Now more than ever, we Americans are head-over-heels for Italy. Wild for the language and landscape, food and wine, fashion, and art, we overstuff our giant rolly-bags and set off in hot pursuit of la dolce vita, carrying along weighty itineraries and expectations. And we’re far from alone in this passion. Travel industry experts predict this will be a record-breaking summer for Italian travel, even topping last year’s historic numbers. With this rush comes more frequent news headlines illustrating the significant issues at the heart of modern tourism – Venice bans large tour groups! Florence restricts short-term rentals! Rome fines tourists sitting on Spanish Steps!
Those dreaming of an Italian vacation are left to wonder: In this era of over-tourism, do we threaten to crush the very places and way of life we adore?
Many Italians would shrug their shoulders, sigh, and say allora, in response. This lyrical word implies that the answers are as complex and layered as the centuries-old façades gracing every town piazza. As a permanent resident in Tuscany, I’m privileged to have a window view onto the essential cultural exchange that tourism brings to one of those swoon-worthy central squares. Every day, I witness how Italy welcomes visitors with unfaltering gusto, making it clear that the love affair is reciprocal, even when it’s complicated.
So how can we as travelers play a role in counteracting over-tourism and creating a new era of wanderlust? Among the many lessons I’m learning through immersion in Italian ways is that sometimes these big, burly problems are best addressed through small, mindful steps. Being aware of the impact we make through our individual choices is the first step. Let’s call it open-eyes-tourism.
In that spirit, I offer you a few suggestions for planning your dream trip with sustainability as your guide and respect, gratitude, and admiration as your companions. There’s nothing ground-breaking here, only simple ideas with the power to transform your travel experience and provide a more soul-filling, less stressful holiday.
It’s a win-win proposition for you and the Italy you love.
Delight in the off-seasons.
A friend recently asked for my thoughts on his tentative itinerary for mid-July. “I want to avoid crowds,” he was sure to add. Allora, I replied.
If summer is your only window for travel, be sure to bring along ample patience and good humor for enduring heat and hordes, but also consider exploring a less pulsating area. For example, what could be dreamier than weeklong immersion amongst the green vines of prosecco country? August 13 happens to be International Prosecco Day, just saying.
For those with flexibility to travel in another season, not only will you help to spread out the tourism ripples, you will also find places and people more relaxed and welcoming. Autumn is when locals come out to play, retaking their town squares in celebration of harvest season. Villages light up with festivals celebrating local produce and specialties, while prices plummet for luxury accommodations and an atmosphere of relaxation and rejuvenation prevails.
December is simply dazzling. Holiday spirit overflows with Christmas markets, lighting ceremonies, parades, and free concerts in even the tiniest villages. Ski season runs from December to April and with February comes the pageantry of carnival to towns throughout the country. As spring flowers emerge, an abundance of walking and cycling offerings hit their stride.
Embrace smallness.
Yesterday while walking to an appointment, I found myself stuck behind a bottleneck of thirty to forty tourists on the street where I live. Mi scusi, I said, adding, Excuse me, please for good measure. That’s when I realized every ear was plugged with earphones. They couldn’t hear my plea, nor anything else happening around them. Shimming around the group, I soon spotted the tour guide yelling into a microphone about the glories of Lucca’s past, while leading her flock obliviously through the vibrant, fascinating present.
More than being inconvenient for people who live in a city, honestly, this just doesn’t look like that much fun. Whereas small group tour guides can serve as your conduit to a culture, providing invaluable insight and connection. Search out local guides who offer tailored experiences, and, for the love of all that’s beautiful, say no to megaphone experiences.
Another way to embrace smallness is by exploring alternative lodging like Italy’s acclaimed albergo diffuso offering boutique guest rooms spread across historic villages or the vast network of hostels dotted along long-distance pilgrimage routes.
Be smitten by simple pleasures.
