Italy.
So you're heading to Italy? Let's get it right.
READ ROME FREEWhere to go (and what to skip)
The Dolomites + the great Italian hikes
Where to stay
How to get around — the trains
Costs, food, wine, and the espresso ritual
Common scams (don't miss these)
Rome, on us.
Tap any pin to open it in Google Maps on your phone. This is one section of 7 in the guide.
The combo ticket (~€18) covers all three and lasts 24 hours. Colosseum at opening (8:30am) is empty; by 10am it's full. The Forum next door is where you actually feel Rome — walk between 2,000-year-old streets. Palatine Hill above is where the emperors lived.
Tip: Book online 1-2 weeks ahead — walk-up queues run 90+ minutes in peak. The 'underground + arena floor' guided tour upgrade (€36) is worth it once.
OPEN IN GOOGLE MAPSWorld's largest art museum (4 hours minimum) ending at the Sistine Chapel. Adjacent: St Peter's Basilica (free entry, climb the dome for €10). The combined experience is 5-6 hours.
Tip: BOOK ONLINE. Skip-the-line saves 2 hours of queue. Early entry (7am) tours go before public hours — €70 vs €25 standard but you're in there alone. St Peter's free entry; arrive by 7am before tour groups.
1,900-year-old domed Roman temple, still standing, still open. Free entry (since 2023, a small fee €5 was introduced — double-check). The oculus (open hole in the roof) lets in rain that drains into hidden floor channels. Best Roman engineering monument.
Tip: Go at 8:30am opening. Or come back at sunset when the light through the oculus hits the marble.
Three free icons within a 15-minute walk. Trevi: throw a coin (10kg of coins per day pulled out — funded to local charity). Piazza Navona: Bernini fountains + buskers + cafés. Spanish Steps: the meeting point for centuries.
Tip: Trevi at 7am or 11pm to actually see it. Don't sit on the Spanish Steps eating — fine is €400.
Aunty Toni's #1. Three doors on Via dei Giubbonari: the deli/restaurant, the bakery (Antico Forno Roscioli), and the café. Carbonara everyone agrees is among the best in Rome, salumi + cheese selection from the Roscioli wholesale arm, the pizza al taglio at the bakery is take-away brilliance.
Tip: Book the restaurant 2-3 weeks ahead via roscioli.com. Walk-in the bakery for pizza al taglio (Roman square pizza by weight). Brunch upstairs at the café is quieter than dinner.
OPEN IN GOOGLE MAPSTiny, family-run, in Trastevere. Carbonara, cacio e pepe, amatriciana — the Roman trinity, done the way they should be. Queue from 6:30pm or pre-order via WhatsApp the morning of.
Tip: No reservations the old-school way. Get there by 7pm to get a table for the 8pm sitting. Cash strongly preferred.
OPEN IN GOOGLE MAPSRoman trattoria 30 metres from the Pantheon, family-run since 1961. Carbonara + saltimbocca alla romana + abbacchio (roast lamb). Books out 6-8 weeks ahead. The opposite of touristy despite the location.
Tip: Reservations only via armandoalpantheon.it. Two seatings per night — 7:30pm + 9:30pm. The handwritten menu changes daily.
Pizza dough triangles stuffed with classic Roman fillings (pollo alla cacciatora, polpette al sugo, melanzane parmigiana). €4-€6 each. Originally Testaccio, now multiple locations including near Pantheon + Trastevere.
Tip: Order 2 + a Birra Peroni. Aunty Toni called this a 'MUST TRY' — believe her.
OPEN IN GOOGLE MAPSSuppli are Roman rice croquettes — risotto + mozzarella deep-fried. Supplizio in Centro Storico is the spot Aunty Toni rates 'AMAZING'. €3-€5 each, hand-held perfection. Skip the pre-cooked supermarket version.
Tip: Eat them within 2 minutes of buying — they go from perfect to soggy fast.
Aunty Toni's seafood pick — beautiful, slightly fancy, in a gorgeous piazza off Campo dei Fiori. Whole grilled fish, raw oysters, wine list deep into the Italian boutique producers. Mid-tier price (€50-€80/head).
Tip: Lunch is calmer + half the price of dinner. Book online via pierluigi.it.
Castroni on Via Cola di Rienzo is an institution — international gourmet food store, the best espresso standing at the bar in Prati. Gabrini next door for street food (Roman lunch staples). Both on the main Prati shopping street.
Tip: Pair before/after the Vatican. Castroni's coffee bar standing-only is €1.20 — the same espresso seated would cost €4.
Aunty Toni's 'traditional Roman' pick near Cipro Metro station (close to the Vatican). Very good Roman classics — carbonara, cacio e pepe, amatriciana — without the tourist mark-up of the central trattorias.
Two more Trastevere trattorias from Aunty Toni's list. Da Teo for classic Roman, Rione 13 for slightly more modern. Both family-run, both bookable.
