1. Rome

I fell in love with Rome when I visited at age 12 and I fell in love with it again visiting at age 21. I immediately felt at home when I got to Rome. Maybe it’s just because there were more tourists, so I heard people speaking my own language as I walked down the street and there were people wearing the same sort of black puffy coats I’m used to seeing at home. Even though I was only there for 2.5 days, I started to be able to get places without my GPS, probably because every street is unique so you can easily recognize them. Rome is full of beautiful, old things. Around every corner and down every street, there’s something there to make you think “Wow, I’m so lucky to be here” but it’s not so perfect (like Venice) that you feel like you’re living in a dream.

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Rome is also one of the best cities for gluten free food that I’ve visited. Everyone knew what gluten free was and even the restaurants without a gluten free certification usually had gluten free pizza or pasta. It may not have been the healthiest food that I’ve eaten but it certainly was delicious.

I wish I could have spent more time here and I hope I get the opportunity to explore Rome further sometime soon.

2. Venice

Venice feels like a fairytale; everything is so beautiful, it’s hard to believe that it’s real. Even my hostel was so beautiful that I wanted to stay there longer. I didn’t do much more here than wander around, take pictures, and contemplate my life but my two days here were perfect. Venice makes #2 on the list just because of how magical it felt and how happy I was to be here.

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3. Milan

While Milan is last on this list, I still absolutely loved Milan and my time there. It just didn’t have the same magic as Venice or feeling of home like Rome. While my apartment in Milan felt like home, outside of it I didn’t feel like I fit in as much as I did in Rome. Though, if you’d asked me about Milan before I visited Rome, I would have said that it felt like home. Milan is a very fashionable city but I’m more of a yoga pants and hiking boots than black jeans and fashion boots sort of person; I loved Milan, but it didn’t feel like me. I think that it would be more fun to explore with someone. Rome and Venice are both cities that you can easily explore on your own. There, you can just wander around endlessly while Milan doesn’t have as much to see by yourself.

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That being said, everyone that I met in Milan was incredibly nice and I’m so happy I got the chance to get to know the city. It’s a city that I would recommend visiting.

Unranked: Lake Como

I didn’t spend enough time here to get a true sense of the town. But, it was a beautiful town and lake and I thoroughly enjoyed my time here. It’s definitely on my list of places to visit again!

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