6 of the 7 Continents For The Budget Traveler: italia

It was summer of 2025, the last year I would be living in the United States full time. I have plans on living in Italy eventually, maybe forever, maybe just part time (that is a whole other blog article)... But before I would make the big step to leave the USA and move to Italy, I wanted to visit ALL of Italy. Completely all would of course take a lifetime, it's a relatively small country but there is so much to see, I instead opted for the goal of visiting all 20 regions of this beautiful country. After my last trip there was only one left... Calabaria. It was time to start an unforgettable road trip through the toe, and with a bonus end the trip where I first saw Italy in Sicilia. Here's my tips and experience for visiting Calabria!

You will probably want to rent a car. Unlike other parts of Italy, Calabria is not well connected by train, the first half of my trip visiting castles, mountain towns, and small beach villages would have been impossible without a car.
You will probably want to ditch the car when you get to the major beach cities. Yep sorry for conflicting info! I landed in Lamezia Terme, rented a car from there to explore towns like Crotone, Squillace, and Santa Severina, but when it was time to head to the western seaside places, particularly like Tropea, parking is a nightmare, so I returned the rental and opted for the train instead.
One of the things I loved about this region that may be a negative for some, was that there were very few, in some cases, no other foreigners other than me. In Crotone, Squillace, Reggio Calabria etc, I never heard English. Tropea was a bit more touristic but still a great time. I love Rome, I have been 4 or 5 times and will always go back, but I also loved being the outsider. I loved speaking Italian every day instead of English. And I loved the little taste of immersion in the culture.
Prices for everything were great, even the most expensive restaurants were very affordable compared to other regions I have visited.
The Castles and lack of tourists, even in peak season! I am a tourist of course, so it's a bit hypocritical but in this lesser visited region it was great to avoid lines and crowds, I wrote a similar thing about visiting Roccascalegna Castle (possibly my favorite in Italy) in Abruzzo, when you visit the Colosseum you visit with a few thousand tourists, when you visit the castles and museums in Calabria, you may be the only tourist!
Hotels or Airbnb's were excellent, great prices, great views, all the standard amenities needed to make a great trip of the region.

Rooftop from my Airbnb
But special shout out to the Blu Tropea Maison. Going to Tropea it was very important to me to stay in one of the historic buildings overlooking the beautiful beach. The Blu Tropea Maison seemed like it was the city center, my room overlooked the ocean, and right outside there was a beautiful overlook as well.
Tropea was the only part that was a bit more crowded, that being said other than parking, there were no issues with long lines, finding a good spot to eat, etc. The beach was definitely packed though!
Once you are on the coast, it's coastal activities, boat days, beach days, swimming etc. If you are not a big water person, make this part of the trip shorter.

Reggio Calabria
When I hit Reggio Calabria it was time to do some Scuba Diving, I try to dive at least once a year. It was a great break from the heat to go deep in some cold water, but honestly other than that it was not an impressive dive.
Gelato Cesare 1918 however was VERY impressive!
Speaking of food, of course you have to try the 'Ndjua. A little spicy but not overbearing, I had it twice, making sure my last dinner in Calabria was a local dish.
I had heard Calabria was dangerous, under mafia control still, I am not saying it isn't, but I personally didn't experience this. Italy is relatively safe, and nothing has ever happened to me there, but I've seen more potential for problems in the big famous places more so than Calabria.
I spent about a week in Calabria, you could spend a year there and not see everything, but a week was good for a really good glimpse into this region.

Once I finished seeing Reggio Calabria it was time to take the ferry to Messina, and revisit Sicily. I first steped foot in Italy in 2016, in Sicily. It seemed fitting to make a full circle and finish where I started. I loved Calabria, and do hope to go back! I put it above certain regions in Italy, below others, it's hard to choose in this country! Though for a first timer, I wouldn't recommend it, you need to "know" Italy a bit before you are ready to navigate Calabria, that being said, if you have been a few times, please give this beautiful region a visit. It was an unforgettable adventure, and truly mesmerizing experience.

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Ferragosto, google "Italy during Ferragosto, some Google sources will tell you not to go, some of my American friends that love Italy told me not to go, even some Italian friends told me, don't go to Italy during Ferragosto! So needless, to say, I had to go to Italy during Ferragosto.

Ferragosto is the national holiday period in Italy where a large number of the country has vacation to travel to parts of Italy or wherever in the world, people advised me not to go because "Everything would be closed" or the "beaches will be insanely crowded." While there was a little bit of truth to this, I found Ferragosto to be not only delightful, but a really great time to visit! Now I'm considering living in Italy eventually, so besides the whole rebel in me to travel when I'm not supposed to, I also thought it was important to visit in August, because maybe one day I'd be living there and would be forced into Ferragosto anyway.

I'm trying to visit all regions of Italy, at the time of writing only Calabria remains, and I hope to hit that this summer. This trip I wanted to see Liguria, Piedmont, and Valle D'Aosta. It was a great combination of beaches, mountains, and the city. Some places it was very obviously Ferragosto, some places were like any other trip I've done in Italy. So I'll break down region by region highlight of my trip, and Ferragosto tips if applicable.

