Italy 2026 — Nick & Ella

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ROME

Depart Jul 3 · Arrive Jul 4 · 3 Nights Rome

🏨 Hotel Artemide, Via Nazionale — BOOKED

July 3 — Friday · Departure Day

12:33 PMFLIGHT

Flight 301 — GCM → Charlotte (CLT)

Departs Grand Cayman 12:33pm, arrives Charlotte 4:45pm. Booking ref: NGCVVG. Layover at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

7:15 PMFLIGHT

Flight 720 — Charlotte (CLT) → Rome FCO

Departs Charlotte 7:15pm, arrives Rome FCO 10:20am July 4. Booking ref: NGCVVG. Overnight transatlantic flight.

July 4 — Saturday · Arrival

10:20 AM — LandBOOKED

Arrive Rome FCO — Check In to Hotel Artemide

Land at FCO 10:20am. Take the Leonardo Express to Roma Termini — €14, 30 minutes. Hotel Artemide is right on Via Nazionale, 5 minutes walk from Termini. No hire car needed in Rome — the city is entirely on foot, you collect the car on July 7.

🌐 Website 📸 Instagram

Mid Afternoon

I Pizzicaroli — Cured Meats & Cheese

A few blocks from Piazza Navona. Charcuterie boards bigger than the tables — porcini and truffle spread, bruschetta, cured meats and cheese on oak cutting boards, incredible wine selection. Surprisingly low prices. The kind of place where you go for one board and stay for three hours. Perfect first afternoon in Rome.

📸 Instagram

7:00 PM — DinnerBOOKED

Dinner — Trattoria Vecchia Roma

Via Ferruccio 12/b/c (Esquilino) · 7:00 PM, table for 2. A beloved old-school Roman trattoria near Piazza Vittorio, famous above all for its carbonara — generous, unfussy, exactly what you want on night one. Best of all it's a ~15-minute walk from Hotel Artemide, so no taxi needed after the long flight. Booking ref #Z43hyo.

🌐 Tripadvisor

July 5 — Sunday

8:00 AM — Start Here

Trevi Fountain — Early, Before the Crowds

The most famous fountain in the world — 26 metres high, Baroque masterpiece completed in 1762. At 8am you'll nearly have it to yourselves — by mid-morning it's shoulder to shoulder. The legend: throw a coin over your left shoulder with your right hand to ensure a return to Rome.

🌐 Turismo Roma

9:15 AM

Pantheon — At Opening

A 10-minute walk from Trevi. One of the most extraordinary buildings ever made — a perfect concrete dome with an oculus open to the sky, built in 125 AD. Entry €5. Doors open at 9am — be there early, it's completely different before the crowds arrive.

🌐 Website

Late Morning

Colosseum — Walk Past, View from Outside

15-minute walk from the Pantheon. The exterior is extraordinary — the scale of it doesn't hit you until you're standing in front of it. Walk around the full perimeter. The Roman Forum and Arch of Constantine are right there too. No need to go inside — the outside view is the moment.

🌐 Official Site

12:30 PM — LunchBOOKED

Lunch — DOC EnoBistrot, Cucina & Vineria

Via Giuseppe Giulietti 7, Ostiense · 12:30 PM, table for 2. Two Metro stops from the Colosseum (Colosseo → Piramide) or a 10-min taxi. Roman classics elevated: a true boutique of meat and fresh truffle — knife-cut tartares, meat sushi, premium cuts — with a seriously curated wine list. Booked via TheFork — the restaurant may send a reconfirmation request; just tap confirm.

🌐 Book on TheFork 🌐 Website

After Lunch

Gianicolo Hill — Panoramic Walk

A relaxed post-lunch walk with the best panoramic view of Rome — the whole city laid out below, and almost no tourists. Free. Stroll the ridge, then wander down into Trastevere's lanes on the far side — a lovely unwind before dinner in Testaccio.

