Paris, we hit all the major attractions during our short four day stay, including Eiffel Tower, Trocadero, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées, Montemarte, Notre Dame, The Louvre, walk along the River Seine, Luxembourg Gardens, and Disneyland Paris.
Coming straight from sunny Italy, we underestimated how cold Paris would be in mid-September and only packed one set of “winter” clothes. It also didn’t help that it rained constantly on-and-off the four days we were there, which “dampened” our plans somewhat. Otherwise, our short stay there exploring the city lived up to the expectations – romantic and magical!
Apart from the sights, one of the absolute highlights of our trip was our brekky trips to our local bakery called Banette. Hands down, the BEST croissants and pastries we’ve ever had! The lady serving us there each day was an absolute gem too. Definitely a perfect way to start our days in Paris.
Here’s a few fave photos of our mini-trip…
London trip – 20th to 24th September 2017 🇬🇧
To stretch out our time in Europe a little more, we finished our Euro trip with a few days in London (non-Schengen area not counting towards Jess’s tourist visa day limit). With our next destination from Europe being Canada, we also worked out that it was cheaper to fly out of London than other European countries. We were also lucky enough to be hosted by Pav’s childhood friend, Stan, during our stay, who also showed us around some of the main sights and good local pubs.
Some of the highlights of our time in London include our trips with Stan to the local Wetherspoon pub for some great local brew and British food, bike riding around the hectic streets, Mamma Mia show at West End and the incredibly huge British Museum (which was absolutely free)!
Here’s a few fave photos from our time there…