Liguria Genoa, and Cinque Terre

The Ferragosto holiday began in Genoa first tip came as soon as I arrived, apparently Genoa is a city in Italy that is not public transport friendly to and from the airport. I decided to try anyway, it was a pretty long walk to the train station, made extra long due to construction, and it was pretty hot that day, as I was sweating I thought, it's all good I will be able to cool down once I get to my Airbnb.... But no....
Air Conditioning is not very common in Genoa, I've heard this about many Italian cities, but in the 19 regions I've been to out of 20, I've never seen it more common than Genoa. It was rare to see a building with Air Conditioning, the Museum of Natural History even warns visitors it doesn't have AC. I found that odd, doesn't the artifacts need a certain temperature to stay preserved? Oh well... Other than the first day, I was fine, a nice fan at night was more than enough. The stuffy apartment made me make sure I enjoyed Genoa more.
Visit Christopher Columbus's childhood home!
Porto Antico Of Genoa is definitely your day time tourism hub, the Aquarium, the Biosphere, the Neptune Pirates Film Ship, were a few great stops to make.
Don't have time to get to Cinque Terre? Boccadasse beach was a great place to spend a couple of hours, and it looks a lot like the Cinque Terre beaches, I won't tell anyone...
Then it was off to The Cinque Terre...
I decided to stay in Rio Maggiore, mainly because it was the best Airbnb I could find with an excellent view.

The highlight of my two nights here was definitely just the little town of Rio Maggiore, a lot of time on the beach, and pier front, I really only walked into town for dinner, and odds and ends. Most of my time was spent swimming, enjoying the vibe, and a little hiking around the area.
I did also do a boat tour of all 5 towns, and this was a great way to see a glimpse of the other towns and enjoy a nice boat day with some drinks and snacks included.
August was perfect for the beaches, it was a bit crowded but by no means over crowded and EVERYTHING was open.

Next was a brief stop in Torino, I wanted to go to Valley D'Aosta but logistics was going to make it a really long drive, and Valley D'Aosta is one of the few parts of Italy that is very difficult to manage without a car. I came back to Torino for the finale, so we will save Piedmont for last. Let's drive to Valle D'Aosta!

Valle D'Aosta

Castle Savoy

I made the best travel mistake I ever made in Valle D'Aosta, for some unknown reason, my GPS was set to avoid toll roads, this makes no sense as where I live there are no toll roads. It sent me on an adventurous 5 hour drive (2 hours when I came back and realized the error), through countless little towns, mountains, streams etc. I only went north for a night, but here's my appetizer preview of what I loved about Valle D'Aosta!

Mountain Food

Drive... Definitely the best way to see it, and although I do not like driving through old cities, the ones in Aosta Valley were fairly manageable, just remember a one way street may be two ways, parking can be difficult, but so many little spots made the drive incredible.
While Genoa was sweltering hot Aosta had me wearing a sweater, and when some light rain came it was quite chilly, so make sure to pack double climate gear if you are doing more than this region.
Fortress of the Bard was an epic castle turned into a museum, Savoy castle is straight out of a Disney movie, but be advised reservations are needed to enter. Fenis was a great spot as well on the castle tour.
Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso, this was where Ferragosto was obvious. Parking was extremely difficult in areas by the trails. I was able to park, but then the trails were busy, especially the easier ones. However that being said, the park is well taken care of, and people respect it. A few "Bon jours" as there were apparently many French neighbors there, and a some friendly waves, but in no means was it a reason not to enjoy it in August.
I had this very epic late lunch on the drive back down to Torino, but like many things in travel, it was random, I had no idea where I was going, and I have no idea where it is today. The joys of not doing everything by Google.

Piedmont, Turin

The last leg of my Ferragosto adventure, before Rome, Roma La Citta Eterna, was the capital, there was Turin.

The bad news here was Ferragosto was very obvious, a lot of retail stores closed, a handful of restaurants closed, the good news, it had zero effect on tourism, all museums were open, plenty of night life and dining options, and added bonus, zero crowds, even at the most famous places in Turin.
This was a heavy museum part of the trip, the Mole, the cinema museum, the Egyptian Museum, the Royal Palace, I definitely found myself in awe wondering from one museum to the next.
The Po River was a great way to spend days and late afternoons, it's lined with little bars and restaurants to enjoy a drink or a nice snack, also some beautiful parks to stroll through.
The last thing I will touch on, was oddly one of my favorite parts of the trip, the streets had very little traffic and a lot of dedicated bike lanes, Lime Bike has a contract there, I found myself in lieu of taxis for longer routes, walking to a nearby Lime and cruising, then I enjoyed it so much I did it lazily for short rides, and finally I would just rent one and go nowhere in particular, something was extra special and fun to just cruise the old cobble stone streets in an electric scooter, was never in the plans, but made for a really fun element of the trip!

So if you made it to the end of the article, Italy during Ferragosto was a resounding yes! The way I said it best talking to friends, if you are going to remodel a bathroom, start a business, start university or something like that, don't go. But if you are going to enjoy Italy, it's a great time to go! I've now been to almost every region as mentioned. I'm excited to say that the plans are in motion this year to finish Italy with a July summer trip to Calabria. Every trip has been epic, with it's own little flavor, and enjoyment. This country has it's own section because I've done many trips here, and as a dual citizen of Italy (another article long in the works), this beautiful country will always be a part of my life.