How To Plan The Best Heritage Trip To Italy In 9 Easy Steps

Are you ready to plan your memorable trip to Italy to visit the land of your ancestors? Planning a heritage trip to Italy is a lot like planning a trip to Italy but with some additional things to consider.

I have spent almost 40 years trying to figure out where my great-grandparents came from in Italy. I finally did it and now I am planning my epic tour to walk in their footsteps. 

If you have been thinking about planning heritage travel to Italy, now is the time to do it. Roots tourism is an exciting way to discover Italy.

Follow these easy steps to avoid overwhelm in your Italy trip planning for a heritage vacation. You’ll learn about the different kinds of ancestry vacations, the benefits of roots travel, and tips to stay within your budget.

So grab your favorite tools and start planning the ancestry genealogy trip of a lifetime to discover your Italian roots.

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Step 1: Define Your Goals & Do Preliminary Research

Before booking anything, clarify what you want to accomplish on this trip, do as much research from home as possible, and learn about the history of your destination.

What’s Your Ancestry Travel Focus?

• Are you primarily interested in doing genealogical research in the municipal and church archives, identifying the exact homes your ancestors lived in, and visiting cemeteries?
  
• Or do you prefer a more broader heritage focus to get a taste of the culture of your ancestors, learn how to cook their food, walk through their countryside and live like a local?

If you’re like me, you probably want to do a balance of both. 

Whatever your focus, plan to stay longer than a typical tourist trip to Italy. Genealogy research takes time and buildings are often closed requiring you to come back.

Heritage trips also require more time because you won’t just be a tourist, but someone making lasting connections. You need time to immerse yourself in the culture and meet the locals. Maybe they are your cousins!

Do Genealogy Research In Advance

Do as much genealogy research online before you go, whether you’re just getting started tracing your family tree, exploring church records, or diving deep into portale antenati. Then organize your documents.

• Organize your research, print documents
• Contact local archives and churches to tell them when you’ll be there
• Plan on becoming good friends with the municipal clerk

You can access these buildings by yourself and do your own research for your ancestors. But if transportation to remote towns, the language barrier, and dusty tomes seems overwhelming, consider hiring a genealogist to help you.

Research the History of Your Ancestral Area

We all wonder why our ancestors left such a beautiful country with so much culture, style, and delicious food.

Unfortunately, most of them left because they were poor and starving and were searching for a better life. 

But now we have a chance to return and give back with sustainable tourism. Roots travel is sustainable because we are building relationships and supporting local businesses and artisans.

A great resource for learning the history of your area and finding things to do is Italea.com. This is the official website of the Italian government to promote Roots Tourism.

Italea has extensive guides for each region that contain the addresses and websites for the archives in each province, detailed historical information for each region, and a calendar of all the festivals happening each month.

Step 2: Plan Your Dates And Your Destination

When To Go To Italy and For How Long

Go for at least 3 weeks or more if you can. A longer trip will give you time to embrace the local culture and have unexpected encounters.

On genealogy vacations, you need to allocate time to return if offices and churches are closed on the day you go to do your research. 

Consider planning your trip around the town’s patron saint holiday. Check to see when festivals are going on and plan your dates around that. The Italea regional guides list all the festivals for each month.

Whenever you go, Italy has much to offer in every season:

• Summer – June to August is the peak season with higher prices and larger crowds. Most of Italy will be very hot, but Northern Italy will be perfect with long, sunny days and warm weather. The beaches will be packed with Italians in mid-August.
  
• Fall – September is still hot and busy, October is starting to cool and the vineyards will be ablaze with color. Many heritage towns will be having local organic harvest festivals. November is more rainy but will have better prices and fewer tourists.
  
• Winter – December is magical with the lead up to Christmas, January and February are slower and restaurants are closed in coastal cities. Mountain villages will be harder to access.
  
• Spring – March is still cool but less busy. April and May are a mix of rain and blooming flowers with fewer crowds and better rates. There are many spring festivals.

Choose a Bigger City Near Your Ancestral Villages

From here you can go on daytrips to the villages. Many of our ancestors’ towns will not be very populated so it makes sense to stay in a more thriving area nearby.

Having a base will help you live like a local and have a lighter impact on the environment. Use public transportation as much as you can. Check to see if there is a monthly regional bus pass. 

