If there has ever been a time where I’ve put my skills of spontaneous trip planning to use, well, it would… definitely be this trip.
I had three goals for my trip to Italy with my mom and they were to:
- Eat authentic Italian food because Olive Garden has been a disappointment
- Blend in with the locals by dressing like a typical European and perfecting a wicked cat-eye so the pickpockets would leave me alone
And lastly..
- To make at least one friend that I stay in touch with after the trip ends.
(And, you know, also to spend time with my mom and drink fancy wine while using Duolingo to attempt to speak to the waitstaff, but as a foreshadow, we failed at that latter part).
What I was also failing at was the making friends part, and that was either because I was spending all my time with my mom or because I was carrying around this stuffed raspberry I named Tamera and giving it little photoshoots. I guess I’ll never know.
And that is how I found myself planning the rest of my 6 days in Italy as a solo traveler less than 24 hours in advance (and all in a hotel room in Lake Como). I have gotten exceptionally good at crunch time planning. I should put that on my LinkedIn.
After a lot of browsing around through hostelworld.com, I picked out a few hostels to stay at and came to the conclusion that from Lake Como, I would take the bus and train back to Milan with my mom. Then I would say goodbye to my mom and continue East to spend two nights in Venice, take the train into the Tuscan countryside to spend two nights in the small town of Certaldo, and finally to Florence for the last two nights where I would meet up with my mom the day before flying home. And I’m pleased to say that I had no major blunders during this trip.
It’s really not all that exciting as if I were to have gone to Italy completely alone or for a longer amount of time, but it was definitely a step in the right direction for preparing me for solo international travel. I also had my mom there for half of the trip and she flew into and out of Italy with me, which made this immensely less terrifying (otherwise, I definitely would have cried navigating my way through customs).
Anyways, I was off to Venice to spend my first two nights alone at the Anda Venice hostel.
Anda Venice : 4.5 / 5 stars
Venice, Italy
If friends are what you are looking for, this is definitely the place to go.
First of all, this hostel looked more like a hotel you would find on the Las Vegas Strip rather than affordable shared housing in Italy. The location was on the mainland, instead of on the island, with the bus stop and train station to go into Venice just a short distance down the road, making it a great location. Just out of the way of all the hubbub. (In hindsight, this also made it a bit difficult to get dinner nearby, but you pick some and you lose some).
I really wish that I had taken pictures of this place while I was there but I didn’t and because I don’t want to get in trouble with copyright infringement, I’m just going to let you look it up for yourselves.
On that note, the architectural design of this place was insane and a bit of a marvel in itself. Anda has this modern industrial look, as if a warehouse had been torn down, everything had been repainted, and the pieces were put back together and made into a hotel of sorts.
Since I booked this place at the last minute, my only option was to stay in a room that slept nine people, which might sound really chaotic (it kind of was), but it was also a great opportunity to meet people that I might have otherwise never started a conversation with.
(By the way, most people who stay at hostels are there to meet other travelers, so don’t be afraid to say hi!)
Not to mention, I got quite lucky because I became friends with five of those eight bunkmates and still talk to them to this day, despite this trip being months ago and our time together only lasting mere hours. If the idea of having eight roommates doesn’t sit well with you, there are a lot of other room options for you to choose between at Anda Venice – they offer private, double, and family rooms as well as both coed and all female rooms that sleep six, seven, and nine people.
The mission of Anda Venice was clearly to help travelers meet and connect with each other while enjoying the beautiful sights of an iconic Italian city – a goal that could be seen in various facets of the hostel, from its structure to the day to day activities. Holding events every night of the week, such as hosting a live DJ to karaoke and something on the website that says “disco nights” (which I’m now kind of bummed that I missed out on), they manage to find a middle ground between experiencing Italian nightlife and staying safe. The streets of Venice are dangerous at night for a solo female traveler and Anda always had security manning the entrances, which eased any anxiety I might have had.
On a similar topic, I think that a misconception about staying in hostels is that they might not be safe against other guests stealing your belongings. While I haven’t ever had a problem with this, there are things you can do to prevent it from happening. At this hostel in particular, there were storage bins underneath the bed that you could lock your things in while moving them out of the common areas (so bring a lock if you’re worried!). Additionally, they also provided key cards to get into your room, kind of like in a hotel.
The first night, I’ll admit, was a bit jarring.