📸 Photos

8:00 PM · DinnerBOOKED

Dinner — Felice a Testaccio

Via Mastro Giorgio 29, Testaccio · 8:00 PM, table for 2 (under Ella). Widely considered the best neighbourhood restaurant in Rome — retro checkered floors, white tablecloths, and a cacio e pepe finished at the table, tossed in the bowl in front of you. The unrivalled star of Testaccio. Table held only 20 min past 8:00 · 2-hour limit · card guarantee on booking (€15pp if cancelled under 12h before).

🌐 Website 📸 Instagram

July 6 — Monday

Morning

Piazza Navona & Campo de' Fiori Walk

The two great piazzas of central Rome connected by a 10-minute walk through ancient streets. Navona has Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers at its centre. Campo de' Fiori hosts a morning market — fruit, vegetables, flowers, street food. Free, entirely walkable, beautiful in the morning light.

📸 Photos

12:30 PM — LunchBOOKED

Lunch — Carpaccio Beef Restaurant

Via Marche 9, off Via Veneto · 12:30 PM, table for 2 — a short taxi from Campo de' Fiori. One of Rome's trendiest tables: burgundy velvet armchairs, black marble, 1970s Venetian style. The name says it all — legendary beef and truffle carpaccio, plus serious steaks (Wagyu and Creekstone selections). Afterwards you're a 15-min walk from Hotel Artemide for the 5pm Vespa pickup.

🌐 Book on TheFork 📸 Instagram

5:00 PMBOOKED & PAID

Ride Rome on a Vespa with a Local Driver

Hotel pickup from Artemide at 5:00 PM. 3-hour guided evening Vespa tour with a local driver — you ride pillion, no licence needed. See Rome's landmarks lit up at golden hour and dusk. English, 2 adults. Booking ref 1412697665. An unforgettable way to see the city before dinner.

July 7 — Tuesday · Drive Day

10:00 AMCAR PICKUP

Collect Hire Car — Centauro, Fiumicino (FCO)

Leonardo Express back to FCO from Termini (€14, 32 min), then Centauro's shuttle to the depot. Pickup 10:00 AM at Vía Portuense 2483, Fiumicino. Car: Lynk & Co 01 or similar (automatic SUV, 5 seats, 4 bags, A/C). Tel +39 0683793686. Booking ref IT882147190 · Confirmation IR26104802. ⚠️ Check whether your plate ends odd or even — it matters on July 14.

~11:00 AM

Drive FCO → Allerona — approx 2 hours

From Fiumicino, head north on the A1 motorway (~2h from the airport via the ring road). Rome→Orvieto is 1h30; Allerona ~15 min beyond. Consider stopping at Orvieto (30 min from Allerona) — extraordinary hilltop town with Etruscan underground tunnels. Or Lubriano Viewpoint — one of Italy's most photographed landscapes, just 2 minutes off the road.

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ALLERONA

July 7 – 10 · Wedding · Southern Umbria

🏰 SPAO Borgo San Pietro Aquaeortus · spao.it

July 7–10 — The Wedding

Venue

SPAO Borgo San Pietro Aquaeortus

Strada Provinciale SP50 km.10300, Allerona (TR) · spao.it

A fully restored medieval borgo in Umbria, reserved exclusively for luxury weddings — an entire private village where history, architecture and Italian charm merge. Originally an 11th-century fortress of Williamite monks, restored over more than twenty years. The wedding dinner takes place in the Piazza Grande, embraced 360 degrees by medieval buildings. 25 suites of various sizes on site — all guests stay within the borgo itself. Sit at the crossroads of Umbria, Tuscany and Lazio.

🌐 Website 📸 Instagram

Optional Day Trip

Orvieto — If You Get a Free Afternoon

One of Umbria's great hilltop towns on a volcanic rock. The Duomo facade is extraordinary. Go underground through the Etruscan tunnels — Orvieto Sotterranea, €6. Allow 1.5 hours.

🌐 Visit Orvieto

Optional Day Trip

Civita di Bagnoregio

A dying medieval village on a crumbling tufa cliff, accessible only by a pedestrian bridge. Surrounded by an eroded canyon. One of Italy's most surreal landscapes. 25 min from Allerona, entry €5.

