Italy for beginners - where for first trip?

[PrimeExample]

Where would you recommend for a first trip to Italy? It could be a short/weekend break, or a 2 week holiday in the summer. Preferably not skiing!

Where, and with which travel company?

Please share stories of your first trips! I want to go with my boyfriend and would like too see beautiful things!

My first trip to Italy was Tuscany - staying in a villa with friends, and seeing Siena, Florence, Pisa, Montepulciano...it was (and still is) exceptionally beautiful. That was almost 20 years ago, and we still holiday together every summer - this summer we'll be on the Tuscan/Umbrian border. I've never had anything other than amazing experiences in Tuscany, so so beautiful.

Bologna is fantastic for a weekend break - the food is to die for, the city is compact and beautiful. Modena is nearby for even more amazing food.

Venice was lovely - we went for my 30th birthday and I was just PG with my first DC. I cried when I saw St Mark's Square as it was so beautiful.

Rome is busy, but absolutely awesome - just totally iconic. Colisseum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps....We're taking the children this summer as a bookend to out Tuscan holiday.

We also stayed near Asti (near Genoa) a couple of years ago, very different to other parts, but still lvoely.

I've yet to be disappointed with any part of Italy - the food's amazing, the architecture and countryside awe-inspiring.

My first trip was staying in Sorrento, beautiful part of the country. From there we travelled via train or car around the region: Pompeii, Herculaneum,Capri, almalfi coast tour through to Ravello and Naples.

I've also been to Milan, Rome, Monza for the F1 and Venice.

The lakes are on my list as is Tuscany/Florence and Sicily. I love Italy it is a beautiful country with lots to see and do, loved the people and of course the food is amazing.

We did a motor home trip across Italy. 2 weeks in October. We flew into Milan picked up motor home at the airport, went to Milan, lake Garda, Verona, Venice, Rome, Pisa, Saturnia (with thermal springs), Naples and Pompei, Sorreento, Amalfi and Positano and finally Capri.
It was the absolute best holiday we have ever taken, we stayed as long as we liked in each place, some places longer than intended, saw so much of what the country had to offer, including the pope! We did boat tours around Amalfi, gondola rides in Venice, colosseum tour, theme parks, water parks, saw the pope at the Vatican, and a personal highlight the hot springs of Saturnia.
Going that time of year meant it wasn't as busy with tourists, although some places are always busy, the weather was still mostly nice and warm and we had beach days on the Amalfi coast.
The scenery driving round from place to place was beautiful and we stopped at many typical Italian towns to get a taste of real Italy not just the tourist traps.
Can't recommend it enough. Had the best time and so did the kids.

I’d pick Rome. There’s a lot to do, food is varied, and there’s not such a huge culture shock.

I have been lucky enough to visit Italy many many times over the past 25 years, a combination of work / pleasure.

I can still remember my very first trip as a young university student, we went to Florence and I literally could not believe the place - it had a profound affect on me!

My first trip with dh, then bf, was to Italy. I had been 3 times already by then but i KNEW he would be blown away by it too. We flew to Milan , spent 2 days there, then train to Venice - (impossibly romantic and all the more so when you are in love) and then the train to Florence, we also spent a night or two in Arrezzo where Life is Beautiful is filmed.

We loved it all so much that we went back again the following year and spent a week in Rome and then a week driving about Tuscany, staying near Pienza.

Other visits have included Lake Garda, Verona, Sienna, Pisa, and back on an almost annual basis to Venice -which we both adore. In fact we are heading there again in early Summer.

I believe Italy is my spiritual home even though I have no Italian ancestry...

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

What lovely ideas! I had such a nice escapist moment, thank you all! I think I will aim for 2 weeks in Tuscany, flying into Pisa, maybe staying in Siena or Arezzo with days out in Florence and Montepulciano, for a first visit. He likes forests and wildlife, I expect we will be able to do some lovely walks :-)

If funds allow, perhaps a trip to Bologna or Venice. There! Some motivation to keep working. Thank you!