Things to see and do in Italy

Wikipedia Commons

I've already done posts about the top 10 places I want to visit on each continent (North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania), but I wanted to have a closer look at a couple of countries.

Italy is, at the moment, the country I would most like to explore. There is just so much culture, architecture, history and delicious food all wrapped up neatly in a country that also has one of the most beautiful languages in the world! So far I have only been to Rome and while I was there I also visited the Vatican City.

I think Italy is one of those countries where it would be best to just get a car and drive around, exploring the little Italian villages would be part of the charm. I have however compiled a list of things I want to see and do if I go back to Italy.

Italy

• Verona, ever since I learned about Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet I've been wanting to go to Verona to see the place for myself, there are tours where you can explore the Romeo and Juliet side of the city
• Ruins of Pompeii, I've always been fascinated by volcanoes so to go to a city that's been so affected by one and well preserved for about 2000 years would be really amazing,  while I was in the area I would also visit the
• Ruins of Herculaneum, it's upstaged by Pompeii but was actually destroyed by the same Mt. Vesuvius eruption. It's smaller and easier to navigate than Pompeii and personally I think visiting the less known places is better than just seeing the same places as everyone else
• Venice, before it sinks too much I would love to go and see Basilica di San Marco
• The leaning tower of Pisa, it started leaning shortly after construction and they didn't just knock it down and start over! 
• Valley of the Temples, I love old historical buildings so Doric temples dating from the 5th century B.C. would be absolutely amazing to see
• Trulli di Alberobello, just because it would be fun to see a whole town of limestone buildings with cone shaped roofs
• Naples, food like pizza and spaghetti originated in Naples, meaning you should go there just to eat
• Grotta Azzurra, the blue grotto in Capri, a cave where the light from the sun coming in through the opening makes the water look neon blue (image below)
• Cooking class in Tuscany, I would absolutely love to do this! The Mediterranean diet is one of the world's healthiest diets, in addition Italian food is one of the tastiest cuisines, I would love to learn to make Italian food from the masters themselves
• Florence, thanks to the architecture of the old buildings Florence has been dubbed an outdoor museum, there are also loads of statues of "David" scattered around Florence, so you could do a "David" treasure hunt

Grotta Azzurra, Capri - Wikipedia

These are the places I would really love to see in Italy, but like I wrote above I would prefer just getting a car and driving around the country (getting a licence first would probably be a good idea).

If you haven't been to Rome and the Vatican City you should definitely go there as well! Rome is just and amazing city with so much to see! Just be careful as people basically shove things on that they then want money for. My top picks for Rome would be;

• Colosseum 
• Trevi Fountain
• Pantheon
• Spanish steps
• Monumento a Vittorio Emanuelle II
• The Vatican City, a country of its own but it's kind of in Rome so I'm going to count it as Rome
• The Vatican Museum, if the Pope is speaking try to go to the museum while that is happening as it's VERY crowded afterwards, also it might be a good idea to get a guided tour so that you can get all the important things pointed out to you, I'd like to go back as I didn't feel like I actually saw anything when I went last time

Have you been to Italy? 

What places would you suggest/want to go in Italy?