The Italy Travel Podcast - An Only A Bag Podcast

How to Harvest Olives in Italy

This is the time of year for harvesting lots of foods in Italy, one of the main ones being olives (primarily for making olive oil). Continuing with the theme of talking a

How to Harvest Grapes in Italy (The Vendemmia)

For something a little different than what we normally do, we wanted to talk about an experience rather than a place. Specifically, we wanted to talk about grape-picking

Off the Beaten Path: Sword in the Stone and Abbey of San Galgano

What's the point of living in Italy and having a podcast on traveling in Italy if we're never going to talk about Italian legends? That's right, today we're talking about

Off the Beaten Path: The Fourteen Towers of San Gimignano

We're coming into fall and thinking about one of the best regions to visit this season, Tuscany. Today we're talking about San Gimignano. While it's certainly no secret,

Trains! Need to Know Info and What To Do When Things Go Wrong

On some of our first train journeys in Italy, amid the cacophony of voices and stress not wanting to miss our train, we were so overwhelmed we forgot some of the standard

Trains! Trenitalia vs. Italo, How and When to Book, and Discounts

It's been about two years since we had a dedicated episode on trains in Italy, and given the fact that there have been some minor changes this year (including the fact th

Traveling in the Shoulder Season: What to See, Do, and Eat

We're continuing our discussion on traveling in the autumn shoulder season. We're talking about what to expect in terms of weather from October beach days to cozy dreary

Traveling in the Shoulder Season: Essential Tips for Fall Travel

This week we're talking about traveling in the shoulder season, specifically in the fall and a bit of winter. In this episode, we're talking about the major differences b

Headlines: New Pedestrian Law, Uffizi Restoration, Drought

Once again, headlines! And once again, it's been a light month (thankfully). We're talking about the new Uffizi restoration project which should make your next trip a lot

Headlines: Strikes in September, Rome Ticket Changes, Autolinee Toscana and More!

This week we're talking about headlines! And while it's been a pretty quiet month—most people have fled to the beaches or mountains so there's very little that's happened

Off the Beaten Path: Capri's Certosa of San Giacomo

In the middle of the town of Capri sits the quiet and oftentimes empty Certosa di San Giacomo. Out of the sun, an uninterrupted view of the Faraglioni, and astonishingly

Off the Beaten Path: Capri's Gardens of Augustus and Via Krupp

Capri can feel like it has very little "off the beaten path" as it has pretty much defined the path. That said, it's really like anywhere else in Italy; one step off the

Renting and Driving a Car in Italy: Fines, Alcohol, Manual vs. Automatic, and more!

Picking up where we left off, this episodes delves a little more into the particulars: how much can you drink before you're over the legal limit, do you even have to pay

Renting a Car and Driving in Italy: Documents, Speed Limits, the ZTL, and more!

If you're thinking about renting a car and tooling around Italy without a care in the world, you should do so! And better than that, this episode will help you to do so!

Off The Beaten Path: Florence's Santa Maria Novella pharmacy, La Specola, and Palazzo Davanzati

Picking up where we left off on Wednesday, Darcy explains the allure of the Dominican Friar's pharmacy near Santa Maria Novella—including perfumes made from ancient recip

Off The Beaten Path: Florence's Last Suppers and Hospital of the Innocents

It's been a few weeks since we've gone off the beaten path, so we thought—given the heat threatening Florence and the ever present crowds—that this would be the perfect w

Italy Headlines for August Part 2: Demonstrations, Rome Sites Open Late, and Changes to Horse Carriages

In our headlines episodes we typically try to talk about news that will affect your upcoming trip, like in this episode: the Pantheon and Colosseum will be open late to b

Italy Headlines for August: Wildfires, Rail Closures, Ferragosto

Today, we're back with headlines! Some are for Europe in general (a new survey is out letting anyone vote on the designs for the new Euro bills, and what Europe's new €3

Pompeii: Getting There, Tickets, and Fun facts

In our last episode, we waxed poetically (or rambled) about the magic of Pompeii and how indescribable it feels. In this episode, we're talking about the practicalities o

Pompeii: What It's Like and Why You Should Go

Pompeii, the city covered in ash that's still being discovered. We spend most of this episode's 40-odd minutes trying to put into words why someone should go. Sure, it's