🌐 Visit Civita

July 10 — Friday · Drive to Sorrento

Morning — Leave Early

Drive Allerona → Sorrento — 3.5 to 4 Hours

South on the A1 then A3 motorway past Naples, joining the SS145 for the Sorrentine Peninsula. Leave early morning — the SS145 gets congested from early afternoon in July. Vesuvius appears ahead as you pass Naples. The landscape becomes increasingly dramatic as you descend toward the coast. ⚠️ Be at the hotel by 4pm for the olive oil farm pickup

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SORRENTO

July 10 – 12 · 2 Nights

🏨 Hotel Mediterraneo — BOOKED · Pay Day Before

July 10 — Friday · Arrival Day

Arrival

Check In — Hotel Mediterraneo

Pay the day before check-in. Arrive and settle in. Hotel is well located for walking Sorrento's clifftop streets and Piazza Tasso.

🌐 Website 📸 Instagram

4:00 PMBOOKED

Frantoio Gargiulo Olive Oil Farm — Sant'Agnello

Pickup from Hotel Mediterraneo at 4:00 PM · private transport · English guide. A genuine working oil mill 5 minutes from Sorrento — walk through century-old olive trees, see the stone presses and cold-extraction machinery, then a proper tasting: 15 types of extra virgin olive oil, bread to dip, limoncello and liqueur creams. People consistently call it the highlight of their Sorrento stay. Reserved · card auto-charged 8 Jul ($97.46) · free cancellation before 4 PM on 9 Jul · conf. 1798616837.

🌐 Website 📸 Instagram

Evening

Piazza Tasso, Corso Italia & Shops

The heart of Sorrento at its most beautiful in the early evening light. Walk the Corso Italia, browse the shops, have a gelato, watch the world go by from Piazza Tasso.

📸 Photos

Dinner

Dinner — La Cantinaccia del Popolo

Walk-in only — queue outside and find your table. Cured meats hanging from the ceiling, locals at every table, honest Sorrentine food. No pretence, no tourist menu. One of the most atmospheric dinner spots in town.

📸 Photos

July 11 — Saturday · Capri Day

8:50 AM · Meet at Il FaroBOOKED & PAID

Capri Boat Trip — Half Day Small Group + Blue Grotto

Meet at 8:50 AM by Hotel Il Faro, Via Marina Piccola 5, Sorrento — a driver takes you to the departure port. Final pickup point to be confirmed with Buyourtour — may be moved nearer Hotel Mediterraneo.Half-day small-group trip: hydrofoil out to Capri, the Blue Grotto, and a boat tour of the island's dramatic southern coast — sea caves, the Li Galli islands where Nureyev once lived, and the Green Grotto — with a swimming stop. Back in Sorrento by early afternoon, before the cruise-ship crowds. Included: driver pick-up & drop-off, English-speaking skipper, dry snacks & soft drinks (water, Coke, beer), a glass of Prosecco & a limoncello tasting. Pay in cash on the day: €18 pp Blue Grotto + €10 pp destination fee = €56 total for two. Bring: passport/ID, swimsuit, sunscreen, sun hat & cash. Booked via Buyourtour by Amo Italy Travel — Fabiana, info@buyourtour.it.

🌐 Booking page 🌐 Buyourtour (operator)

Afternoon

Lunch — A'Marenna (Sandwiches)

Via Torquato Tasso 23, in the heart of Sorrento's historic centre — a short walk from the hotel. Italian deli doing exceptional panini on local panuozzo bread — fresh, inventive fillings (mortadella + stracciatella + pistachio is the signature). Run by Anna & Iride, famous for the warm welcome. Gone viral but genuinely delivers. Go at 11:30am opening to beat the line — limited seating. Closed Thursdays. Light, easy, perfect after a morning on the water.

