Recommend a city!

[Treffie]

I've decided to visit northern Italy next month and have so far narrowed my choice of city down to Bergamo, mainly due to its proximity to the Alps, Switzerland and other northern Italian cities. What other cities do you recommend in the area? Thanks. :thumb001:

Bergamo

http://breaks-italian-lakes.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Bergamo__Lombardy__Italy.jpg
http://breaks-italian-lakes.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/bergamo.jpg
http://www.guideurope.eu/web/images/bergamo/bergamopiazzavecchia2.jpg

[Tyrrhenoi]

Verona and it's famous 'Arena'

http://sjakiespeer.web-log.nl/photos/uncategorized/arena_di_verona.jpg

http://www.icostanti-verona.com/img/verona.jpg

Verona is also the 'goldcity' of Italy - if you want to buy something special in gold - for your sweethart - that's the place to go. :thumb001:

[Susi]

http://petanqueandpastis.typepad.com/my_weblog/images/031_ravenna_small_dwd_1.jpg
Ravenna is nice.
http://www.turismo.ravenna.it/index.php?lang=2
http://www.hotelelite.it/imgevents/ravenna.jpg

http://worldsitetravellers.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/ravenna1.jpg

Here's a sort of old-ish times article on it: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/citybreaks/3482065/Ravenna-mesmerising-relics-of-Byzantine-brilliance.html

[Eldritch]

Well, any visit to northern Italy that doesn't include Venice is not a visit to northern Italy.

Trieste is also supposedly a very nice place.

[Susi]

Well, any visit to northern Italy that doesn't include Venice is not a visit to northern Italy.

Trieste is also supposedly a very nice place.

I thought Venice was sort of assumed if someone is going to northern Italy..

[Treffie]

Well, any visit to northern Italy that doesn't include Venice is not a visit to northern Italy.



Already been there. Too many tourists for my liking.

[Furlan]

If you would like to visit something special: Trieste :thumb001:

[Treffie]

If you would like to visit something special: Trieste :thumb001:

Pics please? :) Any particular places to visit there?

[SwordoftheVistula]

Venice is a tourist trap. The canals are cool, but that's about it. Florence is by far the best city north of Rome, if you have a chance to visit it, go there.

[Guapo]

Visit Genoa before the football season starts.

[Sahson]

Trieste

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11737229@N07/1240619481/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cataniamichele/2820528621/

[Treffie]

Venice is a tourist trap. The canals are cool, but that's about it. Florence is by far the best city north of Rome, if you have a chance to visit it, go there.

I've been told that Bologna is quite similar to Florence, but without the tourists.

[Tyrrhenoi]

I've been told that Bologna is quite similar to Florence, but without the tourists.

It's similar... but Florence will alway be Florence :) you should visit it :D
Siena is also very nice and near Florence:)

http://sils.pratt.edu/siena-piazzadelcampo.jpg

http://www.fallonhome.net/italy/siena/siena02.jpg

[Foxy]

It's similar... but Florence will alway be Florence :) you should visit it :D
Siena is also very nice and near Florence:)

http://sils.pratt.edu/siena-piazzadelcampo.jpg

http://www.fallonhome.net/italy/siena/siena02.jpg

Siena and Florence are central Italy. He asked for northern Italy. I could recommend Brescia but too many maghrebins there.

[Sahson]

Portofino is a nice village on the coast of liguria. You can also visit Savona, La spezia, and Finale Ligure.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Portofino52000.jpg

[Furlan]

Pics please? :) Any particular places to visit there?


http://castelli.qviaggi.it/images/stories/jreviews/195_castellomiramaretrieste_1194800432.jpg

http://www.mondodelgusto.it/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/trieste-piazza-dellunita-ditalia-sbuga-mondodelgusto-020.jpg

http://www.liberainformazione.org/img/trieste_copy_1.jpg

Beside Trieste you could visit also Udine:

http://www.carniaexpress.com/images/udine_paizzaliberta.jpg

http://www.udine20.it/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/udine1.jpg

http://www.chiaraconsiglia.it/wp-content/uploads/udine.jpg

Palmanova:
http://agriturismo.agraria.org/friuli-venezia-giulia/udine1.jpg

Venzone:
http://www.villanita.com/home/images/stories/fotogallery/29-venzone.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_xzW3oO3JEac/SFA83z4b6xI/AAAAAAAAAc0/xI_GASm7LeU/_DSC1311.JPG

[Loddfafner]

I would look for a copy of Michelin's Green Guide to Italy and see what cities and sites get 3 stars. They may not be the most helpful of guidebooks to bring with you as they seem to have 1920s French motorists in mind, but they are good for prioritization. One may have to adjust according to taste: I subtract 2 stars from seaside resorts, add one for castles and cathedrals (which the French tend to take for granted) and add 2 for neolithic monuments. Take one star for a well-known city as a warning that it might be an overrated hole; three for a place you never heard of is probably well worth a look even if it requires figuring out the local bus system.

