6 Days of Photography & Travel in Italy

I recently got back from a week in Italy. Hannah and I visited Pisa, Florence, the Tuscany countryside and Rome.

As much as this was a holiday for us both, I obviously took a lot of photographs and documented the trip. So here’s what we got up to from 6 days travelling around Italy.

DAY 1: Pisa

Day 1 we landed in Pisa about midday. Whenever I get to a new place i’m always trigger happy, just taking advantage of the novelty, warming up my eyes and taking pictures of anything. Even if the photographs are a bit naff.

Of course the biggest attraction in Pisa is the famous, leaning tree.

Come to think of it. Obviously all the tourists want that leaning tower photograph so was this cliche of me as a photographer to take a photo of them doing that. Possibly...

In the afternoon we ticked off our tourists to do list in Pisa. Which, is easy to do as it’s rather small and other than the wonky building and surrounding historic area, there isn’t all that much else to do. As the evening drew to a close we jumped on the train and headed to Florence where we would be for the next few days.

Day 2: Florence & Wine Tasting

The next day woke up in Florence, although this appeared to be our cloudiest day of trip we, things were looking up because after a little explore in the morning at a leisurely pace we’re on a coach by the afternoon and heading into the countryside for some wine tasting.

Florence has a lot of history as you could have guessed and our first error was not pre-purchasing a ticket to visit the main attraction, Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The queue to get in here looked like it would have taken all day. So we kept our tourist activities on this day to the free exploration of the city. Which wasn’t an issue for either of us as the place is really interesting.

Don’t be convinced by the artists in the street selling artwork. Hannah walked around peered over his shoulder, he wasn’t painting anything. It was all a front. I cant say that about all of the people selling artwork but you get my point. I don’t think it’s as authentic as they want you to believe it is.

Alright, time to do some wine tasting like I have any idea what I’m doing.

After a two, or 6 six glasses of wine with intricate tasting notes and expert thoughts to analyse and understand which flavours we preferred (I thought they were all alright) we headed out into the gardens for a beautiful sunset, this was definitely the highlight of the day for me.

Day 3: En route to Tuscany

On our 3rd day we spent One final morning in Florence before we collected the rental car that afternoon and drive into the tuscany countryside.

This was the first time I’ve hired a car in a different country, turns out it’s not much different. In the quiet Italian countryside it isn’t anyway. I don’t fancy driving around central Rome if I’m being honest.

We then arrived at hotel where we would spend the next 2 nights. This place was one of the nicest locations I’ve ever stayed at.

This is where I took some of my favourite photographs from the entire trip.

Day 4: Siena

On the morning of day 4, we jumped in the Bugatti Veron and headed to Siena!

I love the big cities when travelling but sometimes, the quieter more local areas are some of the most interesting.

Back in December when I visited Andalucia, the quiet, local town of Osuna was one of my favourite places we explored.

Siena is still an active tourist attraction but with a population of 53k (ish) in comparison to Florence (380k) it felt like a nice change of pace.

Day 5: Travel to Rome

On the 5th morning we checked out of the Hotel in the Tuscany countryside which felt bitter sweet leaving because of how gorgeous the place was but at same time, I was excited to be heading for Rome.

We drove back to Florence to give back the car and headed for the train station.

We had 2 options for a trains from Florence to Rome. Pay extra and get the fast train (1 hour) or pay the cheaper rate and catch the regular slow train (3 hours).

Everything on this trip was going so smoothly that it was almost too good to be true. So it wasn’t the end of the world when we accidentally paid extra for the fast train but still got on the slow one… Mistake made, lesson learnt.

However, we did have a group tour of the Colosseum booked for 3pm.

We unfortunately becasue of our train antics didn't make it.

But we did however pay for the tickets in advance and explored the colossuem ourselves. I can’t believe they built that entire place just to film Gladiator. Definitley in my top 5 movies of all time so I guess it was worth it.

Following the Colosseum we wondered the Roman Forum too. Absolutely mind blowing to think about the history and how that place was essentially the centre of the world at one point. Very impressive.

But after a day of travel we were pretty shattered and I didn’t take many pictures or film much - kept this day chill.

Day 6: Rome

Rome has been high on my list of places to visit for a while. Deep down I’m a big geek and the history just fascinates me. It didn't disappoint at all.

As this was probably our longest day to explore one single place from early morning to sunset and I think it turned out to be my best for photograph in terms of output.

We started the day with a great find. A bloody brilliant coffee & breakfast spot: Barnum Roma - The best coffee I had in Italy the entire trip.

(snobby incoming comment)Is Italy supposed to be known for good coffee? I originally thought so. But with this being my 3rd visit I’ve come to the conclusion it’s VERY average.

Maybe I’m incredibly spoilt in London but come on… Italy is seriously slacking on the coffee front.

However, the Barnum Roma cafe was delightful. So if you’re in Rome on the hunt for decent caffeine. It might be difficult but at least I found one place.

The only thing on the itinerary that had a dedicated time slot was for a group tour The Vatican City and St Peter’s Basilica. (we were on time for this one)

Words cannot describe how incredible St Peter’s Basilica is. I’ve been in awe of that structure since the moment I walked in to the doors to writing this blog.