Spain & Italy Trip 2019: Itinerary & Details

How I Planned This Trip:

All along I knew that if I were going to take a really lovely long trip it would be to Italy, despite having been many times because it’s just so wonderful. And because I love food, and there’s no better place on earth for it in my opinion.

That said I wanted to have at least one “cool city” along the way, better yet one with a Soho House so we could check out another city’s House. Barcelona fit the bill.

My husband and I had each been to Barcelona before to do the touristy things, so this stop was all about just enjoying the town & the House. It was short lived but a great first stop. We saw some cute neighborhoods, got our fix of paella, and eased into the European culture with the all familiar vibes and brands of Soho. The House was amazing and the amenities were probably the best on the whole trip: hello free laundry & an in room straightening iron

Next up we headed to Italy. I had initially wanted to do Amalfi because of everything I’d seen from Instagram but the fact was that it was a little harder to get to and really expensive for what was left by the time we booked this trip just a few months before going. I was willing to splurge on some hotels but not on the entire trip. I would still love to see Amalfi as I know it is beyond beautiful but the good news is I’m here to tell you, you can see other beautiful parts of Italy that aren’t quite as expensive!

I knew Lake Como would be a fun stop because neither of us had been and my husband is definitely a lake/boat guy. Next I knew I wanted to head to the beach and at some point get to Forte Dei Marmi, a spot my family vacationed on numerous occasions when I was little. Beyond that my mom suggested stoping in a town a bit north of FDM for a night called Sestri Levante. She had never been but had long wanted to and I’m so glad we did. Between SL and FDM lies the Cinque Terre which we did a day trip to.

After FDM I knew we would fly from Rome and since it’s a 4 hour trek I figured we could break it up with a night in Tuscany to cut up the trip and we landed at L’Andana and it was perfect ending to a wonderful trip.

Stop By Stop Deets:

Barcelona

This part of the trip was just easy. The hotel was super central for walking around the Born neighborhood and popping over to La Rambla. It was so comfortable and provided all of the best amenities like chargers & adapters already set up in the bedside table.

Where We Stayed: Soho House Barcelona (amazing location, enjoy the free laundry service)

Where We Ate:

Lunch: Bo De B For an easy/cheap sandwich and rice/salad bowls

Lunch: Soho House Rooftop (get the tapas and/or poke bowl)

Dinner: Pez Vella For Beachside Paella at a cute & trendy restaurant

Dinner: Los Caracoles For delicious Roasted Chicken in an old timey Spanish Style joint

Transit #1: To get from BCN to Como we flew on Vueling (an hour and 30 min flight) into Milan, rented a car and drove another 1.5 hrs to Lake Como. This should have been super simple & easy but the flight was delayed, our rental car was messed up (i.e. they only had manuals not automatics on hand and we had to wait a bit) and then our quick planned stop for food at an Autogrill went awry and our first “meal” in Italy was McNuggets on the road - in all fairness it was 5pm and we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and we were HANGRY and there were no other options on the drive.

Lake Como

I’m pretty sure Lake Como is the definition of luxury. From floating lake pools to glossy wooden speed boats it’s the epitome of class. The natural beauty can’t be overlooked either: it’s mountain meets lake in that kind of effortless European way that we all idolize. It’s simply beautiful.

It’s worth explaining though the way the lake works. It’s long and skinny and shaped like a two pronged fork. We stayed near the bottom which I would recommend from a timing perspective. If you’re coming from say Milan this just means it’s not nearly as far of a drive (hour and a half). That said, besides the actual town of Como which I wouldn’t really recommend staying in, the other towns you would consider booking a hotel in are further north like Bellagio. Our hotel was in a small town called Blevio, but it’s not a walking town. I can’t be more clear about this, you CANNOT walk off the property or you’ll basically be walking into your death by car rounding a corner on a tiny street. Once at the hotel you’re there - unless you head out by boat, taxi, or your own car all of which are totally fine to do. But if you’re looking to stay for more than a couple days and want to walk, you should stay in a town more like Bellagio. I knew that, despite being a bit pricey, we would want to do the whole boat thing. If we were coming all the way to Lake Como we might as well drive a freaking boat on it, right? I had looked into options before hand and found a boat renter near the hotel. Unfortunately when I contacted him he told me he is the official supplier of boats to our hotel and thus I had to go through them. They definitely did some up charging but it was our only option. We paid about 400 all in for 4 hours. We wouldn’t have taken the boat for that long except that we had an incredible (read experiential) lunch that took 2+ hours on an island which we drove the boat to. WELL WORTH IT!

That night however we decided to drive the 20 min to dinner because the “water taxi” option from the hotel and back would have been $100 each way, nah bro.

Our hotel was fully equipped with a beautiful pool and spa with indoor pool and baths etc. They upgraded us to a huge room with 2 bathrooms and the grounds were lovely. Not a spot on the property with a bad view.

Where We Stayed: Mandarin Oriental Lake Como (beautiful hotel, easy to miss from the road if you are driving, don’t miss the indoor pool/spa situation)

Where We Ate:

Lunch: Locanda Del Isola Comancina For a 2 hour set menu EXPERIENCE of your lifetime. Truly the best, simplest food I’ve had ever.

Dinner: Bistrot at MO Lago Di Como For delicious Fettuccini Bolognese

Dinner: Veranda at Villa De Este For an iconic fancy dinner with an impeccable view, dinner coat & ties required for men

Boat Rental: We rented through our hotel who uses Blevio Boat Rental but just google “boat rental” + the town you are staying in.