The Roman-Jewish neighbourhood — Italy's oldest Jewish community. Su' Ghetto is the Aunty Toni pick. Carciofi alla giudia (deep-fried Jewish-style artichokes — only in season Feb–May) is the must-order. Plus filetti di baccalà (salt cod fillets).
Tip: Walk Via del Portico d'Ottavia for the cluster of Jewish restaurants. The neighbourhood is 5 minutes from Trastevere over the river.
Aunty Toni's Michelin starred Rome picks. Aroma has the Colosseum view (book the terrace). Pipero (near Largo di Torre Argentina) is the chef's pick. Glass Hostaria in Trastevere is the boundary-pushing one. All €150-€300/head tasting menus.
Tip: Book 4-6 weeks ahead via theforks/Italian Michelin Guide app. Pipero + Aroma + Il Pagliaccio are the trio every food traveller works toward.
Aunty Toni's #1 rooftop. On top of Palazzo Pamphili overlooking Piazza Navona. Cocktails €18-€25, view of the Bernini fountains 6 floors below. Sunset slot books out weeks ahead.
Tip: Lunch is doable on the cheaper side. For pure cocktail-and-view, book the 6:30pm slot — you get sunset + dusk.
Two more Aunty Toni-approved rooftops. Iconic Pantheon has the Pantheon dome at eye level from the roof. Hotel Raphael has 360° over the Piazza Navona / Centro Storico rooftops.
Tip: Hotel Raphael's is cheaper + walk-in friendly. Iconic Pantheon is more elevated (and more expensive).
On top of Rinascente department store on Via del Tritone. Cocktails to recover from shopping, glass roof + Roman skyline + Trevi-adjacent. €18 cocktails.
Aunty Toni's three. Otaleg (Trastevere — 'gelato' backwards) for adventurous flavours (basilico, ricotta-honey-pistachio). Giolitti near the Pantheon for the historic-classic. Fatamorgana for the strangest flavours (gorgonzola, wasabi-chocolate).
Tip: Real gelato sits flat in the tray, not piled high. Real flavours don't glow neon. All three pass both tests.
OPEN IN GOOGLE MAPSThree more from Aunty Toni's gelato shortlist. Ciampini (Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina) for the espresso + gelato combo. Gelateria Fassi (Esquilino) is Rome's oldest gelato shop (1880). Gelateria del Teatro (off Via dei Coronari) is the sleeper hit.
The rest of Italy.
This chapter, the pre-departure checklist, the budget tool and the Italy chat, sent to your inbox.
5,600+ members, already there.
The guide gets you planned. The chats answer the rest, usually in minutes.
What buyers told us.
We're not really 'guide people', we usually just wing it. But Italy felt overwhelming and this made it manageable. The Puglia section convinced us to add a week and that turned into the best part of the trip.
The Sicily chapter is something else. Not just Palermo / Catania filler. Real recommendations for Trapani, Cefalù, the things nobody else writes about. Beautiful work.
Great practical info. Some of it I knew already from previous trips, but the deep regional stuff on Puglia and Calabria was worth the price on its own. Four stars only because I'd love downloadable offline maps.
Bought the Italy guide. Then the Vault. Then Pro. That's how good these are. I'm pre-ordering every guide before they exist. The community alone is worth it.
$15 is nothing, I spend more than that on a single brunch. It saved me hours of planning and made the actual trip better. Honestly I'd have paid $50 for any of these guides.
I've paid for most of the travel content out there at some point. Aussies In is the only one that reads like it was written by someone who actually travels, not a marketer. That's why I keep buying them.
Every hostel, restaurant, viewpoint, transport hub and hike start in this guide — pinned in a Google Maps list. Save it once, your whole trip travels with you offline.
Mistakes the guide saves you from.
ZTL fine in city centre (Florence/Rome/Bologna)
Anyone driving into a centro storico without realising
Cappuccino after lunch (instant tourist tag = inflated bills)
Reputation cost only, but real
Booking the Last Supper less than 2 months ahead
Missed booking — can't see it at all
Driving the Amalfi Coast road yourself in season
Rental damage + parking fines
Cinque Terre or Positano in July-August (3x prices + zero magic)
Most peak-season visitors
Train strike day = missed flight from Rome FCO
Anyone who doesn't check scioperi.mit.gov.it
Coperto + servizio + extra tip stacked at touristy restaurants
Most travellers, every meal near tourist sights
Gondola in Venice quoted at €120 instead of €80 regulated rate
Most Venice tourists
Buying Florence Duomo tickets day-of (sold out, miss the dome climb)
Anyone not booking 1 month ahead
Common questions.
Why pay A$14.99 when there's free info on Reddit?
What if I don't end up going?
Do I get future updates?
I'm planning Spain + Italy + Morocco. All-Access Pass?
Do I need a car?
Can I do Italy in 10 days?
Is the south actually safe?
Your trip, planned.
Where to go. Where to stay. What to eat. How to get around. What to skip. Every answer in one place — researched by Aussies who've actually been.