Best Holidays in Italy | Explore Personal Experience
So, welcome back to my website! This is the first time I’m actually talking on this vlog. There might be a couple of other clips before this of just what we’ve been getting up to, but to basically sum it up, we’ve come to Sorrento in Italy for a week for a holidays in Italy.
We just stayed at the pool and went for a walk around Sorrento. We haven’t done too much, so I thought I wouldn’t get too much vlogging done because that would be really boring for you. But today, we’re on our way to my beach club, which should be really cool, so I thought I’d bring you guys along for the rest of the holidays in Italy. A cute little wine and cards evening ahead!
Nastro Azzurro Hotel
so our hotel room is very high up, and we’re kind of in the clouds right now. The view is normally great—like a 10 out of 10—but today it’s just been gray because it’s cloudy. But we’ve just had a lovely evening. We went down to the bar to watch football—England won 2-1. It was very close. We watched most of the game up here, and then when it looked like it was going to extra time, we went downstairs, which had quite a good atmosphere. It was really good, actually.
Then, we had a lovely dinner, watched some music outside, had a bottle of wine, and then came back to the room to watch “Train at Glastonbury,” had another bottle of wine, and finished that off. We played some cards and are now going to bed because tomorrow we’ve got a boat day, which should be fun. I look very “G” right now—not greasy—I know, I’m not greasy, just showered. But yeah, I went to my beach today, and it was amazing. I’ll speak to you in the morning.
We just had a nice lunch, as you saw, and now I’m going to go off and make a couple of TikToks and Instagram posts. The host had mentioned that the town is very steep and hilly, and I was like, okay, I’ll bear that in mind. No joke—just look at all these steps up here!
Steps, steps, steps, and I’m in flip-flops! How did I get up these steps? Yeah, there are a lot of them. Not fun, but I’m all right. However, now we only have to go down. Just There’s my foot here!
It was our boat day, which was actually really, really good. We went to MTH and Mono, which was really cool, and then we came back to the hotel, did a wine tasting, which was really nice. We got some lovely reds and whites, and then had some dinner. Afterward, we just kind of watched TV, came up here, and then went to bed.
Sorrento, Town in Italy
Today, we’re basically just chilling by the pool for most of the morning. It’s actually near lunchtime now; I think it’s around 11:00. We’re going to go and relax by the pool, and then we’re heading to Sorrento this afternoon around 5:00 to spend some time there in the evening and have a lovely dinner. So, it might not be much this morning, but we should have more this evening.
This is the view from our hotel room. It’s pretty cool. We’ve got Sorrento down there, and that’s actually the coast. We’re kind of right here!
In the middle, which is really nice, so we’re currently on our way down into Sorrento. We’ve got dinner booked at the F Club, which is really nice. Now we’re basically wandering around, having a few drinks. That was very fun. Hopefully, we don’t get rained on because there is a chance of thunderstorms this evening. So far, we’ve had some Limoncello express shots and two Limoncello shots.
So today, we’ve basically just had breakfast, and now we’re going to go down and do a cooking class. We’re going to make some gnocchi, which should be interesting because both myself and Sam are pretty shocking cooks, so this should be quite good. Later on today, we’re going over to Capri for the day, doing a little boat trip around the island, and then we’re going to go out for dinner there. Oh, it’s very loud, but yeah, let’s go.
We did the cooking class. What did you think of the class, Sam? That was good. What are you going to do? Not very much. I was alright, to be fair, not going to lie. Teacher? Yeah, of course. Didn’t expect something else. It was good fun. We’re going to go chill, get changed, and get ready to go.
After Capri, with what was probably quite a rough boat ride back—not going to lie, Sam did not enjoy it—I was just trying not to worry myself the whole time. I need to go for a week since I got on a boat.
We’re going to chill by the pool. They’ve got a few activities at the pool today, like aerobics and aqua board challenges, which I think we’re going to do. Then we’ve actually got cocktail making later this evening, and there’s a casino night, so it should be quite a good last day. That was fun. I’ve been enjoying this.
Hello, and we are back home. I’m kind of pretending this is straight after that last video, but actually, it might be nearly a month now, I’ve been really busy, in my defense, so don’t hate me! But yeah, Italy was honestly amazing.
It was such a good trip. We had such a good time, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a young couple’s holidays in Italy. There’s quite a lot to do, but we kind of took it easy. It was quite relaxed and chilled, but we still had a few things to do. I think it was definitely not super expensive, which was nice. It was a nice hotel—I mean, it wasn’t cheap, but it was about what we were willing to pay.
