Traveling to Italy for the first time introduces a host of new experiences. The sights, food, people, and way of life are all unique and exciting. But there are a few things that may be different than you're used to at home and are worth knowing about before your visit. To save you from any inconvenient surprises, here are two things you probably didn't know (but should know) about traveling in Italy:

Planning a trip to Italy inevitably comes with what can be a high cost of traveling, but it doesn't have to be so financially out of reach as you think. With some savvy planning, you can find options for traveling to Italy that are much more affordable than you might expect.

If you're dreaming of planning a trip to Italy, here are some tips about how to save on airfare so you have more funds left to work with once you get there!

Avoid Peak Travel Times

From pristine Mediterranean beaches, rolling Tuscan hills, and snow-capped mountain peaks, Italy's landscape is quite diverse. The Lake District in Northern Italy is one of the country's most picturesque, but less traveled regions and is certainly worth a visit. Here are three lake towns you won't want to miss if you travel through Northern Italy:
 
Bellagio

No trip is complete without bringing a piece of it home to remember forever. When you travel to Italy, you're bound to get inundated with a plethora of offerings of things to take home with you. To save yourself the money (and the luggage space!), here's a quick guide of some of the best souvenirs to watch for:

Putting together a packing list for your Italian holiday can seem like a big challenge, especially if you will be visiting for the first time. To help simplify the process, here are seven tips to keep in mind before you pack your bags for your upcoming Italy trip:

Non si vive di solo pane, è vero; ci vuole anche il companatico; e l’arte di renderlo più economico, più sapido, più sano, lo dico e lo sostengo, è vera arte.

“We do not just live out of bread, that is true; we need also something to eat it with; and the art of making it cheaper, savory, healthier, I say it and I claim it, that’s real art”.

(Pellegrino Artusi – La scienza in cucina e l’arte del mangiar bene)

In part one of this blog series, we talked about a few of the better-known regions of Italy. In this post, we’ll continue with a few other Italian regions so you can get to know a side of Italy that you might not be familiar with!

In our era of global trade and commerce, you typically don’t have to look too far when wanting to purchase imported goods from other countries. That said, however, there are still certain specialty items that are best purchased in the location where they are made and Italy is no exception to that.
During your upcoming visit, here are three specialty items to look out for that you’ll want to purchase to remember your trip by:
Leather

From the snow-peaked Italian Alps in the north to the turquoise blue waters of Sardinia and Sicily in the south, the landscape of Italy is about as diverse as it gets. There are a lot of features of this great country that many tourists don't even realize, so in this post we're giving a quick review of a few of the regions where we can offer guided culinary tours so you may become more familiar with your options.