📸 Instagram

Dinner — Walk In

Dinner — Pizzeria da Franco

No reservations — walk in. Corso Italia 265. Wood-burning oven 8ft deep at 500°C, been here nearly 70 years. Long communal benches, paper plates, locals queuing for takeaway outside. Extraordinarily good pizza. Open until 2am so no rush.

📸 Instagram

After Dinner

Gelateria David

One of the best gelaterias in Sorrento — natural flavours only, no artificial towers of colour. Locals eat here. The perfect end to the day.

📸 Instagram

July 12 — Sunday · Drive Day

11:30 AM · Lemon Tour + LunchBOOKED

Lemon Tour & Lunch — La Limonaia, Sorrento

11:30 AM · 2 people. A guided walk through La Limonaia's terraced lemon gardens — how the giant Sorrento lemons grow and how limoncello is made — followed by a relaxed home-style lunch among the trees. A lovely final Sorrento morning before the coast road. Eat well before the drive — the SS163 demands full attention. Booked under Nicholas · €130 total (tour €35pp + lunch €30pp).

🌐 Website

Afternoon

Drive Sorrento → Amalfi — 2h to 2h 30min (SS145 + SS163)

First ~40 min is inland on the SS145 over the peninsula, then you join the legendary SS163 coast road. One of the most dramatic drives in the world — but in July a 5km coastal stretch can take 45 min, so budget the full 2h 30. ✅ You're exempt from the plate rule today as an arriving hotel guest — show your reservation. Worth stopping briefly at Positano (30 min), the Furore Fjord bridge (5 min — extraordinary canyon), and the Grotta dello Smeraldo (Emerald Grotto) just before Amalfi if time allows.

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AMALFI COAST

July 12 – 15 · 3 Nights · Based in Praiano

🏨 Hotel Piccolo Sant'Andrea, Praiano — BOOKED

July 12 — Sunday · Arrival Evening

AfternoonBOOKED

Check In — Hotel Piccolo Sant'Andrea

5-star boutique hotel in Praiano — 27 rooms, modern design, indoor and outdoor pool, spa, gym on site. Rooms have private terraces with outdoor sea-view showers. Free shuttle to Positano and Praiano village.

🌐 Website 📸 Instagram

7:00 PMBOOKED

Dinner — Il Pirata (Michelin Starred), Praiano

A restaurant carved directly into the cliffs of Praiano, with waves crashing on the rocks below as you eat. Candle-lit cave dining, accessible by boat or a staircase cut through the cliff face. One of the most dramatic and unique dining settings in all of Italy. The perfect first dinner after the drive down.

🌐 Website 📸 Instagram

July 13 — Monday · Chill Day

All Day

Rest Day — Pool & Hotel Piccolo Sant'Andrea

A genuine rest day. Sleep in. Use the hotel pool — both indoor and outdoor available. The coast road, the drive, and the olive oil tour have all been full-on. Read on the terrace, swim, order room service. Optional: walk to Atrani village (10-min coastal walk east from Amalfi) — one tiny perfect piazza on a small beach, almost no tourists.

6:30 PM DepartureBOOKED & PAID

2-Hour Sunset Boat Cruise — Praiano/Positano Harbour

Departs 6:30 PM. Traditional gozzo boat from Praiano/Positano harbour. Cruise west along the coast — Furore Fjord, sea caves, the Arc of Lovers rock formation (a natural arch shaped like two elephants kissing). All as the sun sets over the Mediterranean. Sun sets at approximately 8:30pm.

📸 Photos

Dinner

Dinner — La Moressa, Praiano

Fresh-caught seafood purchased daily from local Praiano fishermen. Terrace overlooking the sea, warm summer evening. Very local, very authentic. A relaxed dinner after the sunset cruise.

