Florence for young travellers

Florence has been home to some of the world renowned artists as Dante, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Vasari.

Among academies, libraries and museums, religious monuments, churches, civil architecture and buildings you will experience you really are in a treasure hunting. For this reason not only tourists, or backpackers but prevalently international students or even international volunteers are choosing this city for their academic courses, stages and studies.

Well, to start, we mention an international place where students, travellers, journalists and actors usually meet: at Acqua al 2 you can get cannelloni, beef, selection of salads, pasta, cheese and excellent wines at average prices of €30. Acqual al 2 is a modern bistro that we suggest in Via Vigna Vecchia ,40; ph: +39 055 284 170; open daily from 7.30 pm-1am).

If you are visiting Florence and you are on a budget and looking for cheap accommodation consider youth hostels, backpackers hostels or international students houses ( hostels as well) where a bed night average price start from 18 euros. The atmosphere is quite basic but somehow fascinating. Florence does not have a long tradition in modern hippie youth hostels as you might find in other top cities. Florence rather can offer old style hostels, kind of student residence, or pilgrim residence as it was in Medieval times. Monasteries are converted in new pilgrims hostels ( backpackers, students, international volunteers) sometimes still run by nuns or monks. You can find some more details in site for young travellers or backpackers as Flashboking.com.

For budget tips where to go shopping here we go!

It is possible to make excellent purchases in the narrow lanes and streets of Florence in particular around Santa Croce and Oltrarno you can easily find little authentic workshops of paper, leather, perfumes...

Some names: Il Papiro offers good quality hand-made paper in Piazza del Duomo, 24r (ph: +39 055 281 628). Officina Profumo Farmaceutica Shop an old fashioned chemist offers lotions, potions, and herbal remedies abound in elegant packaging in Via Scala, 16 (ph: +39 055 16276 )

Go to Piazza dei Ciompi if you are looking for second-hand and flea markets (last Sun. of the month), or to S. Lorenzo Market (northwest of the Duomo), or the colourful Central Market for food (Square of Mercato Centrale). Here you ‘ll find olives, hams, cheeses and fresh vegetables. Try Via Maggio and Borgo Ognissanti for fine Florentine antique shops.

Of course for anything you need, ticket booking, accommodations booking, hotel reservations, budget trattorie, or simply to locate all this on a map you need a pc and an internet point ( as not all youth hostel will have pc free fro every guest!!). There are a few in Florence. Internet point (Borgo degli Albizi 66; ph:+39 055 24 0780; €3/hour); Internet Train: (€4/hour or €3/hour for students) with 12 point sin the city: Via dell’Oriuolo, 40, ph: +39 055 2345 322; Via del Parione 11b, ph:+39 055 264 5563; Borgo S. Jacopo, ph: +39 055 265 7935).

This article was written by Michele De Capitani with support from cheap hostel Florence. For any information, please visit hostels Florence or for travel insurance visit backpackers in Florence.

Eat and drink in Rome

In Rome you do not have to miss the famous ‘pizza al taglio’: basically in Rome you can live with it! And it will help you a lot to save monay expecially if you are a traveller on a budget.

Attention: the most fancy places are usually tourist traps. We suggest to get lost in the narrow streets away form the big crowded ones. You should not pay more then 2 euros for a delicious crusty walking pizza…

If saving is your travelling philosophy, you can also drink your water from the public fountains that are spread all over.

And after pizza?? You need to end with a fantastic ice cream!

For an excellent one try Giolitti’s (Via Uffici del Vicario, 40, ph: 06 6991243; www.giolitti.it) that since 1900 has been serving savoury ice creams behind all expectations. It’s not in every guide... only Romans know!! Basically till now you should have spent not more then 5 euros!!! Quite good news for backpackers, or also families with children travelling on a budget!! Right??

But the best tips are the following: dinner out in Rome!!

The San Lorenzo and Trastevere neighbourhoods are both renowned for reasonably priced Roman-Style cooking. If you have a lodging there it will also be easy to get around: otherwise there are plenty of guest houses or family B&& (bed and breakfast, in Italy are also called pensioni or family guest house) available in many websites, among the others you can try Flashbooking.com which allows to book directly online providing you with the BB maps and directions and contacts as well. Very useful! We suggest you chose your BandB according to the location and if you get your accommodation in Trastevere be sure you will be in the most traditional, buzzing and authentic area of Rome!

