Well hello there, welcome to our annual rendez-vous on the blog where I review my five favorite new places I visited in 2021! While we were all hoping this year would be different from the previous one in terms of traveling, things only partially improved. I am not traveling nearly as much as I had been pre-covid, but it’s okay. I’m super appreciative any time I can spend exploring the world!

This year’s travels were few but special. In fact, you’ll see that all of my picks from this year came from my end of August/early September trip to Italy! Not only was I able to visit my home country, but had the pleasure of taking my boyfriend David there with me! He had never been to the motherland though he is of Italian descent, so this trip was meaningful for the both of us. We obviously visited the North of Italy and my hometown of Milan, but we also went to the South, which I had never seen! It was magical. You might be guessing where I’m going with this, so without further ado, here are my top picks of 2021!

5 – Poggibonsi

The only time I had ever heard of Poggibonsi, it stuck with me because I thought it had a really funny name. I never planned to visit it, but I’m here to tell you to put this little gem on your list. This quaint Tuscan village in the province of Siena is such a nice, relaxing spot in the Chianti area of Tuscany – where, you guessed it, Chianti wine is produced. It looks exactly like you’d imagine a Tuscan village would look like, and it’s only an hour train ride away from Florence. From Poggibonsi you can explore the Chianti region, but also easily reach medieval town San Gimignano, which is an incredible historic sight. In Poggibonsi, though, my advice is that of walking around town and stopping for an aperitivo somewhere, to enjoy the slow pace of this village surrounded by locals. You likely won’t find any tourists around here, so take advantage of that to fully immerse yourself in the culture!

4 – Desenzano del Garda

Even though this is my best friends’ favorite vacation spot, I had never been to Desenzano. I’m really not sure why, since it’s a little corner of paradise less than an hour away from Milan. Yes, you can hop on a direct Italo train that takes you straight to this charming town on Lake Garda in just 50 minutes.

We decided to hit up Desenzano del Garda on a whim, a couple days before we actually went. My friends were staying there, so Livia, David and I decided to join them and make a day trip out of it.

Now, I know everyone knows and loves Lake Como, but did you know that Lake Garda is actually the largest lake in Italy? It’s an incredible place full of little towns on the water. To explore the area, all you have to do is hop on a ferry: you can take it to all of the beautiful Lake Garda towns like Sirmione, Riva del Garda, Malcesine and Lazise!

Desenzano del Garda has to be my favorite town on Lake Garda: the beach exudes vacation vibes, the city center feels exactly like you’d imagine Italy would feel like, without being stereotypical.

3 – Palermo

Some of you may know this: I had wanted to go to Sicily for YEARS, but every time I went back to Italy, I pretty much stayed in the North because that’s where my friends and family live.

But, this was David’s first time in Italy, and his main request was to see Palermo as his ancestors come from there. Obviously, I jumped at the opportunity!

Palermo is insanely beautiful; it’s a spectacular mix of cultures that feels super warm and leaves you speechless!

My favorite activity: the Mercato di Ballarò. I highly recommend walking through this public market in the middle of the Ballarò neighborhood to get a glimpse of true Sicily.

We also checked out the Palermo Calcio store: Palermo’s soccer team might not be in the first division, but people here are SO passionate about it.
While in town, we stayed very close to the Quattro Canti, which I guess can be considered the center of the city. It’s where the four main streets in the city meet in one square!

Unfortunately, it did rain a lot while we were there, so for example, we were not able to check out the beach – which you can definitely still do in mid-September!

2 – Sorrento

Now, my request for this trip was to hit up the Amalfi coast. I wanted to spend some days – at least three – by the sea, just tanning, relaxing, reading, breathing in fresh air. I was okay with paying a higher price for our stay compared to the rest of the places we explored during our Italy trip, BUT I didn’t want to stay in Positano or Amalfi. These two destinations are the most touristy AKA the most expensive ones. So we decided to stay somewhere closer to the “beginning” of the Amalfi coast, the opposite end compared to where Amalfi sits. Which meant staying in Sorrento.

Livia had been to Sorrento with her mother in June, and had stayed in an incredible hotel with access to the water, near the town center. When I started looking for hotels and Airbnb, it became clear that this spot was actually the best deal. It was still pretty expensive, but there were lower priced options for rooms facing the street instead of the water, there was a end-of-season discount, and there was a Booking.com discount. Breakfast and beach loungers on the private pier were included. All things considered, it was a steal, so we treated ourselves!

We spent all three days in the water or on the pier during the day, and then our nights out on the town. Sorrento is full of restaurants and small shops, so you’ll definitely find things to do at night too.  We had some amazing food and drinks, and even spent one night on the Marina Grande – which has breathtaking views.

We didn’t make it all the way to Amalfi, and actually we didn’t even see Positano, but we can always do that next time, since we definitely plan on coming back!

1 – Napoli

I had wanted to visit Napoli for a very long time, but never did. First of all, because I had never been to the South of Italy before this summer, so I never really got the chance to. Second, because when you live in the North, people always tell you Napoli is dangerous and what not, so I didn’t want to go by myself. But for gosh sake, I live in Chicago. Has crime ever stopped me from living my life? Not really (partly because I’m always paranoid and extra careful, but that’s besides the point). So I was ready to give Napoli a go.

Since David and I were going to Sorrento and could only get there by taking a train there from Napoli, we decided to spend a whole day and night there. We didn’t really plan anything for that day, and randomly got a room in a B&B that was actually inside a lady’s house. We booked it the week before and it cost us 23 euros each: as you can see, everything was done very casually.

Maybe it was because nothing was really planned through, or because our expectations were a little lower compared to the rest of our Italy trip destinations, but Napoli BLEW US AWAY.

We went for a LONG walk around town, starting with the San Gregorio Armeno neighborhood, walking through via Toledo and the Spanish Quarters, then taking a stroll on the lungomare. We had fried pizza for lunch (TRY IT!), stopped for coffee where we witnessed a small car + scooter accident (no one got hurt and we still talk about it!) then decided to walk all the way up to the Vomero, a Napoli neighborhood that sits at the top of a hill. The walk up was exhausting, but the view was breathtaking! And once we got up there, the Vomero was the highlight of our day: a vibrant neighborhood, full of people just walking around, enjoying their evening. We stopped for pizza for dinner – I know, pizza twice in one day; you would’ve done the same if you were in Napoli though! – and then walked around some more and got some gelato. We took a cab home put on some Italian tv and were woken up around midnight by fireworks – apparently people set them off almost every night to celebrate birthdays!

The morning after, our B&B host, Titti, had gotten some croissants for us for breakfast. We thanked her and started to chat. We ended up talking for over an hour, sharing our life stories. I had heard about Neapolitan friendliness and hospitality, but I was still shocked to witness it first hand. I think that’s what really sold me. Throughout our day there, the people we interacted with were incredibly kind and friendly. So basically, put Napoli on your radar: the city, the food and the people are incredible. I can’t wait to go back.

So there you have it! These are my picks of the best new places I’ve visited in 2021. Did any of them surprise you? Cheers to the new year, hoping for a lot more traveling on the horizon!