Exploring Italy

Florence has good transport links, so it’s quite feasible to have a day trip there. However, you need to plan your day meticulously as there is lots to see in the city. With some planning, you can certainly have a day out to remember.

Trevi is Rome’s largest Baroque fountain and perhaps the most stunning you’ll ever see. The fountain stands a massive 85 feet tall and is almost 65 feet wide.

This walk will take you from the Piazza Navona, along the old street of Via dei Coronari, over the Ponte Sant’Angelo and past the Castel Sant’Angelo arriving in St Peter’s Square along the Via della Conciliazione.

The Forum area was excavated in the 18th and 19th centuries. The ruins that have been uncovered date from many different periods of history.

The Victor Emmanuel II monument is centred on the unification of Italy and is therefore considered one of Italy’s national symbols.

The monument occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill and it’s not far from the Roman Forum and the Colosseum.

One of Italy’s must-see sights, the Leaning Tower took almost 200 years to build. When it was completed in 1372 it was already listing. Over the centuries the tilt has worsened almost to point of collapse. It was finally stopped by a major stabilisation project in the 1990s.

The Colosseum is a world-famous symbol of Rome. It can seem as full of visitors now as it was in its’ heyday. This was ancient Rome’s top entertainment venue, where capacity crowds would cheer on their favourite gladiators and watch criminals come to grisly deaths.

Michelangelo is supposed to have said that the Baptistery’s east doors were the Gates of Paradise. The Baptistery of St. John in Florence was described in Dante’s Divine Comedy as “my beautiful San Giovanni”. The Baptistery is without doubt, one of the most beautiful and important buildings in Florence.

This breathtaking building is a reminder of the great architecture of the Roman Empire. When Michelangelo first saw the building he said that it looked like it had been built by angels, not humans.

The Piazza del Popolo welcomes thousands of visitors every day, many of whom come to visit Santa Maria del Popolo church which houses a substantial number of works by great Renaissance works of art.