How to Experience Italy Like a Local

It’s holiday season once again, and mainland Europe beckons. It always does, with its impossibly sunny beaches, headily cultural cities and deeply inspiring rural landscapes. It contains multitudes, and rewards repeat visits as you discover more of the continent and its secrets. There are so, so many places to get lost in Europe, and it’s easy to discount some of the more popular destinations accordingly – but that’s because you haven’t travelled them as a local yet.

Italy is a prime example of this. It’s one of the most popular holiday destinations both in the UK and globally, and you don’t need to see the queue at the Colosseum to understand this fact. That queue, however, illustrates everything wrong with conventional holidaymaking. Italy is more than its biggest landmarks, and this summer you’re going to find out what you’ve been missing. Here are some tips on how to experience Italy like a local, and have the holiday of a lifetime as a result.

Discover Italy By Rail

How you travel through Italy is an often-overlooked factor in how you experience Italy. All too often, we fly in from London and fly straight back out again – missing the grounded delight of seeing Italy in motion, from the ground. Multi-destination Italian getaways are prime candidates for experiencing Italy in a more three-dimensional sense; they can also be vehicles for luxury, if you have the inclination.

Travelling across Italy by rail offers a slower and more immersive way to experience its phenomenal landscapes; perhaps the most rarefied example of this is the Venice Simplon-Orient Express, a highly sophisticated journey and a holiday experience in and of itself. This slow train departs from Venice toward Paris, giving you the chance to enjoy fine dining, scenic routes, and curated cultural experiences through Italy’s most striking rural sights.

Explore Italy’s Hidden Villages

Of course, the main factor in cheapening an Italy holiday is over-reliance on the major tourist hubs. As we’ve touched on already, it’s a trope to visit the landmarks on which Italy has built much of its tourist base; the Colosseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Trevi Fountain. Looking beyond these admittedly beautiful attractions, there is so much more to find – and some things altogether more beautiful.

If it’s historical magnificence you’re after, you don’t need to go to Rome for evidence of the Romans. There are ruins stippling the country, from the ‘little Rome’ of Aosta to the once-Greek settlement of Cumae. In and around these off-the-beaten-track archaeological sites, you’ll find smaller villages and a level of hospitality far removed from the impersonal bustle of the big cities.

Experience Italy Through Regional Food Trails

Last but most certainly not least, Italy deserves to be explored through the lens of food, and again, without falling into some conventional traps. Pizza is a global cuisine now, and you don’t need to go looking for it in Italy! What you do need to go looking for, however, is the incredible regional cuisines localised to different areas. Research is your friend, but so too are the locals; don’t be afraid to ask where the best food is! If you’re by the sea, eat some seafood; if you’re in Piedmont, try the truffles!

If you enjoyed reading How to Experience Italy Like a Local, then why not read London Craft Week here

.Cent Magazine London. Luxury Mindset