Now if I were meandering around the Italian side of the Alps, I would go for the Dolomites and consider if the limestone formations there are the standard background for Renaissance paintings. I would stop in Bolzano in the German-speaking area, see if they actually still speak that language, and look for traces of a certain cello-maker. Lake Como is another possible focus. While in that area, I'd have to return to Milan to savour Italy's only real Gothic cathedral.

If you go to Trieste, you might consider Fiume which is not far from there and has a similar history although it is now the Croatian city of Rijeka and seems to have forgotten its moment of glory under D'Annunzio.

[San Galgano]

I've been told that Bologna is quite similar to Florence, but without the tourists.

There is nothing like Florence Ken.:thumb001:
That's why the Stendhal sindrome, is also called the Florence sindrome.:tongue
You will be not disappointed.

http://www.riccione-online.com/immagini/firenze.jpg

http://cache.virtualtourist.com/1455695-The_Uffizi-Florence.jpg

[San Galgano]

Siena and Florence are central Italy. He asked for northern Italy. I could recommend Brescia but too many maghrebins there.


Sometime i think the definition of Tuscany as central Italy is too simplistic.
http://www.ricercaitaliana.it/images/regioni/toscana_sel.gif

[San Galgano]

Some more pics of Tuscany:
http://cartellone.toscanaechiantinews.com/image.axd?picture=san+gimignano.jpg

http://www.mondimedievali.net/Rec/images/galgan04.jpg

http://www.sightseeing-rome.eu/Pisa/pisa%20%281%29.jpg

Least but not last:
http://www.santinosano.it/store/images/Sassicaia.jpg

[ikki]

go see the internet-famous "hairy trolls of palermo"? ;)

[Treffie]

Ok have decided - I'm off to Turin on the 21st. :thumb001:

[Motörhead Remember Me]

I've decided to visit northern Italy next month and have so far narrowed my choice of city down to Bergamo, mainly due to its proximity to the Alps, Switzerland and other northern Italian cities. What other cities do you recommend in the area? Thanks. :thumb001:

Bergamo

http://breaks-italian-lakes.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Bergamo__Lombardy__Italy.jpg
http://breaks-italian-lakes.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/bergamo.jpg
http://www.guideurope.eu/web/images/bergamo/bergamopiazzavecchia2.jpg

A Ryan Air vacation?

I've visited Bergamo and can recommend it. ++++
The town is just right in size and has some nice scenery as well as a few sights. But, it get's boring the third day...

Bergamo is perfect as a base to explore the surroundings.

Go there.

[Treffie]

A Ryan Air vacation?

Nooooo, I'm flying with BA. :thumbs up


I've visited Bergamo and can recommend it. ++++
The town is just right in size and has some nice scenery as well as a few sights. But, it get's boring the third day...

Bergamo is perfect as a base to explore the surroundings.

Go there.

I think that's why I decided not to go there in the end. Looked a fantastic place but a bit too small.

[Radojica]

Come to Serbia, I would be your host with pleasure, my home is yours too :thumbs. Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis, Pancevo...We could go through Roman Emperors route, I am sure you would love it. It's an hour and a half from Northern Italy by plane anyway and not expensive.

http://www.theapricity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11997

[Libertas]

Siena and Florence are central Italy. He asked for northern Italy. I could recommend Brescia but too many maghrebins there.

Pisa has the Campo dei Miracoli with the Leaning Tower and all, but avoid the stall holders. They are nearly all Third Worlders.

[SwordoftheVistula]

Pisa has the Campo dei Miracoli with the Leaning Tower and all, but avoid the stall holders. They are nearly all Third Worlders.

Just stay away from stall holders period, especially in the larger cities. A lot of the 'local handicrafts' they sell come from China.

Food is the one exception to this, you can get good locally raised food for cheap at these, for example corn in Romania or lamb in England.



The Dolomites are also good:

http://i26.tinypic.com/20zdzdz.jpg

[Gamera]

I would like to visit Turin as well.

[Loddfafner]

Just stay away from stall holders period, especially in the larger cities. A lot of the 'local handicrafts' they sell come from China.


A Taiwanese once told me about some friends back home who proudly showed off some souvenirs from a trip to Europe only to discover that their neighbors had made them.