Italy  Hostels Central - tourist info about cities in Italy 

Most people will agree that Venice is the one of most romantic cities in the world, with its old architecture and the feeling of being in a world of its own that inevitably assails every tourist who steps out of the Santa Lucia train station.

But there’s much more to that. Venice is definitely a place where people live differently from everywhere else on mainland Italy and, probably, the rest of the world. Time is dilated as everywhere you have to get to must be reached on foot or by means of a slow boat, dashing in the midst of palaces that are several centuries old.

So, visiting Venice can mean more than simply scrambling to reach San Marco square surrounded by a huge number of tourists holding their cameras. It’s more about walking in small alleys, possibly in autumn, at night, or getting lost in its maze while on a bar trip...

Rome is the biggest open-air museum of the world. It’s been named ’la città eterna’ (the eternal city) due to the fact that it’s been one of the focal points of European civilization for more than two millennia. Being the centre of a global empire under the Ancient Romans and then the capital of the Catholic Church State has turned it into a multi-layered deposit of all kinds of works of art, monuments and ancient buildings.

The complete guide to the city and the surrounding areas has the size of a phone book, and you could live in Rome for years and still keep finding new, interesting things to see. In the Vatican State only (which is the smallest independent State of the world, enclosed in Rome and ruled by the Pope), the Vatican Museums have a collection of ancient sculptures that is second to none (although they are often crammed in a small space), the Sistine Chapel is one of the most beautiful frescoed ceilings of the world (by Michelangelo), and is preceded by rooms frescoed by none less than Raffaello.

It can be difficult to see a lot in a little time, though. Given the fact that the city is often flooded by tourists, is Italy’s capital and the centre of all activities in the surrounding region of Lazio, that the city plan is rather medieval and that there are few underground lines (it is very difficult to dig underground in Rome without finding remains of the Ancient Roman past), and also that the city is full of ’Romani’, who are not the most disciplined people on earth, going around can be a bit difficult. But arm yourself with patience, and you can discover a city where every street has its charm, hundreds of churches are filled with beautiful frescos, and the sight from the top of the seven hills is breathtaking.

Florence is definitely one of the must-visits in Italy. Having been the home of the most prestigious families of bankers of the middle ages, and having been for over two centuries under the Medici, one of the most enlightened ruling families in the history of Italy, it is a place where culture has flourished, and where the most renowned artists and architects of the Renaissance have had the chance to work at their best.

Florence is a city where history is everywhere, every street has its own charms, where there are hundreds of beautiful palaces, and every church has frescoes worth remembering. It is also surrounded by a land which is rich and charming, with rolling hills and streets that wind around them, vineyards and fruit orchards, old country mansions and fields, often preserving their medieval looks save for the asphalt of the streets and the lighting of the streets.

Another good reason to make a visit to Florence are its gastronomical pleasures: from wine (Tuscany is one of the Italian regions with the best wine tradition, together with Piemonte and Friuli) to the Fiorentina steak, from the strong boar salami to high quality olive oil, and countless other things. So a trip to Florence is sure bound to become a treat for the eye, the soul and the stomach as well.