Some Italian cities have become victims of their own success—crowded, overpriced, and no longer offering the magic they once did. In this video, I break down six cities that just aren’t worth your time (or money) anymore… and where you should go instead. Yes, Rome, Venice, and Florence are beautiful—but maybe it’s time to rethink the itinerary.
I’ll also share one tourist town that still deserves the hype—and one that never really did.
Cities are Naples, Bologna, Verona, Lerici, Bari Puglia.
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49 Comments
The Only 3 Cities You Need To Visit In Italy (According To A Local)
Find out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4cgSftXSSk
I went to Rome in May. The food was generally lousy.
I get it, but visiting Italy without visiting Rome isn't advised. Go in the off season to avoid the hellish crowds. After you've visited Rome, then by all means head to the less touristy areas.
Grazie caro mio❤
YES! do not go to Florence, Rome, Naples and Venice, it is disgusting, terrible. Do not go!!!!
Thanks bro! I am heading to northern Italy next month & this is helpful!
Cruise ships got so cheap,now everybody is on them😅Carhart cruises😅
I totally disagree… I love coming to Rome, Florence & Venice. I always go in early spring or the fall… I love italy. The people are so friendly and treat you like family.
I went to Italy in December. Rome and Florence are great. Venice is so overrated. Verona and Siena are my favorites.
You missed Livorno, underrated city in Tuscany much cheaper and from there in 20 minutes you are in Pisa, 30 mins Lucca, 45 Firenze.
Hot and crowded af is literally every popular city in the summer time lol
I'm Italian and I'm telling you the only city worth a visit is Turin and the only seasides worth a visit are in Salento the rest is rubbish and so expensive…but obviously as a tourist you have to visit Venice, Rome or Florence..but they're just tourists traps that apart for the hot spots have nothing to offer…
North Italy, Turin and Piedmont😊
Negativ Kritik about Italy is realy not necessary. In every country we can find positiv items!😮
I was told that Naples was gritty and "real". Well nothing quite prepares you for the city's center. We stayed in a hotel right next to Garibaldi Train Station and the surrounding area is filthy and smelly. There was a mountain of rubbish right at the entrance of the MacDonalds that was there for days, festering in the heat. Naples is a perfect place to act as a commuting hub, but be prepared for how "real" it can be!
We visited Italy in March and it was so fabulous. The weather was great a little cloudy here and there. No large crowds! I realize people have vacation time in the summer with their kids, but if you can do, the off-season it is a totally different experience! Venice, we adored! Love Italy and the Italians!
I love Naples! Always have. Always will… I’m happy tourists haven’t discovered it yet!
Every place in Italy is worth it
Who goes to Rome in summer?! 🤣
In the 3rd week of October, I’m finishing a Mediterranean cruise in Athens and flying to Venice and spending a little over a day each in Venice, Florence and then 3 days in Rome with one of those days a day trip to Naples/Pompeii. I’m hoping the crowds won’t be too bad. For the Vatican museum, I’ve booked a private tour that begins before the museum opens to the public.
I would like to go to Italy , but I want to go to a place where there are Italians
The obsession with the Trevi Fountain is ridiculous. I saw it when I was young and you might run into 20 – 30 people. Today everyone and his cugino is standing shoulder to shoulder. NYET! I'll be visiting Bologna, Orvieto, Lucca, Perugia, Viterbo, Castel Gandolfo.
Thank you for recommending Verona. Definitely worth it!
Come and visit the Grand Canyon instead.
to tell the truth, Naples is the city most affected by overtourism in this period. In Rome you don't necessarily have to go to the Colosseum, there are dozens of museums and places ignored by tourism
i have to go to florence regardless. i studied art and need to see the work for myself. ravenna has always been a city i would like to visit.
Love your vibe and honest reviews. Wonderful video. ❤
Lucca is lovely, so is Bologna. But…Genoa, Brescia, Torino, Riva del Garda, Desenzano, Limone, Camogli, Santa Margherita Ligure, and the Calabrian coast are pretty amazing. Thank you for this vid. So sad, really, that those magnificent, treasured cities are now so debased.