There are very few things Romans will line up for. One of these is “da Baffetto” near Piazza Navona, more exactly in Via del Governo Vecchio,14;ph. 066861617). After 9 pm prepare to wait quite a lot because they do not take reservations but pizza is fabulous!!

For tradition Roman dishes there is also “Trattoria da Francesco” in Piazza del Fico, 29 (ph: 06 6864009) hidden in a cosy square that serves as a private garden. If this is not enough and you are planning to stay in Rome for few nights, consider a visit to Alfredo alla Scrofa and try the specialty: ‘Fettuccine’ (Via della Scrofa, 104)

For a little more expensive but trendy place (which is pizzeria, restaurant, wine-bar, ‘cheeserie’ all together is ‘Gusto in Piazza Augusto Imperatore, 9; ph: 06 32262 73; open every day from 10 in the morning until 2 in the night).

This article was written by Michele De Capitani with support from guest house Rome. For any information, please visit camping in Rome or for travel insurance visit B&B in Rome.

Venice, always in the hearts of tourists from all over the world.

Venice, capital of the Veneto region, is one of the most beautiful and picturesque Italian city, and coveted tourist destination among the most important at the global level, is considered a strategic connection with the Middle East and its history is thousands of years.

In this small lagoon town live over 270,000 inhabitants; it is situated in the northeast of Italy and overlooks the Adriatic Sea.

Venice is divided into Sestieri, three of these (Castello, San Marco and Cannaregio) are here to the Grand Canal taking as a point of reference Piazza San Marco; the three at the other hand, are Santa Croce, Dorsoduro and San Polo-Rialto. These six subdivisions of the city are represented in the "Ferro" (front of the gondola-metal boats typical of the city - which has precisely six points / lines). The rear of the craft, however, represents the Giudecca island which is located right in front of Piazza San Marco.

Of course, the capital of Veneto, which is categorized heritage of humanity by UNESCO, is a unique city, where there are no roads but only canals and rivers navigable by small boats (Gondole).

Historically it was called the Dominant or even as the Serenissima, in fact has been for over a millennium, the capital of the Republic of Venice.

The old city lives mainly from the tourism, but also of local manufacture and crafts, just think of the beautiful Murano glass (small island in the lagoon of Venice). Moreover, for the most recent city located inshore, has a flourishing business and point of reference for the economy of the country.

Venice, offers many opportunities within the tourism industry and food for a variety of factors: history, culture, romance, shopping and entertainment; also offers a wide selection of hotels in Venice.

In particular, who wants to visit Venice for a few days should not miss some areas and traditions that make the visit to the city unique and unforgettable

• Piazza San Marco is considered the core of sestriere and the heart of the city (the only open space considered Square), where there are the most important monuments: Palazzo Ducale, the Basilica of San Marco
• Ponte di Rialto: the oldest bridge that crosses the Grand Canal
• Lido di Venice: very characteristic because it is an thin island that extends for more than 10 km in the Venetian lagoon and the Adriatic Sea. In this narrow strip of land there is also the beach of Venice.
• Museo Ca’ D’oro: well known palace situated along the Grand Canal which contains the gallery Giorgio Fianchetti
• Gallerie delll’Accademia: who are in Dorsoduro and retain some beautiful works of Giovanni and Jacopo Bellini, Tiziano and Tintoretto.
• Among a visit and another, take a rest in an inn or in an outdoors bar and enjoy a Recioto di Soave (white wine typical of the Veneto region) with sliced and polenta veneta.

But where to stay in Venice?

In a city that lives on tourism solutions are not lacking, in fact there are many hotels that have rooms to sleep in Venice or in the immediate vicinity also proposing a wide range of hotel in Venice.

In this regard, the Hotel Ala is located in Piazza San Marco (the core of the city) and is the hotel ideal in Venice for those who want to spend some days in the fantastic "Serenissima".

This refined 4 stars hotel offers many services, such as satellite TV, air conditioning and safe in every room.

The Hotel Ala in Venice offers exceptional warmth and hospitality to all its customers, whether they are business people or families and children on holiday. Moreover, thanks to the new link (www.hotelala.it) offers the opportunity to make bookings on-line to all users interested in prestigious rooms in Venice.

This article was written by Michele De Capitani with support from hotel reservation in Venice. For any information on how travel insurance, please visit hotel in Venice or please visit accommodation in Venice.