We went full board, so all our meals were included, which was nice, and we made quite a lot of use of that. But yeah, we stayed at the TUI Blue Nastro Azzurro Hotel, which is in Sorrento. All of our excursions were booked through TUI or ones they offered from the hotel. We didn’t do anything ourselves; we just did all the ones they arranged.
Rome, Italy
Okay, so Now we’ve just arrived on a Rome Holidays in Italy trip, and it’s time to go out and explore. There’s actually a heatwave going on in Italy this weekend, so it’s literally 32°C outside. Considering we came from London, where it’s probably been around 14 or 15°C, this is a little bit of a shock to the system. Not exactly sure what this is, but there’s no one nearby, and it looks pretty amazing.
Our lunch view in front of the Pantheon. We’re here at P. The Fortunada. Yeah, that looks so good! We’ve got the famous carbonara, and then what was this one called again? I think it’s maybe something with a bit of chili in it, crunchy salted caramel and strawberry.
Got my coin ready to throw in, and could view the top of the city. Conspicuous awareness. Hey, so we have a lot of walking today. Yesterday we did like 21,000 steps, but I think we might even get more today. I’m wearing just a comfy, summery dress, got my hat on, covered in sunscreen, and wearing my most comfortable walking shoes. I even wore my gym socks with them just because they’re the most comfortable and help avoid any blisters or anything like that.
Okay, we’re trying the famous All’Antico Vinaio sandwiches. I think these are most famous in Florence, but this is their Rome location. We’ve got our sandwiches here. What was this one? This one is pecorino and honey, and this was the lasagna, which has pesto, tomato, basil, and fior di latte, and I added cream of truffle.
Okay, so we’re on the bus now to go to the city. It is so hot, and the bus is crowded. We managed to get seats, but there’s no air conditioning, and it’s so stinky and hot. I literally feel like a melting popsicle.
Okay, so we got the cacio e pepe and the pasta, and they both look so good! Pasta with a view of the Vatican, our drink spot, so we’ve got a big beer, an Aperol Spritz, and some chips right in front of the Pantheon.
Antico Vinaio
Okay, so we went to Antico Vinaio for the first time at the original location, but now we’re at the original location where you can see them making the pizza by hand.
Ending the night with some gelato: we’ve got salted caramel and mango with a cone. We just arrived at our Florence accommodation, and it looks amazing!
We’ve got our starter for lunch. We got the pasta al ragù, which means a meat sauce with roast beef, potatoes, and some greens, and we’ve got a green salad coming.
Trattoria Sabatini
Okay, so we just had lunch at Trattoria Sabatini. I’ll put the name on the screen, and the food was amazing. We got so much food, we had wine, and all of this was under €30, so it’s a great lunch spot. Now we’re going to go explore the city, starting with the Medici Chapel and a gelato stop.
Okay, so I switched out from my usual flavors, which are usually caramel and mango, and I got cookies and cream and passion fruit. At least it’s cool, yeah? This is a palazzo del—what stunning ceilings!
Florence from the Uffizi Gallery
Now we’re on the rooftop balcony of the Uffizi. It’s amazingly sunny, and the views are incredible. Sandwiches from All’Antico Vinaio—look at the size of my head!
we’re in the town of Ovieto, having an amazing dinner. Strawberry—they’ve done it a different way. She’s really stepping up her game. It’s really good, coming back here again.
It’s going to taste amazing, but let’s get a nice light breakfast with this amazing view.
What do you want to do for the afternoon? Sat by the pool with views of the Italian countryside. It’s actually called the restaurant area; she used to have that garden next to where the olive factory was. I don’t know if that’s where the house in France is.
lunch spot
Okay, today’s lunch spot: we have views on either side. They’re warm…they’re hot…they’re hot! That’s like a favorite being…yum. Someone’s taking photos.
So we were at the house, and we had… I’m doing math, and I’m thinking a lot.
Okay, so we’re in an Italian supermarket right now, the biggest one local to us, and I love Italian supermarkets. All of the food and produce is incredible—the fruit, the vegetables, the bakery section, the pre-made food, the deli, and all of that. Literally, it’s amazing! I’ll show you what they have on offer.
There’s a bunch of pizza you can take home, some fried food, like lasagna, chicken, potato, pasta-type items, and lots of different meats. I think I’m not sure what that is. There’s pesto, pre-made dishes, different types of pasta, and cheeses. This is not just one cheese section; there’s a whole other section.
There’s all the fresh seafood and stuff, and then this is all the extra cheese section all the way down there as well. And, of course, lots of really good fruit and vegetables too.
The only one I…well, I had an afternoon drink with this view, having a home-cooked dinner tonight with food from the local supermarket. This is like a tagliatelle pasta, and then we’ve got a little caprese salad with some prosciutto. We also have another pasta coming from the sushi restaurant.
