Italy's Gems Off the Beaten Path

Written by Anika Molander

​When you hear about vacationing in Italy, your mind probably turns to a Roman holiday or floating around the canals in Venice. While those are beautiful destinations, I am here to share a couple of places that are worth a visit that you might not have heard of. This past summer, I had the pleasure of being able to study abroad in Italy for a month and here are a few places that we visited. 

​The Tarot Gardens 
If you ever find yourself driving up the coast towards Tuscany, there lies a little town called Capalbio, about an hour and a half north of Rome. Capalbio is home to Il Giardino dei Tarocchi, or The Tarot Garden. This Tarot Garden is an open-air art museum that opened in 1998. The French-American artist, Niki de Saint Phalle, designed it and lived inside one of the sculptures while building the garden. Niki drew her inspiration from Antoni Gaudi and loved his eccentric works of art in Barcelona, so decided to do something similar in Italy. All of the sculptures in the garden are made of cement and mosaic tiles, and derive from the 22 Arcana tarot cards, hence the name, Tarot Garden. This garden is extremely colorful and a fun place to walk around and take pictures! ​

Carnevale di Viareggio 
If you are looking for another fun and colorful place to visit, the Carnevale di Viareggio is the place to be. The town of Viareggio is located in Tuscany, about half an hour North of Pisa. Every year in February, the town holds a carnival with huge paper mache floats, dancers, and performers. They have a museum that is equipped with huge hangars where they build the floats and you can see some past floats on display there. If you can visit, I highly suggest it, because it shows a little about the local Italian culture and it is all incredibly impressive! 

Cinque Terre
You have probably heard of the beautiful Cinque Terre, and I am here to reiterate just how beautiful it is and to tell you that it is a must-see! Cinque Terre translates to “Five Lands” and consists of the villages of Monterosso al Mare, Manarola, Vernazza, Cornigilia, and Riomaggiore. While we were there, we took the train to Vernazza and hiked along the coast to Monterosso al Mare. If you are not a hiker, like me, it will be a little bit difficult at the beginning because there are many steps. The hike was a little less than 2.5 miles and took about 2 hours. I was a little hesitant at first, but it was doable and so worth the huffing and puffing! The ocean is so blue and a lot of the trail is shaded. Because it is a national park, you do need a Cinque Terre card to enter and to hike on the trail. Once you get to the end of the trail, beautiful beaches and many places to eat welcome you! Cinque Terre is located in the region of Liguria, which is famous for their pesto, so be sure to eat or buy some pesto here!