Oh, Italy–a land of good drink, even better food, significant history, and charming landscapes and cityscapes. Italy truly offers almost everything one could want in a travel destination. Unfortunately, I was only able to stay a week in the country, and only saw a small fraction of it. This is a place I could spend months traveling and still not see everything. Here are some highlights from my short, but worthwhile stay:

Rome

I was only in Rome three days, and despite being hungover much of the time, was still able to cover some of the main tourist attractions–namely, admiring the impressive architectural feat of the Colosseum, tossing coins in Trevi Fountain, and visiting the world’s smallest sovereign state: Vatican City.

Honestly, the Colosseum isn’t much more fascinating on the inside than it is from the outside (and viewing it from the outside is free), but the history behind the building is interesting to learn as it was the center of entertainment for the ancient city. Gladiator fights, battle reenactments, executions, and plays were just a few of the events held in the Colosseum. What makes the whole experience worth it is the ticket also includes entrance to the Forum, the center of ancient Rome that includes ruins of former government buildings, temples, and gardens. In addition, you can cheat the system and skip the line for the Colosseum tickets (up to two hours in the scorching sun) by buying tickets for both sites at the much shorter line for the Forum (took us about 10 minutes).

The Trevi Fountain is probably the most famous fountain in the world, and you will be able to tell as it is jam-packed with people at all times of the day. While you may have to fight for a good spot next to the water, making a wish and throwing a coin is a must-do ‘when in Rome’ and worth the couple minutes of chaos to check it off your bucket list.

The Vatican is an independent city-state located within the city of Rome and the smallest sovereign state in the world–both by population and area. It is the home of the Roman Catholic Church and ruled by the Pope. Also expect to wait in long, hot lines whilst visiting the Vatican, but the line moves fairly fast and we were in within 30 minutes. The highlight was walking up the steps to the dome at the top of St. Peter’s Basilica, which offers a 360 degree view of the entirety of Rome. Skip the line–and save a few Euros–by opting to walk the whole way up rather than take the elevator, but be ready to get your workout in. Also, it is not for those who get claustrophobic–the final staircase up to the top is in a tight enclosed space that you share with dozens of other sweaty people and no ventilation. However, if you are able to endure a few minutes of sweatiness and lack of oxygen, the views at the top are well worth it.

Sorrento Coast

My last four days in Italy were spent on the southern end of the peninsula in the Sorrento area. Using Sorrento as a home base, I took day trips to Capri, Pompeii, and Positano. While Sorrento is a worthy destination itself, these other locations (in addition to the Amalfi Coast which I didn’t have time to visit) are the real attraction and can be easily accessed from the Sorrento via ferry, train, or bus.

Capri was without a doubt the highlight of my Italy trip. A small island located just off the coast, Capri is just a short 30 minute ferry ride away from Sorrento. The ferry leaves every half an hour or so starting at 8am with the last boat back at 6:30pm. We got to the island around 10am and took the 6:30pm ride back, but if I were to do it again, I would have gotten to Capri even earlier as we easily could have spent another couple hours exploring the island. This was by far my most expensive day as it cost 38 Euro for a roundtrip ferry ticket, and everything on the island is very pricey as it is often frequented by celebrities and wealthy yacht owners, but the experience was well worth the price.

Colorful Italian homes perched along the islands steep hillsides and cliffs overlooked the clear, deep blue Mediterranean below. Fruit trees, grape vines, and vibrant flowers lined the narrow stone alleyways, enhancing the the warm air with a fresh citrus-like scent. In town, Gucci and Versace stores lined the streets, intermixed with seafood restaurants serving fresh catch of the day.

After exploring the town for a bit we took a bus over an incredibly windy and sketchy road built into the cliffside, over to the town of Anacapri on the other side of the island. My friend, and travel partner, Zoe, had heard about a chairlift that you can take to the highpoint of the island from Anacapri. This turned out to be absolutely epic as we rode a small, single-person chairlift that took us high above the island to some truly breathtaking viewpoints.

Instead of taking the lift back down, we decided to walk the steep, but short trail back to Anacapri. To save money, you could hike up to the viewpoint as well, but the chairlift was an enjoyable experience in itself and worth the 8 Euro ticket.

The next day, we took a train from Sorrento for about 3 Euro to Pompeii to explore the famous ruins there. I knew the story of Pompeii–how an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius had buried the city in ash and killed nearly all its inhabitants–but other than that, to be honest, my knowledge of the site was minimal and I didn’t quite know what to expect. While I found the Colosseum to be a bit underwhelming, Pompeii was the exact opposite. I was surprised by how large the city was, as it contained around 11,000 residents at its height, and the ruins are subsequently massive. What makes the ruins so incredible is the fact that the artifacts and buildings were removed from air and moisture since the city was buried under several feet of ash, thus, eliminating natural decay and erosion. As a result, many of the structures and artifacts are well preserved. The murals and paintings on the walls of homes are still vibrantly colored and detailed, as if they were painted a few years ago. Even some of the bodies were preserved, cementing their final moments in time.

Our last day in Italy, we took a cheap (2 Euro) bus ride to Positano, a popular coastal town and beach destination about an hour south of Sorrento along the Amalfi Coast. Positano is one of those postcard destinations characterized by colorful Italian style homes, long beaches, and a gelato stand seemingly around every corner. After several days of intense sight-seeing, and many, many miles walked, we spent the day at Positano relaxing on the beach and swimming in the sea. Swimming in the Mediterranean had always been a bucket list item for me, and one of my main goals while I was in Italy (aside from eating good food and drinking lots of vino, of course). The salt content is so high that I hardly had to use any effort to float. I lied on my back, zero-gravity style, floating at the top of the warm sea, watching clouds roll by for several minutes. It was a splendid week in Italy, a place I intend to visit again in the future, to see other parts of the country I missed this time, but mostly to eat more pasta and pizza.