Fun places in Italy and/or Spain

[Stukinmud]

My friend and i are gonna be in europe for 3 weeks in september. One of the weeks we want to spend in amsterdam, and for the other weeks we want to go to italy, and possibly spain. where are some fun places that aren't too touristy in both spain and italy? it would be ideal if there was also good hiking near by!

keep rockin

[worldwidemike]

Wow, no one has replied to this one five days later?

Okay, let me take a shot. First, Italy, my favorite country. of course, it depends on what you enjoy doing.

If you're into history monuments, you have to see Rome with the Colosseum, The Forum, Trajan's Column, Pantheon and such. Definitely, head south to the Naples area so you can catch Pompeii and Herculanaeum. The temples at Paestum south of Salerno are cool, too. My favorite city to base myself out while seeing sights here is Sorrento. Which also puts you in ferry ride distance of Capri.

If you're into natural scenery, then keep going south to the Costa Amalfatano (coastline around Amalfi). Also, up north, the villages of Cinque Terre are good for hiking. The Tuscan countryside is scenic (Florence itself is necessarily so, though).

If you like classic cities, well, then Florence will be a good bet. For hanging out and enjoying the ambience, nothing beats the most gorgeous city in the world: Venice. Walk outside of any OTHER city in the world and what do you hear? Traffic, horns honking. In Venice, it's the swish of boats and the lap of water, and the cool, artistic little bridges around every bend, overlooked by the three story, pastel color Renaissance era buildings.

Spain is great, too. If you base yourself in madrid, you can take daytrips to Medieval Toledo, with its winding alleyways; historic Segovia, with its roman aqueduct, castles, churches, towers and such. The south of Spain is great, with its Muslim influenced Granada and Seville. Barcelona is a classic city, although expensive.

Feel free to read my travelogues on my website below, to get more of a taste of those countries...

worldwidemike

[tumblezweedz]

For hanging out and enjoying the ambience, nothing beats the most gorgeous city in the world: Venice. Walk outside of any OTHER city in the world and what do you hear? Traffic, horns honking. In Venice, it's the swish of boats

Oh yes - have you ever experienced a night so quiet in a city? What woke me after an utterly peaceful night's sleep was the fluttering of a pigeon's wings on the sill of our open window. Shortly followed by the cries of a fruit seller. It felt like slipping into a time machine and waking up in 1524.

And you have to see San Marco before it's totally destroyed by the flooding.

[dttraveler]

IM TELLING YOU THE PLACE TO GO IN ITALY THAT WILL JUST BLOW YOUR MIND WITH BEAUTY AND REAL AUTHENTIC ITALIANS IS THE CINQUE TERRE. LOOK IT UP IT IS DEFINITLY WORTH GOING, I WENT THERE AND HAD A BLAST. JUST DO IT YOU WONT REGRET IT.