Pesto-filled pasta
Okay, so we’ve got the pesto-filled pasta as well with some parmesan—very exciting! Today, we are doing truffle hunting, then a cooking class, and then we’re eating what we’ve cooked, with I think paired wine. So yeah, very excited for it.
That’s all…yeah, with the water, it opened up 125g of whole wheat flour; it will only take 20 minutes in a moderate oven.
Okay, so in the morning, if you want to eat them at night or…whatever. Yeah, okay, salt. So now, you need to take the cheese, and he makes his own smoker. Oh wow, and he smokes the cheeses and also makes his own jams.
That’s when it can tear. I think you’re ready here and freeze the little jars, then serve it on pasta. You can—lights, camera, action! I didn’t need that. Is that correct? Yeah, I went for a 3-month intensive. I could interpret what you were saying, that’s often the case. Can understand more.
True, is Nigella still around? Yeah, not… not crunchy. Otherwise, it’s still raw. Well, that’s…yeah, I mean, you can still… yeah, the sauce is quite dense. Nothing on the side, watch the mag honey.
Okay, so we’re on dinner duty for tonight. We’ve got some bruschetta in the making over here, then we’re doing this tagliatelle pasta, and we’ll mix in some rocket, olives, some spicy salami. Then we’re also going to be doing this filled-in pasta with a tomato sauce, just a basic one with some garlic, and then we’ll put some basil on top. And our finished product—stunning restaurant vibes, amazing in Italy!
that actually all looks really good. Ending our final night with gelato.
When the holiday season begins in Rome
I want to talk to you a little bit about what you can find during the holidays in Rome, because I know that some of you are planning to visit Rome during this time of the year, which is one time that I personally love. I kind of wanted to give you some tips and tricks about this period in Rome. I know that some of you are concerned about coming here and not finding anything open, but don’t worry, I’ll tell you everything in this Blog.
I want to start by telling you exactly when the holiday season begins in Rome. The city’s decorations officially start on the 8th of December, which is the day of the Immaculate Conception. It’s also, for many, the day when families decorate their houses and set up the Christmas tree.
You will find many of the squares in Rome, like St. Peter’s Square, Piazza Venezia, and near the Colosseum, all set up with big Christmas trees, and they’re all lit up, which is really nice. Streets in the center of Rome also put up decorations, like lights hung up in the streets.
So, this is the official start of the holidays, and they go up until the 6th of January, which is the day of the Epiphany, known in Italian as La Befana. On this day, back in the 50s or 60s, kids used to receive their gifts on this day, not on Christmas Day.
They used to have their gifts brought by the Befana, which is this old, witch-like figure. But not anymore—kids now get their Christmas presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. During this whole period, you will find lights, Christmas trees, and other festive decorations, even some Christmas markets. Although Christmas markets aren’t a huge thing in the city, you will still find some cute ones.
Italian, Piazza Navona and Campo de’ Fiori
Regarding this, I wanted to tell you that, unfortunately, the Christmas markets in Piazza Navona or Campo de’ Fiori (in Italian, Piazza Navona and Campo de’ Fiori) will not be displayed this year, but there are lots of tiny Christmas markets all around the city.
So, that’s the holiday period in Rome. I know that some of you are wondering what will be closed and what will be open, and fear not, my friend, because pretty much everything is open during this period except for Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
The Colosseum, the Galleria Borghese, the forums, and the Palatine Hill are only closed on Christmas Day (the 25th) and on New Year’s Day (the 1st of January). The same goes for shops. Local family-run shops will probably close for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but usually, shops are open on Christmas Eve until the afternoon, or around 4 or 5 p.m., and then they stay closed until Christmas Day.
They close for Christmas Eve afternoon and Christmas Day, and then most of them open up again on the 26th, though some may stay closed. It’s a bit different for groceries and supermarkets—those will most likely be open on the 26th, as well as on New Year’s Day.
As for restaurants, it really depends. Some restaurants offer Christmas Day lunch or Christmas Eve dinner, so you may find them open on the 24th for dinner or on the 25th for lunch. But you need to check each restaurant, so just go on TripAdvisor or something like that and find some open restaurants. There are a lot of options, so don’t worry about not being able to eat on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve.
I think that’s all the info I wanted to share with you for this video, but definitely let me know if you have any questions. You can either ask me something down here in the comments or on my Instagram.
Thank you, and that wraps up our Best Holidays in Italy | Explore Personal Experience. Do you agree with the places we chose, or is there somewhere you visited that you feel should be on the list? leave us a comment.
You can find me on Instagram: @dreamytravelersofficial/.