Transit #2: To get from Como to Sestri we drove our rental car which was about a 2-2.5 hr drive. I did some research and we stopped just outside of Genoa for lunch in a beach area called Boccadasse at a yummy little seafood joint called GE8317. If we had even more time I would have loved to pop into Genoa to try some of their famous pesto at Sa’ Pesta or Vico Pala

Sestri Levante

This is a hidden gem. And to be honest we probably only saw one small beautiful sliver of the town. We stayed on the Bay Of Silence (100% stay on that side the other side didn’t look nearly as pretty). It’s the exact picturesque colorful Italian beach cove of your dreams, well of mine at least. It’s small and there aren’t many Americans. It’s packed but also not uncomfortable or loud. The water is sparkling and clear and just the right temperature: refreshing but not chilly. The sand is soft but the beach is small. The one main hotel which we stayed at has a beautiful pool overlooking the cove and free beach chairs set up for you. It was definitely the least expensive place we went out to eat etc as it’s not super touristy - if there are tourists they are other Italians, and some Europeans in general. The only complaint was that the bed and pillows were super hard.

Where We Stayed: Hotel Helvetia (great location, beautiful view, nice breakfast, hard bed)

Where We Ate:

Lunch: Polpo Mario For seafood pastas

Dinner: La Sciamadda For pesto & fried calamari

Transit #3: This was a pretty straightforward drive down the coast and it took about 1 hour. Between the two towns sits the Cinque Terre & Portofino which could also have been nice stops for lunch if it had been that time of day!

Forte Dei Marmi

Forte is a fancy beach town akin to the Hamptons where every designer from Chanel to Gucci has a store. However it’s also cluttered with beach cruisers and little kids scootering around town just to give you a taste of the casual element. The beach is deep and flat and stretches on as far as the eye can see with Bango’s or beach clubs lined one after the other. You pay 80-100 euro for the day to have a cabana on the beach with 4 chairs and changing room. Every bagno has a lovely outdoor restaurant to enjoy lunch at. At night everyone bikes to the town center and has long leisurely dinners while the kids run amok in the circle where pony drawn carriages and battery powered mini cars race around a small track. It’s the kind of place that you only want to go during busy season because that’s when it’s fun. Unfortunately that’s also when it’s the most crowded and expensive but trust me, we were there right at the tail end of the season and on our last night it was turning towards ghost town and wouldn’t have been nearly the same experience if we had come any later. The hotel was really lovely, and would have been even more fun if we had been there with others as it had a lot of nice communal hang out space decked out with board games etc.

Where We Stayed: Villa Roma Imperiale (lovely beachside villa, yummy breakfast, free bikes)

Where We Ate:

Lunch: Eat at any of the beach club restaurants AKA Bagno’s

Dinner: Il Fortino For an upscale dinner in the center of town

Dinner: Giacomo In Pietrasanta For the dreamiest patio meal in a neighboring town that is worth an evening visit

Dinner: Osteria Del Mar For a lovely beachside dinner

Day Trip to Cinque Terre: Drove from FDM to Portovenere 1.5 hrs. Caught the Ferry to the farthest north town of Montorosso 1hr Did the hike from Montorosso to the next town south of Vernazza 2hr. Took the ferry to Portovenere 1hr. Drove back to FDM. If you do go to Portovenere don’t miss checking out the best pesto around

Transit #4: The drive from FDM to L’Andana was also about 1.5 hours, we decided to head out in the morning so we could get there in time to lay out in the sun and enjoy lunch on the property!

L’Andana Resort at Castiglione De La Pescia

This is basically where Tuscany meets the ocean. Another spot found by my mom ,who in another life should have been a travel agent. Nestled in a most picturesque vineyard setting it’s hard to believe it’s only 15 minutes from a beach town but it is (and they even have a beach club there that you can reserve a spot at for the day). It’s the perfect combo of secluded villa mixed with sprawling resort with endless activities to partake in. From tennis to golf to horseback riding they’ve got it all. Plus a pool for adults only and one for families on the other side of the property with a huge kids area. Although I’m not sure I ever want to come to Europe with kids under maybe 8 years old, this would probably be a good place to take children! But the whole experience felt very luxurious and private, but not private in the boring secluded kind of way if you get what I mean.

Where We Stayed: L’Andana Resort (exquisite Tuscan villa with every activity you could want, Michelin star restaurant, luxurious bedrooms)

Where We Ate:

Dinner: La Fortezza For the best pasta of our trip - lemon tagliolini with shrimp (15 minute drive from the hotel to the beach to wander an adorable little town center, then enter a Fort to access the restaurant)

Transit #5: The final leg of our italian road trip was about 2 hours. We decided it would make the most sense to drop our car that afternoon at the Rome airport then cab into the city for the evening before our flight the next day. It also meant that we had one more chance to finally stop at an Autogrill so that I could get my panini fix on the road

Rome

Final pit stop was short but nice. We strolled to the Vatican, walked up & down the Spanish steps multiple times, and threw pennies in the Trevi Foundtain.

Where We Stayed: Hilton Aleph (great location close to the Spanish Steps, brand new, super comfortable beds)

Where We Ate:

Dinner: Hostaria Da Pietra Recommended by a friend, an adorable & typical Italian eatery in a cute little alleyway

All in all it was a wonderful trip. It was weirdly easy to drop my mom hat and get back into single people mode. I missed Ford fiercely but it was really good for me I think to have that bit of separation from him and our routine. When you are home full time it’s easy to forget that there are other things happening in the world outside of your nap schedule & play groups & washing bottles. This trip was a gift for my 30th birthday (which fell right after Ford was born) and it felt like our last real opportunity to take a big trip sans kiddos - its not easy to ask someone to watch your child for 10 days and if there is ever another kid in the mix I don’t know if I would feel comfortable with it. Anyways, I’m so glad we did it!

Stop 1: Barcelona