Chances are that you want to study Italian because either you travelled to Italy and fell in love with it or because you are planning on travelling to Italy and already love it so much that you are ready to make the effort of learning all you can about it. Or, maybe, you have Italian roots and heard a great deal about Italy from your parents or grandparents and, you figured, it’s now time you find out for yourself… Whatever the reason, Italy won’t disappoint you. (Well, actually, it might—but we’ll talk about the “dangers” of being in Italy in later postings…)
It is a remarkably beautiful country. È un paese bellissimo.
Before you buy that plane ticket, you need to plan your vacation wisely. How much time do you have? The shorter the time, the smaller the area you should plan on covering. You have only one week? Then pick one main city (for example, Rome) and make sure to include a few one-day trips to surrounding localities easily reachable by train or bus—this way you won’t need to switch hotels, shlep your suitcases around, get infinitely tired hopping on and off planes or in and out of crowded train stations. If you are in the capital, Rome, for only a week, for instance, you could still set aside one day for a short visit to Ostia Antica (the ancient Roman port town by the sea, only a little over an hour away from the city).* One extra day can be devoted to the unforgettable town of Tivoli (inexpensive public and private buses leave for Tivoli from Rome every day): in a single day you can visit two places in Tivoli (both UNESCO world heritage treasures) that you won’t easily forget for the rest of your life! Villa D’Este, a Baroque architectural masterpiece of exquisite grace and beauty*; and Villa Adriana, the ruins of the ancient summer house of Roman Emperor Hadrian—with its mystical atmospheres and inimitable decadent grandeur.*
Ask yourself what kind of landscape you prefer: mountains, cities, shores, lakes? Depending on the answer, you can plan to spend your time exploring exclusively one of these amazing features of the Italian peninsula. A discovery vacation of the Alps and Dolomites; a relaxing and restoring time on the southern beaches, in the vicinity of old fishing villages; a hectic highly-cultural tour of monuments, museums, and (why not!) haute-couture in the great shopping meccas of Milano, Firenze, Roma, or Venezia…
Let’s talk about this and add to our discussions about Turismo in Italia the most important tips regarding useful expressions and language for travellers.

Allora, in viaggio? Buon viaggio!

* Information about all these places can be easily found on line through a large number of websites. Some of these online sites are in Italian, so, you can have fun practicing your reading comprehension as you plan your trip.