Italy Unlocked: Insider Tips, Must-See Destinations and Booking Flights/Hotels on Points with Leigh Rowan

All the Hacks with Chris Hutchins

Chris Hutchins

Business, Education, Investing, Society & Culture, Places & Travel, Self-improvement

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2023

⏱️ 73 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

#107: Italy travel expert Leigh Rowan joins Chris for a third time to discuss all things Italy. Leigh talks about why he feels most at home in the country with the most spectacular cuisine, gorgeous coastlines, ancient ruins, and rich history. He provides money-saving tips, gives suggestions on where to stay, reveals his favorite off-the-beaten-path locations for an authentically local experience, and explains why life is better in Italy. They also discuss the best ways to use your points and miles for your next trip to Italy (flights + hotels). Leigh Rowan (@leighrowan) is the founder and CEO of Savanti Travel, a travel management company for executives, and the former COO of The Points Guy. He's traveled to Italy 40-50 times (enough that he's lost count). Full show notes: https://allthehacks.com/italy-leigh-rowan Partner Deals Awayz: the best cash and points search tool for hotel stays Inside Tracker: 20% off personalized wellness & nutrition plans backed by science NordVPN: Huge discount + 4 months free on the top-ranked VPN Masterworks: VIP access to skip the waitlist Athletic Greens: Free 1 year supply of Vitamin D and 5 free travel packs Selected Links From The Episode Dream Studio Course Rome Sites: Pantheon | Colosseum | Vatican | Trevi Fountain | Piazza Navona | Santa Maria in Trastevere Dine: Pierluigi Restaurant | Panella Accommodations: Palazzo Manfredi | The St. Regis Rome North Italy Places: Venice | Florence | Milan | Santa Margherita | Cinque Terre | Rapallo | Modena Sites: Accademia Gallery | Uffizi Gallery (Florence) | Milan Museum | St Mark's Square (Venice) Dine: ParlaComeMangi | Caffè Pasticceria Canepa (Rapallo) | Osteria Francescana (Modena) South Italy Places: Amalfi Coast | Naples | Pompei | Ercolano | Sicily | Agrigento | Palermo | Aeolian Islands | Stromboli | Puglia | Ischia | Catania | Ragusa Sites: San Domenico Palace | Mount Etna Accommodations: Il San Pietro (Positano) | Belmond (Portofino) Off-the-beaten-path: Umbria Festival Corso dei Ceri Reviews and Ratings: Gambero Rosso Tours: Context Travel | Airbnb Experiences App: Duolingo Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy Other Airlines: Neos | La Compagnie | Norse Atlantic Hotel Award Search: Awayz Flight Award Search: Point.me (First month for $1 with HACKS) Full Show Notes (00:00) Introduction (02:45) What makes Italy a unique place to visit? (04:13) The biggest takeaway: Relax and enjoy life (05:25) Different ways to approach planning a trip to Italy (07:59) Must-see recommendations in Rome (10:03) Southern Italy destinations (11:28) Northern Italy destinations (12:13) Off-the-beaten-path locations to visit (14:08) Getting by without speaking Italian (15:51) Cultural norms to be aware of (17:50) Meeting locals and having an authentic local experience (19:14) Navigating within Italy (23:22) Cost-saving tips (24:47) Website recommendations (28:42) Where to stay and how to book (33:24) Booking activities in Italy (35:42) Private tours (37:25) Other destinations to see in Italy (41:32) What to see and do in northern Italy (42:36) Leigh’s dining recommendations (49:02) Getting to and from Italy (53:41) Using points for Flights (1:04:22) Using points for Hotels

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, and welcome to another episode of All the Hacks, a show about upgrading your
0:05.4	life, money, and travel.
0:07.2	If you're new here, I'm your host Chris Hutchins, and I love to travel, and even more, I love
0:11.4	optimizing that travel to have the best experience at the lowest cost.
0:15.4	And one country that's at the top of my list, and many of yours who've emailed in, is
0:19.5	Italy.
0:20.5	Now, technically I've been to Italy before, but Amy and I did Rome and Venice for two
0:24.5	days each back in college almost 20 years ago, so at this point, it almost feels like
0:28.9	I've never been.
0:30.1	And I couldn't think of anyone better to join me for this episode than my good friend and
0:33.7	guest from episode one, Lee Rowan, who runs a travel company called Savanti, and has
0:38.9	been to Italy 40 to 50 times, so many he actually lost track of the count.
0:43.8	We're going to talk about the places to go, the spectacular cuisine, the gorgeous coastlines,
0:48.8	ancient ruins, and some of Italy's rich history, we'll also get to some of Lee's favorite
0:53.8	off the beaten path locations for an authentically local experience, and here why he thinks
0:58.8	life is just that much better in Italy.
1:01.7	Finally, we're going to dive into some of the best ways you can use your points and
1:05.2	miles for your trip to Italy, including a quick overview of a new site I've been using
1:09.6	to help you get the best hotel deals with points.
1:12.4	So let's get into it right after this.
1:15.9	I want to talk about an amazing way to level up your finances with some practical knowledge
1:20.2	on money.
	...

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