One of the advantages of running small group tours to Europe, is that we get to visit a variety of different places.  Sometimes we do it with our small group tours, sometimes we visit these small cities when doing research for a tour. In today's blog post The Traveling Professor tells you about his favorite small cities in Europe, one each in France, Italy, and Norway and two in Austria.

Everyone wants to see Rome, Florence and Venice.  And why not?  They should be seen.  However, the larger cities of Italy are expensive and full of tourists, trinket shops, ordinary restaurants, and standard chain hotels.  Why not relax and visit the REAL Italy on your next trip? Enjoy the tastes and culture of smaller authentic cities. Avoid the crowds and long lines, eat real Italian food, see amazing sites, and stay at outstanding hotels all less expensively than can be done in the large cities.

Everyone should visit Rome, Florence and Venice.  However, there is more to Italy than just these 3 cities.  Travelers need to take the time to visit the REAL Italy, away from the trinket shops and massive crowds.  The Traveling Professor's small group tours has visited some wonderful places in Italy that are considered "off-the-beaten" path.  In this Italy blog post, you will find out about some of the places you need to visit beyond Rome, Florence and Venice.

The Traveling Professor runs several small group tours to Italy each year.  We travel to major cities like Rome, Venice, Florence, Sorrento.  We also take small group tours to Italy to smaller cities like Padua, Verona, Lucca, Siena, and Vicenza.  Italy is not always the easiest place to fly to and fares can be high.  In this blog post, The Professor shows you how to save a significant amount of money on your next tour to Italy with cheap airfares.

When The Traveling Professor did his annual traveler survey over the summer, over 67% of the respondents indicated they preferred to travel to more uncommon destinations.   On my small group tours to Italy we do travel to more touristy cities like Rome, Venice, and Florence, but I think people are looking for those more uncrowded and less touristy authentic Italian towns.   In this blog post I list my favorite authentic Italian towns that get away from those larger, touristy cities.

For me, Padua is my favorite city in Italy whether traveling alone or on my small group tours to Italy.  First of all it has the historic Scroveni Chapel.   There is the famous Cafe Pedrocchi as well as the university where famed scholars like Galileo taught.   The Basilica of St. Anthony, destination of many pilgrims is located here.  The markets are the best in Italy, if you ask me.   It is located within a short train ride from Venice, Venezia, Verona, Lake Garda, Treviso and other great spots.  And best of all, it lacks the crowds of tourists found in many other Italian cities.  In other words, it is authetic.  Here are my tips for where to stay in Padua.

I've been to Italy many times.  I've seen Rome, Florence, Padua, Siena, Venice, Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast, Lucca and many other places multiple times.  The Traveling Professor has dined in a lot of places but in today's blog post I list my three favorite places in Italy for lunch.  We always visit them on my The Traveling Professor's small group tours and if you come with me, I will take you to these places.  But if you go on your own, don't pass on this trio of authentic and delicious Italian restaurants for the best lunch in Italy.

Let's face it, travel is expensive these days.  But we all love going to Italy.  The Traveling Professor's small group tours to Italy are probaly the most popular of our tours.   There is a way to go to Italy, enjoy it in luxury, without breaking the bank.  In fact, if this blog post doesn't save you a ton of money on your next trip to Italy, the next time you go, I will meet you there and buy you the biggest gelato to be found.

For me, there are two parts of Italy.  There are the over-touristy destinations like Rome, Florence, and much of Venice.  They are filled with massive amounts of people, trinket shops on nearly every corner, people trying to sell you all other types of trinkets, long lines, and frankly, some overrated sites.  However, peel away the skin of the onion and discover one of the best-kept secrets in Italy; Padua.  Relatively uncrowded, much cheaper than the other cities mentioned above, much more relaxing, and more fascinating in terms of history and culture, it is The Traveling Professor's favorite Italian city.

When most people travel to Italy for the first time, they usually wind up in Rome, Florence, Venice and maybe even the Amalfi Coast.  These are all wonderful places to travel, but let's face it, there can be quite touristy with big crowds and high prices.   There are other parts of Italy worth seeing.  I think they are more authentic, less crowded, and much less expensive.  See my blog post for my favorite places to visit in Italy second time around.