I know! How can I possibly make only a short list if there are so many special things you can do in Italy, right?
But let’s be real. Some of them are pretty popular. I mean, who on Earth goes to Rome for the first time and doesn’t visit the Colosseum? Or who goes to Pisa without visiting the famous tower?
But my list is for people who want to see something different.
1. Parco Sigurtà
The first of the special things to do in Italy is visiting Sigurtà Park. So, if you’re visiting Veneto, don’t forget to stop there. This park is located in Valeggio sul Mincio, a town not far from Verona.
The history of Sigurtà Park starts in 1407, when Gerolamo Nicolò Contarini bought the property. At the time the area had a small contruction, similar to a farm, and a vast piece of land, which was used mainly for agricultural purposes.
Twenty-nine years later the property was bought by the Guarienti family. The Guarientis started to make some changes. In particular they transformed 22 hectares of the property into an English garden. They also added a neo-Gothic temple, a grotto, and a Castelletto.
In 1941 the property was sold to the Sigurtà family, who embellished and extended the gardens.
Nowadays Sigurtà Park is one of the most beautiful parks in Italy. In 2015 it got second in the list of the most beautiful European parks.
You can see different types of flowers such as roses, tulips, irises, dalias, girasolis, and many, many others. You can also visit the maze, the medicinal herbs garden, the water garden, the didactic farm, the deers valley, and so on.
You can visit the park by foot, by train, by bike, by shuttle and also by golf-cart.
Sigurtà Park is open from 8 March to 10 November, from 9am to 7pm. The ticket costs 14 euros for adults, 7 euros for children from 5 to 14 years old and it’s free for children from 0 to 4 years old.
For additional information you can visit te official website of Sigurtà Park.
2. Parco sommerso Baia
The last of the special things to do in Italy that I’ll add in today’s list is visiting the Baia Park.
The Baia park is an underwater archeological park in Naples.
But how came that this park was submerged?
Well, this area has a volcanic origin and sometimes the phenomen called bradyseism happens. Bradyseism makes the ground move either upward or downward.
Since the ground has been moving mainly downward, the city of Baia is now under the sea.
The first remains were found in 1920 but the first underwater survey took place later on, in the 60s.
Nowadays the underwater archeological park counts 5 main scuba diving sites: Secca delle Fumose, Villa dei Pisoni, Villa a Protiro, Ninfeo di Claudio and Portus Julius.
You can see paved roads, potteries, mosaics and beautiful statues. Although the statues are not the origininal ones – the originals are in the archeological museum in Baia – the experience is simply incredible.
For additional infomation about immersions and boat tours have a look at the website of Baia underwater park.
What are some of the special things you do when in Italy?
Credits
Original image by alex1965