I went from exclusively staying in hotels and Airbnbs (and the occasional campervan or tent when I was on farming) to sleeping in a room with eight other people whom I’ve never met. I was surprised, however, at how quickly I became acquainted with my roommates – I ended up going to a rave party in the hostel with them as I danced the night away and made memories to last a lifetime. That 180 degree turn sure was fast.
To be completely honest, I didn’t have much structure to my days in Venice due to my severe lack of planning. Of course, I had to go to Venice island to sightsee and take some pictures that I will hopefully paint at some point. I did some shopping, and got lost on about a million side streets while trying to find my way back to the bus stop. I don’t think I even paid for a bus ticket because I was so flustered after what seemed like a light switch flipped and it was suddenly dark and raining.
Pros:
- Breakfast was available in the mornings from 6:30 – 10:30 am with a small charge, but more affordable than if you were to go to a cafe or restaurant. Then again, you have arguably some of the best food at your fingertips in Italy..
- Very friendly and welcoming staff
- A kitchen available for all the guests to use
- An actual comforter on the bed. I know that it was during the summer, but I can’t tell you how many (okay it was two) of the other hostels only had one singular sheet on the bed for you to sleep with. This was the only hostel where I wasn’t cold from night 1.
- So many opportunities to meet people (I made so many friends!!)
- Nightlife present!
- Very clean
Cons:
- Not many places to grab dinner nearby unless you want a long walk (also a lot of restaurants close surprisingly early)
- There are people everywhere and it’s very loud, unless you’re into that
- The hostel borders some not-so-safe streets – going out at night is not a good idea
Cost: I spent a total of €85.50 for two nights here (€38.95 for a Thursday night and €46.55 for the second night). On top of that, I also purchased breakfast for both mornings and spent a few euros to rent out a towel.
The Bassetto Guesthouse : 5 / 5 stars
Certaldo, Italy
If you’re looking for an Italian staff to roast your cooking skills, this is the place for you.
Seriously though, this was by far my favorite hostel that I stayed at, regardless of whether or not I was made fun of for being a “fake Italian” and cooking gnocchi that “probably doesn’t taste good” (to be fair, it didn’t).
While traveling alone in Italy would make almost any woman nervous, I would have to say that I didn’t spend a lot of time worrying (surprisingly) about whether I was getting lost, except for when I was on the way to this hostel.
When I made my confirmation through Hostelworld for The Bassetto Guesthouse, I was sent an email telling me to let the front desk know when I would be arriving so that there would be a staff member there to greet me, show me around, and give me a room assignment. Of course, no one was responding to my emails and no one was picking up the phone when I called, so I had no way of knowing if there would, in fact, be someone there to open the door for me.
I started to panic.
I was praying I would get there when it was still light outside and that there would happen to be staff present so that I wouldn’t have to sleep outside.
(Foreshadow, that didn’t happen).
At the same time, the moment that I stepped off the train, something about that uneasiness altered and I felt so calm. Maybe there’s something in the air in Certaldo, or maybe it’s the fact that the air itself smells so heavenly – untouched by pollution – that made me reconsider sleeping outside being a problem.
The only way that I can really describe this guesthouse is by likening it to the Hotel Bella Donna from Mamma Mia before it was remade in the second film. The dated building, white and blue interior colors, and breezy quality with open windows made this place not only so naturally beautiful, but also more like you were being welcomed home than merely arriving.
There wasn’t much to do in Certaldo in comparison to the touristy cities of Florence and Venice, but that was the beauty of it. Certaldo wasn’t about how much sightseeing you could cram into one day, it was about soaking in the beauty of the countryside, taking a leisurely stroll through town, going for an afternoon aperitivo with friends, and lowering those cortisol levels. There’s a saying in the Italian language that essentially means the “sweetness of doing nothing” and it could not be more visible in this small town (okay so there’s a chance I heard this phrase afterwards in the movie Eat Pray Love and not actually while I was in Italy, but it was too perfect not to add).
The hostel did have little day trips and events that were advertised, but since they needed a certain amount of people to sign up to actually follow through with it, it was an inside joke that none of those events came to fruition due to lack of participation (as I mentioned, we did nothing).
In true Certaldo fashion, there was no one in the office, however, there were printed slips of paper with room numbers and the names of arriving guests.
Since I arrived early enough in the day, I was able to tag along on a group outing to the grocery store with a German couple and a girl from Switzerland whom I met while trying to find my room. We took a detour to walk through the medieval castle and get drinks (they were shocked I had never had an Aperol Spritz before, so it was a necessary stop apparently).