For example, my base will be Bergamo and I will purchase the Io Viaggio Ovunque in Provincia di Bergamo (IVOP) pass. For 93 Euros I will be able to travel on all local public transport in the entire Bergamo province. There is also one for all of the Lombardy region.

From your base you can also take daytrips to other iconic Italian destinations in your ancestors’ region that are must sees and easy to get to by train.

From Bergamo, besides going to my ancestral towns of Mologno (now Casazza) and the mountain village Schilpario, I will be taking daytrips all over Lombardy:

• Como
• Brescia
• Milan
• Lake Iseo
• the numerous “borghi” (historic villages)   

Making a Lombardy itinerary is getting me excited for my trip! Now time to budget for it.

Step 3: Tips To Plan Your Budget

A typical trip in Italy is about €100 per day per person for activities, food, and transport. This is on top of flights and accommodations.

Prices for accommodations vary significantly depending on the season and type of accommodation. You can find something for every budget from hostels to luxury hotels.

For heritage travel planning, consider renting an apartment for a month. This will cost less per night and you can cook your own meals. 

Take a local cooking class and then live like a local making authentic cuisine! You can also pack your lunches and have picnics during the day. 

Look into Agriturismos or farm stays. This is an excellent way to experience local Italy near your ancestral home. Again, the price will vary depending on the season, location and the amenities, but fresh, organic produce, eggs, meat, and wine fresh off the farm are usually included.

Transportation will be an important thing to consider for your budget. Most small towns are not accessible by train. But many are reachable by bus. 

Renting a car is more convenient to reach these out of the way places, but might cost more.

Don’t forget to add on the price of an ancestry tour with a genealogist. This is more expensive than a typical tour. Plan on spending €1000 for a one-day tour.

Step 4: Find And Book Your Accommodations

Book as soon as possible, at least 6-12 months in advance. Use Booking.com for hotels for every budget.

To find apartments, search on Booking.com, Airbnb, or join local Facebook groups and ask if anyone has a furnished apartment to rent. 

I joined a Facebook group called Gone Girl International – Bergamo. Not only did I find my super cute apartment rental, I also now have a group of people to hang out with when I am living there for a month. 

I will really be living like a local. Gone Girl International has communities in many Italian cities, including:

Bergamo · Bologna · Florence · Milan · Naples ·
Novara · Palermo · Rome · Turin · Venice

Wondering how to find an Agriturismo? You can use Booking.com and click the box for farm stay or do a general Google search.

Step 5: Book Your Flights

Use Skyscanner or Trip.com to check the prices of flights. Once you have decided on a flight, book it directly with the airline or through Trip.com.

Plan to fly into a major city like Milan, Rome, or Naples. From there, rent a car or take a train to your destination.

Now that you have booked your accommodations and flights, you are 100% committed to your Roots Trip and it’s time to make your itinerary.

Step 6: Map Out Your Travel Route & Itinerary

Sketch Out A Daily Itinerary

Go to the Italea guide for your region. This will give you an extensive overview of the larger region of your ancestors. The guides also have suggested itineraries. 

These are just suggested itineraries to inspire you to create your own. If you fill out the form for more information, an Italea partner will contact you to work with you to create a personalized tour just for you. 

Italea has partnered with tour agencies in each region. I have been speaking to tracciaminima (light footsteps) and am excited to hear about their tour suggestions made for me.

To get started on creating your itineraries;

• Get a physical map
• Mark your home base and start planning day trips
• Check out the Italea website for inspiration and ideas
• Collect ideas in a scrapbook or folder of places you want to visit
• Note the different food, cooking, and other tours that interest you
• Balance genealogy research, sightseeing, and downtime
• Build in time for unplanned discoveries
• Jot down festivals

Plan Transportation To Small Villages

Renting a car is the most convenient way to reach small villages since trains do not access them. Renting a car is stressful in the big Italian cities but is doable in the countryside and in smaller towns. Book a car through Rentalcars.com.

Before you go, get your international driver’s permit (IDP). This is very easy and can be done at any American Automobile Association (AAA). AAA is the official organization authorized by the US to issue IDPs.

Many places in Italy are easily accessible by bus or train. Get familiar with the public transportation system in your region.