Spectacular insi
ght
Vi suggerisco di visitare la splendida MANTOVA (Lombardia, Nord Italia) città ricca di arte, storia e buona cucina
Off-season, off-beaten path…still not my piece of cake. Arrivederci, Italia 🙂
Sure, if you come during the worst months. If I go to New York at Christmas, it's really crowded, just imagine 😅 Try changing the months. April? October? January? If you come in July or August, of course it’s hot.
These videos are depressing. We are headed to Rome tomorrow. I just worked 100 days in a row at work, 70 of them being 12 hour days. Made a bonus of 28 thousand dollars. And I plan on spending my vacation nicely NO MATTER HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE THERE. Sometimes its about timing. Ive followed romewise advice, greg advice and other people. My itinerary is planned already. Book the Colosseum twice, Florence, Pompeii, Cinque Terra, Venice and so on. The Pope could come down and is not stopping my trip. Great Channel. Can't wait to fly first class for the first time to Rome. And Ill bring a canon r8 with 70-200 lens for some nice pictures I can only get in person. Cant wait. Only question i have is where to eat.
The problem is that, unfortunately, the bulk of tourism in Italy is concentrated in the three summer months. The ideal scenario for tourists would be to spread their holidays throughout the year so they can enjoy all of Italy's beauties at their leisure, including the cities you mention in your video. What could we do to distribute tourism? Perhaps we could adjust tourist taxes based on the cities people plan to visit—for example, charge huge taxes for those visiting Rome or Venice in the summer months and lower taxes for other, less touristy cities? Should we make online booking mandatory for visiting our cities? Furthermore, there's now another "problem": our Italian cities are packed with tourists almost year-round (450 million tourists a year). You understand that this is a difficult problem to solve if we want all humanity to enjoy our beauties, who have the right to see the places where Western civilization was born and shaped, which is essentially our way of life today. What do you suggest?
I'm italian, living near Turin. I think Venice, Florence and Rome are the top3 cities in Italy for history and art, but overtourism is a real problem there… I also avoid these cities and when I went there I always chose low season and booking everything in advance (Rome is so big and rich that there are places – churches, museums, palaces – that are surprising and yet half-empty).
I came for a wedding this summer and I went to Fano and Rimini, definitely the east coast of Italy is the best.
Well don’t tell everyone where to go and ruin that place . The best thing to do is not let Americans go to Italy .
Naples is not for everyone. I can go and visit most of dowtown myself, but not 100% sure if my mom would like it, while she went to Torino for example and she had a nice visit of the city. Food is much better any other place, because they don't serve to tourists the same food they eat.
I recommend spending a couple of nights in Pistoia.
English and Dutch retirees buy homes in the Marche region. Dear foreign friends, there are wonderful, low-cost regions here.
Oh yes, Verona and Bologna here I come!! If it ever works out, I want to live in either. Great video and great advice. 🙂👍 🇮🇹
Great tips! I'll be going for the first time in October. I will spend just 3 days in Rome, two in Florence, one day and night in Venice. I will be spending most of my trip in Bari.
Val de Pesa in May and October. We drive from the Netherlands, overnight somewhere in South Germany and the next day we are in Tuscany. The agriturismo where we stay is lovely
and near to Florence and Siena but San Gimignano, Lucca, Bolgheri, Montalcino and Volterra are also close by and less crowded.
Last December I spent a week in Cannaregio, Venice, on the canal beyond the Ghetto. It was foggy, mysterious and quiet with small boats heading past into the lagoon, a bit like Newfoundland of all places. What a trip.
Hi. My five and I will be visiting Milan in the fall(October. Four nights) this is our second visit to milan so we're planning on taking a day trip to Verona or Parma. Any suggestions? THX
Verona, my favorite place in the world, Lucca an unforgettable place, Bologna the place I want to spend more time in, Polignano and Ostuni in Puglia are must go… and my beloved ones with affective memories are Sanremo and Triora, both in Liguria…
I always travel to Italy in the fall or spring but I'm over Rome and Venice.
Go in winter. I have been everywhere in winter and some places are closed, but not that many. I was in Santorini Greece when virtually nobody was there. A place that gets massively mobbed and only a couple places were even open and it still looked exactly the same as it does in summer. Cinque Terre I saw in winter also, no crowds, and it looks the same. Many places its mostly locals, so the vibe is much more real I guess. Venice snowed when I was there.
I loved Naples!