What I loved about this hostel was how much you felt like you were part of a family. Since nightlife was nonexistent (and sightseeing paled in comparison to the major cities) we spent the evenings standing in the kitchen making dinner together and sitting around the dining room table, talking all night long about nothing at all.
The next day was spent lounging in a hammock, reading, journaling, and going for a walk in town.
I was taking pictures around the castle before hearing music and cheering and decided to explore the streets of the town, which is where I happened to stumble upon an annual onion festival in Certaldo.
Yes, you read that correctly. Onion festival.
The Certaldo Onion, or more commonly known as “Cipolla Di Certaldo” by the locals, is an onion famous around Italy for having both a strong and sweet flavor – they even make gelato out of it! I stumbled upon something that ended up being a highlight of the trip and I really couldn’t have planned it better even if I tried.
Pros:
- Small and intimate setting
- Quiet and peaceful
- Beautiful, rustic architecture – literally the prettiest hostel I’ve ever seen
- A short walk into town with a medieval castle
- The nicest people and an authentic feel of living in Italy
- Very inexpensive
Cons:
- There’s….really not a whole lot to do (you might struggle if you don’t enjoy peaceful self reflection)
- A bit disorganized
- Staff will make fun of you
Cost: For my two night stay, I paid €54, which was €27 for each night during my stay, making this the cheapest hostel that I booked out of the three. I actually didn’t rent out a towel (I could have if I wanted to), I could just never hunt down the staff when I remembered that I needed one.
PLUS Florence : 2.5 / 5 stars
Florence, Italy
Part of me feels like I can’t give an accurate description of this hostel because I didn’t actually make any effort to get involved in any of the activities that they hosted and when I was at the hostel, I was either on the phone or asleep (I highly recommend not being on the phone for extended periods of time when you’re in a foreign country because it just…defeats the purpose of traveling).
Back to what I was saying, there was really nothing that stood out to me about this hostel.
The check-in line was horrendously long and since checking in early wasn’t an option, they had a luggage check room where you could leave your belongings so you didn’t have to lug it around the city, which was really great.
I ended up going out to lunch at this adorable plant-based restaurant before coming back to the room for check in. The room itself was very clean – it kind of reminded me of a college style dormitory, with two sets of bunk beds, high school style lockers to store valuables, and a built in wet bathroom (everything was in ONE ROOM and absolutely drenched by the time I finished showering).
The room was actually pretty nice as far as hostels go, but the one thing that I hated was that the bedding was so minimal. It had a pillow and a fitted sheet and a top sheet aaaaaaaand…yep that’s it. Even though I was in Europe in the summer, the hostel itself had the AC running and I froze that night.
Now I’m not saying that there was anything massively wrong with PLUS Florence. They did provide towels and some toiletries free of charge, which were much appreciated from my two day hiatus from showering.
While I did end up talking to my roommates for a few hours that night (I missed dinner and we were trying to figure out what I could get from the vending machine), I didn’t feel the same sense of community that I felt at the other two hostels. Combined with the fact that the bed was not comfortable, I ended up crashing at my mom’s Airbnb that night after trekking through the streets of Florence with my luggage late at night (and getting lost in a park).
While I wasn’t a huge fan of this hostel, there is so much to do in Florence. I feel like I barely scratched the surface.
Here are some of the places I perused in the short amount of time I was there:
I started my last day in Italy by visiting the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore in the Piazza del Duomo. Entry is free for the cathedral, but if you would like to tour the Duomo itself or Giotto’s Bell Tower, you will have to buy tickets. Get here early because lines are long! Also, there are modesty codes, so make sure that your shoulders and knees are covered.
The Uffizi Art Gallery, home to many a Renaissance art. I saw the Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli – one of my favorite paintings – in person and I stood there in shock for about 10 minutes.
Ponte Vecchio bridge (and some shopping!). The gelato is apparently more authentic on the other side of the bridge (the Boboli Gardens side). My mom and I cruised around some more piazzas and made sure to eat our way through Florence – we even saw a graduation!
Pros
- Close to the heart of Florence – only walking needed!
- Towels and basic toiletries (soap, shampoo) free of charge
- Very clean rooms
Cons
- ONE top sheet and no blanket 🙁
- Staff not as friendly
- Not a strong sense of community
- Soaking wet bathroom (I realize that’s a common thing, but it wasn’t for me)
Overall, this was a great experience, and I highly recommend Italy for the solo female traveler or just as an inspiration to solo travel in general! Of course, there are general precautions that you should take if you plan to travel alone, but the benefits in terms of experiencing autonomy, growing your self-confidence, and building community are astounding.
