Italy 2018: Sightseeing Routes

As my short trip to Italy has been drawing near I’ve been working to plan out potential sightseeing routes for my parents and I to follow. This past weekend I took some screenshots on Google Maps of the cities we’ll be visiting and then using an ancient version of Photoshop I drew some circles and lines on them to visually show the routes. Today I’ll share three of them with you and maybe if any of you are visiting Italy in the future these might give you some ideas for planning your own trips.

This first route is an idea I had for a day of sightseeing in Rome. It follows closely a suggested walking route from the Rick Steves Italy guidebook but I’ve made a change to the final part of the walk. The route begins at (1) Campo di Fiori, which happens to be close to where my family will be staying during our first time in Rome. From there we would walk to (2) the Piazza Navona area and then we’d continue on to (3) the Pantheon. After that we’d go over to (4) Trevi Fountain then turn south to (5) the Capitoline Hill area that has the Victor Emmanuel monument and a few museums. Once we finished we’d then return to (1) Campo di Fiori and probably be done for the day, but if we’re making good time we might go from (5) Capitoline Hill over to the Roman Forum and Colosseum area since they’re right next to each other.

The second route is one that could work in Florence. We’d start at (1) the Duomo area and then go south to (2) the Uffizi Gallery. Once we finish at the Uffizi we’d head over to (3) Santa Croce church and then cross to the south side of the Arno River to visit the scenic overwatch at (4) Piazzale Michelangelo. Then we’d go to (5) the Pitti Palace before crossing back to the north side and returning to (1) the Duomo area. Depending on how things work out we might do the climbing of the Duomo’s dome and/or bell tower at the beginning or end of the route.

Above is the third route, which is for Venice. It begins at (1) Piazza San Marco, though we’d probably not actually visit any of the sights there since the morning hours are normally very crowded at the square. We’d then go north to (2) the Rialto Bridge area and then head west to (3) Frari Church and Scuola San Rocco. Then we’d follow the curve of the Grand Canal, which is a little tricky on foot since Venice’s streets are a complex maze, all the way down to the area around (4) Santa Maria della Salute church. From there we’d have to backtrack a little to either the Accademia Bridge or take a traghetti gondola to cross the Grand Canal and then make our way back to (1) Piazza San Marco. By then it will be the afternoon and we’d finish the day visiting the Doge’s Palace and Basilica San Marco.