• Research the bus system in your area. Find out if they have a monthly pass.
• Use the Rome2Rio app to plan ways to travel
• Get the trenitalia app for train travel
• Use the Omio app to compare train prices

To hire a private driver, use the Rome2Rio app, Uber, or FreeNow app. Create a folder on your phone and put all these apps in it for easy access.

Step 7: Book Tours And Insurance

Once you have sketched out your itinerary and figured out the things that you absolutely want to do, you should book reservations for anything that will sell out and get insurance to protect your trip.

Book Tours

• Italea – is the official promotion organization of Roots Travel in Italy. Italea partners with tour agencies in each region that will create personalized tours for you.
  
• Genealogist – work with your genealogist and decide on the date of your guided tour. They might even work with the Italea partner in your region to make the experience both genealogy and cultural.
  
• Look for tours on GetYourGuide, Viator, and Tripadvisor. For example, I always take a food tour and a cooking class when I travel and use these apps to read reviews, choose, and book.

Purchase Insurance

Insurance is necessary primarily so you have health care coverage overseas. But it also covers cancellations of flights, delays, and luggage insurance.

I recommend EKTA insurance for great rates and ease of use.

Step 8: Prepare for the Experience

Learn Some Basic Italian

How cool would it be to actually speak Italian, the language of your ancestors, and communicate with potential cousins? Well, you can. 

• Get a language app and start practicing key phrases for simple conversations. 
• Hire an online Italian tutor.
• Put the Google Translate app on your phone. 
• Sign-up for Lingopie and watch movies in Italian.

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Pack Smart & Efficiently

You can wear anything in Italy as long as it’s appropriate. The important thing is that you are comfortable. Pack clothes suitable for the weather and bring comfortable shoes since you’ll be walking a lot. Some things to consider:

• Proper attire for churches, cemeteries, and small-town visits
• Phone and notebook for genealogy research
• Travel-friendly power adapters and backup chargers
• Hiking shoes, sunhat, swimming suit

Purchase a SIM Card or eSIM for Data & Calls

Plan to purchase a SIM card at the airport so you stay connected and don’t rack up roaming charges with your home carrier. Best options for Italy are TIM, Vodafone, and Iliad.

Bring Gifts for Relatives or Local Contacts

• A small token from your home country (coffee, chocolates, framed family photos)
• Goodwill gestures for archivists, priests, or librarians who assist you

Have Euros on Hand for Donations

Many small churches and archives rely on donations for maintaining records.

“We believe that heritage tourism presents a significant opportunity for smaller and marginalized destinations, capable of triggering transformation not only in travelers but also in those who welcome them.” ~ tracciaminima

Step 9: Manage Your Mindset & Document Your Journey

Get Excited – My trip is shaping up to be an incredible blend of ancestral discovery, outdoor adventure, cultural immersion, and food and wine experiences. I can’t wait! What about you?

Prepare for Transformation – I love the quote above from Tracciaminima, the tour agency awarded by Italea to help people understand their roots in the Lombardy region. Your trip will trigger not just your transformation, but also those in the small towns who welcome you. 

Feel Good – Roots travel is a type of sustainable tourism. We are building bridges and bringing business to people who need it. This is something to feel good about!

Embrace Flexibility – Not everything will go as planned, and that’s okay. That’s usually when the best things happen. 

Keep a Travel Journal or Blog – Write down details, take voice notes, or record video reflections. 

Take Lots of Photos – Take pictures of everything, not just statues. Family homes, street signs, food, and every day life will keep the memories alive for you.

Time To Go

I’m honestly surprised how easy Italy heritage trip planning is when you follow these steps. 

The most important thing is to decide to go and book your accommodation and flights early. That way you’re committed and can start working on the rest slowly and planning your budget. 

Remember that an ancestry trip is about connection and transformation, not just research. Connection to your ancestors, to the land, to the people that still live there today and to others preparing for their trip. 

Read More Of My Ancestry Trip Planning Tips and Stories:

• Is Hiring A Genealogist Worth It In Italy?
• Finding Angela – My Italian Genealogy Research Reveals An Amazing Discovery
• How To Start Finding Your Italian Roots From Home
• How To Use Portale Antenati To Find Your Missing Family Member
• Search For Giuseppe – My Lifelong Quest To Find The Italian Birthplace of My Great-Grandfather