🌐 Website 📸 Instagram

July 14 — Tuesday · The Big Day

⚠️ SS163 ALTERNATING PLATE RULE — APPLIES TODAY

The Amalfi coast road restricts cars by plate number 10am–6pm, June–Sept: even plates on even dates, odd plates on odd dates. Today (the 14th, an even date) only EVEN-ending plates may drive the SS163. Unlike your check-in and check-out days, you are NOT exempt today — the hotel-guest exemption only covers arrival and departure days. You won't know your plate until you collect the rental car. If your plate is odd: do the Villa Cimbrone / Ravello trip and be off the SS163 before 10am (the 7am hike start already sets this up), or use the SITA bus, ferry, or a licensed NCC driver (all exempt) for the Ravello leg. Scooters are also exempt.

7:00 AM — Leave Hotel

Path of the Gods — Nocelle Short Hike

40-minute drive to Nocelle village. Walk 2km west along the clifftop trail — 600m above the sea, the entire Amalfi Coast laid out below from Positano to Capri on a clear day. 2 hours total out and back. Start at 7am — non-negotiable in July heat. Grip shoes, 2 litres of water each, SPF 50+.

📸 Photos

10:00 AM

Drive Nocelle → Ravello — Villa Cimbrone Gardens

50–70 minutes from Nocelle in July traffic — Nocelle is on the western (Positano) end and Ravello sits east of Amalfi, so you drive almost the full SS163 between them. Walk through the village lanes to Villa Cimbrone. The Terrace of Infinity projects over the cliff edge with nothing between you and the horizon — the Gulf of Salerno 300m below. One of the great views in Europe. Allow 1 hour.

🌐 Villa Cimbrone

1:00 PM — Lunch

Lunch — Salvatore Ravello 1958, Ravello

Via della Repubblica 2, Ravello. Book ahead. Family-run since 1958, often used as a wedding venue for its extraordinary views over the medieval buildings of Ravello and the coast beyond. Authentic Campanian cooking. A well-earned reward after the morning's walking.

🌐 Facebook

DinnerBOOKED & PRE-PAID

Dinner — Roc Pizza & Steak

⚠️ Pre-paid — must cancel 48 hours before if plans change. Keep this dinner lighter given the Salvatore Ravello lunch earlier in the day — pizza or a simple steak rather than a full multi-course meal.

📸 Instagram

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NAPLES

July 15 – 17 · 2 Nights · Fly Home July 17

🏨 Hotel Excelsior Naples — BOOKED · Via Partenope 48

July 15 — Wednesday · Arrival Day

Morning Drive

Drive Praiano → Naples — 1h 30–1h 45min

Get off the coast first (SS163 → A3 on-ramp), then straightforward A3 motorway. Pure motorway is ~1h10 but door-to-door is 1h30–1h45 in summer. ✅ Exempt from the plate rule as a departing hotel guest. Leave with time to spare before the 3pm check-in and 4pm Cappella Sansevero.

4:00 PM · Meet 3:50 PMBOOKED

Cappella Sansevero — The Veiled Christ (with Guide)

Meet at 3:50 PM at Piazza San Domenico Maggiore 16, 80134 Napoli — in front of the Napoli Store. Tour with English-speaking guide, 40 minutes, 2 adults. A marble sculpture of Christ beneath a burial shroud so impossibly fine it appears to be actual wet fabric. Done in 1753. People genuinely gasp. The single most extraordinary thing you will see on the entire trip. Payment processes automatically on July 12, 2026.

🌐 museosansevero.it

Midday — 2 min walk from Cappella

Lunch — Di Matteo Pizza, Via dei Tribunali 94

2 minutes from the Cappella Sansevero. Stand at the marble counter. Order a margherita or marinara. Pay €3. 150 years unchanged. Bill Clinton ate here during the G7 summit in 1994 — there's a photo on the wall.

🌐 Website 📸 Instagram

AfternoonBOOKED

Check In — Hotel Excelsior Naples

Via Partenope 48. Right on the Naples seafront overlooking the Bay of Naples, Capri and Vesuvius. Rooftop restaurant, fitness centre, elegant rooms. 11-minute walk from the Royal Palace and Piazza Plebiscito — perfectly located for everything on the Naples plan.

