First time Italy? These are the 12 best tips

Are you going on holiday to Italy for the first time this year? Congratulations, your first time in Italy is a special moment that you will remember for a long time. And we are confident there will be many more to come after that. But what are the tips for Italy beginners? The editors of This is Italy listed them for you. Take advantage of it and make your first time unforgettable!

You can also watch this article as a video:

1. Myrthe Claus's Italy tip: immerse yourself

For that first time Italy, just leave the guidebooks for the first 2 days and instead immerse yourself in the life of the city or region where you are. Stick to the 'ages' of the locals. Walk around, drive around, look around, smell, get lost in alleys or experience adventures on unexpected unpaved roads.

Eating and drinking in restaurants that are not centrally located (or, like an Italian commonplace says, eat at the restaurant where many truck drivers stop, because that's where you get good food…). And only after you've mastered the Italy feeling a bit, open the travel guide and visit what you'd like to see.

2. Zofia Janssen's Italy tip: go in the late season

My tip? When visiting Italy for the first time, you have to pay attention to the season. Do not go on holiday in high season, but around September. You notice that the Italians are much more hospitable. In the middle of summer, with that heat, I notice that the Italians are a bit tired of the tourists. Okay, one more tip then. Travel by car! With your own car or a cheap rental car you can make many beautiful trips through Italy and taste the culture. Have fun pulling!

3. Femke van Twuijver's Italy tip: go to Pisa

A tip? Tricky say. Then I would say: go to Pisa that first time. My own first time Italy was a tour and in Pisa I found the people very friendly and helpful. Not terribly touristy like in Rome where they only want to earn money from you. Pisa is beautiful, nice and small and the weather and the food are fine.

A region where you can still find really old-fashioned Italy is Apulia. The four of you on a scooter and an old man who gives you half of his fruit shop as a gift if you only come to buy a melon. But I wouldn't recommend that region until you've been to Italy a few times.

4. Marleen Rohmensen's Italy tip: go to Lake Iseo

If this is your first time to Italy I would recommend visiting it Iseomer recommend. And then the side of Pisogne. It is a beautiful area in terms of nature and it is not as hectic and touristy as on the other large northern Italian lakes. Although I just spoke to a friend of mine from Brescia and he said that it is stormy at Christo's temporary Ponte on the lake. But that lasts until July 8, when peace returns somewhat.

5. Yoëll Schutte's Italy tip: be flexible

Be flexible. In many parts of Italy life is less rushed and stressful than in the Netherlands. There is less time pressure, which ensures a nice and relaxed holiday feeling. However, keep in mind that this is not always interpreted positively for us punctual Dutch. This also applies to, for example, public transport. It may happen that you have to wait a little longer for the train or bus than you expected. So be flexible and accept the situation (in the meantime enjoy a delicious gelato or a cup of coffee), you can quickly get used to the Italian lifestyle.

6. The Italy tip from Ineke Spoorenberg: adjust your rhythm

Are you going to Italy for the first time? Here's my tip: adapt to the rhythm of the country. I think that goes for all countries. Also in Spain, for example, you should not want to eat at 19 pm. In the evening the Italians eat around eight, at the earliest. I personally find it incomprehensible that some Dutch people spend the whole afternoon hoisting and then save on their dinner. Italians don't get that either.

I have seen in Monteisola that a Dutch family takes up the whole afternoon on the jetty of the hotel to swim and sunbathe, occasionally having trays of beer and white wine pressed. And then in the evening in the hotel restaurant are nowhere to be found. Why not? Because they are eating fries around the corner.

In Italy you also have to take into account that the Italian is not a late riser. The Italian gets up early, bars are open for breakfast from 6am. The Dutch often want to sleep in in Italy – after all, they are on holiday – and then find out later that everything closes at 12 noon.

In Italy you eat around 12 noon, one o'clock. How often have I seen Dutch people walking through places like Ferrara with their souls under their arms, because everything was closed. Dutch and Flemish people, if you go on holiday to Italy, do not stick to your own eating times, but adjust your daily rhythm to the rhythm of the country where you are a guest.

