Well, it took a global pandemic, but I am FINALLY sharing some of my most favorite images from our trip to Italy last year! March 18 marked a year since we returned from our trip!

We are SO thankful for Mitchel’s dad being our tour guide when we travel on trips where he is working! He is just the best!

On this trip, we started in Pisa. We stayed here for 3 days and would drive to nearby cities and then return to Pisa at night.

Day 1- Pisa

On day 1, we were jet lagged, but stayed awake and explored the Leaning Tower of Pisa and some surrounding cute little streets! Where we stayed, Hotel Bologna, allowed us to walk around from place to place, which was nice when we wanted coffee or gelato! 😉

Day 2- Cinque Terre

On day 2 we went to Cinque Terre, or a string of 5 villages along the coast, near La Spezia, which is where we got on the train into Cinque Terre. In case you aren’t sure of the pronunciation of Cinque Terre, click here and you’ll never forget. You’ll probably recognize the famous colored houses and buildings along the coast in these photos! So pretty and coastal! I kept saying, this HAS to be where Charleston gets it’s color inspiration!

At the end of day 2, on our way back to Pisa from Cinque Terre, we stopped by Lucca, known for the well-preserved Renaissance walls encircling its historic city center and its cobblestone streets. So neat to see!

Day 3- Florence

On day 3, we went to Florence! Ah, Firenze! My absolute favorite place of our trip! SO much of what I was looking forward to about our trip was here! It just felt like what I dreamed Italy would be. SO much history and beauty! We climbed to the top of the Duomo of the Cathedral di Santa Maria del Fiore! Those stairs are no joke! I think I took a million pictures of the exterior, I could not get over the facade with soft pinks, mint, and ivory patterns and all of the breathtaking details!

We tried to go to see Michelangelo’s Statue of David, but we were there on a Monday and didn’t realize all the museum’s were closed on Mondays. 🙁 So we made a trip back later in the week! We also saw Ponte Vecchio bridge. The Uffizi Gallery was also closed, but we did get to walk by which was neat.

We walked all around to different, famous piazzas which was so neat!

Day 4- Venice

Venice is so beautiful! It is also very touristy. It was a neat place to spend a few hours, but I don’t think you really need a whole day or more than one day there, if you’re short on time. We made a last minute decision to take a gondola ride. We went through some tiny canals and waterways which was really neat! Right before leaving Venice to get back on the train, we rode a really neat, vintage boat! I have no clue if it had an official name, but it was really cool.

Day 5 – Volterra

On our way driving to Rome, we stopped in Volterra, which is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region. It was SO cold while we were there, but was so cute to explore! We went in the cutest coffee shop of our entire time in Italy! Definitely worth a stop if you’re in the area.

Day 5-7 Rome

Our last few days were in Rome! We saw Vatican City on our first day there but did not go inside St. Peter’s Basilica until the next day. We walked all around and did lots of exploring!

Some of my favorite parts of what we saw in Rome were the Raphael Rooms, it was so so neat to get to see the tapestries and paintings that I studied in Art history in college! Of course the Sistine Chapel was breathtaking, but they didn’t allow us to take photos, and I’m a rule follower. Ha!

We did a guided tour of the Colosseum and The Roman Forum. It was just surreal to see all of the ruins and hear more about the history of it all.

We saw the Pantheon, and the famous Trevi Fountain multiple times. We walked the Spanish Steps at Dawn and wow, so beautiful! We saw Caesar’s statue outside of the Forum on March 15! “Beware the Ides of March”

We also went to the Borghese Gallery and Gardens! SO many wonderful artworks in there and really cool history!

On our last morning in Rome, we went to some catacombs. We weren’t allowed to take photos in there but the gardens outside were fun! It was unbelievable to see the ancient burial places.

Then we traveled back to Florence to the Academia to see the Statue of David and more! Of course I had to get another peek of the Duomo! Then we drove back to Pisa for the night to pack up and leave the next day!