🌐 Website

Dinner — Arrive 7pm Sharp

Dinner — Starita Pizzeria, Via Materdei 27

No reservations — arrive at 7pm opening to get a table. Open since 1901, setting of a famous Sophia Loren film. One of the finest pizzerias in Naples by local consensus. Order the montanara (fried then oven-baked) or the classic margherita. Closed Mondays — you are there on a Tuesday, all good.

🌐 Website 📸 Instagram

July 16 — Thursday · Full Naples Day

MorningTO BOOK

Gran Caffè Gambrinus — Coffee Experience with Arturo

Piazza del Plebiscito, next to the Royal Palace. Hosted by Arturo, third-generation owner of this legendary café open since 1860. You gather in the ornate Belle Époque main hall, hear the café's history, see coffee cups used by heads of state, craft an espresso with a master barista, and taste a traditional Neapolitan sfogliatella pastry.

🎟 Book on Airbnb 🌐 Website 📸 Instagram

Late Morning

Spaccanapoli Walk — 45 Minutes

The ancient Greek street that cuts Naples perfectly in two — laid out around 470 BC, unchanged since. Walk it end to end, 45 minutes. Loud, chaotic, completely alive. A church every 50 metres, street markets, laundry above your head. The realest street in Italy.

📸 Photos

12:00 PM — Lunch

Lunch — All'Antico Vinaio, Corso Umberto I, 28

The best mortadella sandwich in Naples. Order the La Paradiso — thinly sliced mortadella, stracciatella cheese, pistachio cream and crushed pistachios on fresh focaccia baked to order. €8–14, large enough to share. Right in Centro Storico, steps from everything on today's plan.

📸 Instagram

3:00 PM · 3 HoursBOOKED & PAID

AVPN Pizza Making Class — 3 Hours

The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana — the governing body that certifies authentic Neapolitan pizza worldwide. Max 10 people. Learn the actual technique — dough, San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella — then bake in a traditional wood-fired oven. Leave with a certificate and the skills to recreate it at home.

🌐 Website

July 17 — Friday · Departure Day

7:30 AM

Check Out — Hotel Excelsior Naples

Bags ready the night before. Relaxed breakfast — no need to rush this morning. Final espresso on the seafront.

By 9:00 AMCAR DROP-OFF

Drop Hire Car — Centauro, Via del Riposo 18

~25 min drive from the hotel. Return to Centauro at Via del Riposo 18 — the depot is 600m from Naples Airport (NAP) Terminal 1. Booked drop-off 09:00 (return earlier if you like, no penalty). Tel +390 683 662 959. If the depot is open earlier and you drop by ~8am, you can take an earlier train and gain a bigger cushion at FCO.

~9:15 AM

Taxi — Naples Airport area → Naples Centrale

Taxi from the Centauro depot / Naples Airport to Naples Centrale station. ~20 minutes. Metered taxi from the rank, or hail an official white taxi with the FREE NOW app (works in Naples; Uber barely does).

~10:00 AMBOOK IN ADVANCE

High-Speed Train — Naples Centrale → Roma Termini

Book in advance. Aim for a departure around 9:45–10:15 AM · Journey 1h 10min · Approx €20–40 per person. Trains run every 20–30 min, so you have flexibility. Arrive Roma Termini approximately 11:10am.

🚄 Book Italo 🚄 Book Trenitalia

~11:20 AM

Leonardo Express / Taxi — Roma Termini → FCO

Leonardo Express €14, 32 min, or fixed-fare taxi ~€50, 45 min. At FCO by approximately 12:00pm — over 2 hours before the 14:15 departure. Comfortable for an international flight.

2:15 PMFLIGHT

Flight 53 — FCO → Miami (MIA)

Departs FCO 2:15pm, arrives Miami 7:05pm. Booking ref: KDDQMR.

July 18 · 10:15 AMFLIGHT

Flight 1300 — Miami (MIA) → Grand Cayman — HOME

Departs Miami 10:15am July 18, arrives Grand Cayman 10:56am. Booking ref: MWJTGB. Welcome home.