7. Willemijn Lindeboom's Italy tip: another menu

Hmm, first time Italy? The first thing I think of is the menu. In Italy you don't eat a meal that includes everything. you eat a appetizer of first and then a main course, but there you have to have the side dishes (contours) to order separately. It is of course not mandatory to order every course, so you can also just order one first expats must register with the local municipality and obtain a Dolce food (not all restaurants are happy with this) or a appetizer expats must register with the local municipality and obtain a first.

8. Vivianne's Italy tip: aperitivo

One tip for when you go to Italy for the first time? I have a few. Don't get mad if Italians don't understand you or talk back in Italian, it's just no different. If you want to know the way, go to a newsagent (newsstand) or somewhere where you have the greatest chance of English speaking Italians. Especially use hand gestures, that will go a long way. Don't go in August. August seems like the ideal holiday month, but it isn't if you want to visit a city in Italy. In August the big cities are empty and everything is closed.

In the big cities, also make sure you have a handbag that you can close. Especially in Rome there are many pickpockets. Don't assume you have Wi-Fi everywhere, you DO NOT. The wifi constantly flies away. If you go on holiday to Italy, a foreign bundle is very handy. Drinking coffee standing at the bar is cheaper than sitting down.

Eating at 18.00 pm in Italy is not dinner, but a appetizer. So take a at the end of the afternoon appetizer and (much) later an extensive dinner. And then when you go out to dinner, don't go in your shorts and sandals. Bring heels and plenty of dresses, the men nice shoes and shirts. Stroll and blend in with the real Italians!

9. Stef Smulders' Italy tip: walk down a side street

First-time visitors to Italy will undoubtedly head to the main tourist sites. So I would give as a tip to show a bit of courage for a drink or a snack and to look for an establishment slightly outside the center of the hustle and bustle. Take a side street, even if no one else is walking. Or precisely because of that. In Florence we found one of the best restaurants we've ever eaten at. And even in Venice it is much quieter off the main routes and no doubt better and cheaper.

10. Lotje Lomme's Italy tip: attend a performance in the Verona Arena

Many people already know where to find Verona. But the city of Romeo and Juliet becomes even more beautiful when you attend a performance in the Arena from the Roman era. In the open air and in a XNUMX-year-old structure, listen and watch an opera or a play. It doesn't get any better. Plenty of events are planned this summer. You can program on the Arena's website to look at.

11. Edward Hendriks' Italy tip: don't plan too much

People who go to Italy for the first time often want to see a lot. Venice, Rome, Pisa, Florence, the lakes and, if possible, also mountains. A tour through Italy with your own car is of course also very nice. But I always tell them not to plan their (short) trip too full and to take time to enjoy it.

It is impossible to see Tuscany and Florence in one day. And you don't get a chance to process all those impressions. Feel happy if you can only do one thing in a day. Visiting a city, an activity, a museum. That's right, you don't see 'everything', but is that a bad thing? It's your first time in Italy!

Once you've caught the Italy virus, you'll come back anyway. Try to avoid just sitting in the car, checking off tourist hotspots and forgetting to enjoy what you are actually looking for: a little sweet life in your life.

12. Peter van der Naald's Italy tip: act like the Italians

First time to Italy. You'll never forget it. Where to go or where to go? It does not matter. Go see what you want to be able to say you've seen, that you've been there. Whether it's the northern Italian lakes, the culture in the big cities or the south… There are so many, yes too many things to see and do.

Italy will be unforgettable if you do this: be aware that you are a tourist and will stay for a while, but watch and listen to those Italians. Do like Italians. Eat like Italians. In all the haste and busy gestures, in all the fuss about a parking space, in all the fuss and hassle, there is peace.

Look at life with a smile and a wink at the sun. Don't go through your vacation. Do you want a holiday at speed and all at the same time? Then don't go to Italy. Take a look in that one street just down the road. Where only Italians walk. Live the Italian life. Dolce vita And especially dolce far niente. Great to do nothing. Tired enough already.

And remember: Italians are on average the oldest of all Europeans. And that comes not just because of the olive oil. Sei tranquillo.

Your tips for first time Italy?

Now it's your turn, as an experienced Italy-goer. What are your tips for people 'doing' Italy for the first time? What should everyone know to prepare well for a trip to De Baars? Leave your comment below and help potential Italy fans!