Italians are pros at taking time to enjoy life’s daily privileges. Let’s learn from the masters and leave behind those dizzying itineraries which leave everyone – the traveler and the locals they encounter – frazzled. Instead of mad-dashing from Rome and Amalfi to Florence in 7 days, embrace a slower, more mindful pace. Accept that you can’t see it all and indulge in the pleasure of getting below the surface of a single or duo of destinations.
To promote this type of immersion and incentivize visitors to stay longer, Venice has recently introduced an entry fee for day-trippers during peak periods. For instance, with three or more nights, you can lose yourself in less visited quarters, explore the lagoon by water taxi, and connect with the island’s many working artisans. Then hop a train to Trento, Bolzano, or Murano for a distinctively different, Italy-meets-Austria landscape and vibe.
Flow with local rhythms.
Italy doesn’t operate like the U.S. Seems wonderful and obvious, right? Yet every day, in restaurants from Turin to Taormina, there are travelers loosing cool because the experience isn’t efficient enough for their taste. Why won’t the waiter bring the check, I can hear an exasperated diner asking.
In these times, remind yourself to let the simple elegance of Italy wash over you. To sit around a table, together, savoring the freshest seasonal foods, sipping locally produced wines, and talking about everything from the genius of the Roman Empire to the chart-topping Roman band Måneskin, well…there’s no activity more filling or classically Italian.
Which brings me to my favorite Italian phrase. Dolce far niente. The sweetness of doing nothing is a mantra worth repeating. Considering having one, only one, must-do item on your day’s itinerary, leaving yourself time and space to relax and discover. Wander aimlessly and let experiences find you. Gelato-yourself into a zen state. Park your behind on a piazza bench and observe the affectionate ways neighbors interact.
And, yes, linger over a three-hour lunch with zest. Enjoy each taste from the antipasto of local cheeses all the way through to an earthy espresso to wash down a velvety tiramisu. When the waiter brings your check, laugh and say, already?
Your full belly will soon understand why most shops close after lunch for pausa di pranzo. Follow these local rhythms with a rejuvenating siesta or an energizing walk. It’s in the small, quiet moments when the sweet life comes shining through most brightly.
Stoke your passion.
This one may seem in direct contradiction to dolce far niente, but just like life, isn’t savvy travel all about balance? One of the best ways I’ve found to connect more deeply with locals is through shared passions.
If you adore art, sign up for a week-long painting workshop in Florence or mosaic intensive in Ravenna. Go foodie-centric with cooking classes in Bologna or street food tours in Naples. Enroll in an acclaimed Italian language school for visitors in Lucca or Bari. Hike or cycle sections of a long-distance pilgrimage trail like the Via Francigena or a history-based route like the WWII sites of Liberation Route Italy. Learn to sail with a teaching captain off the coast of Sicily, Sardinia, or Elba.
Italy offers endless opportunities to dig deeper and engage in eye-opening and life changing experiences. And, at the heart of it, isn’t that why we travel?
Italians are pros at taking time to enjoy life’s daily privileges. Let’s learn from the masters and leave behind those dizzying itineraries behind:
- Linger over a three-hour lunch with zest.
- Instead of mad-dashing from Rome and Amalfi to Florence in 7 days, accept that you can’t see it all and indulge in the pleasure of getting below the surface of a single or duo of destinations.
- Follow the local rhythm with a rejuvenating siesta or an energizing walk.
- If you adore art, sign up for a week-long painting workshop in Florence, cooking classes in Bologna, or enroll in an Italian language school for in Lucca.
Italy doesn’t operate like the U.S. Seems wonderful and obvious, right? Yet every day, in restaurants from Turin to Taormina, there are travelers loosing cool because the experience isn’t efficient enough for their taste. Why won’t the waiter bring the check, I can hear an exasperated diner asking.
Which brings me to my favorite Italian phrase. Dolce far niente. The sweetness of doing nothing is a mantra worth repeating.
- Considering having one, only one, must-do item on your day’s itinerary, leaving yourself time and space to relax and discover.
- Wander aimlessly and let experiences find you.
- Gelato-yourself into a zen state.
- Park your behind on a piazza bench and observe the affectionate ways neighbors interact.