Ask the Expert: My Top 3 recommendations for visiting Italy’s Abruzzo countryside

I can’t begin to tell you what my journey to the Abruzzo countryside meant to me. Not only did it connect me with my family heritage, this extraordinary experience connected me with the Italian way of life. If you’re interested in taking your own journey to this region, here are a few of my recommendations.

Explore more

This trip begins and ends in Rome, so I suggest spending a few days before or after to explore this remarkable city. Try a 3-hour golf cart tour around the city to see some of the famous landmarks, or learn how to become a gladiator at the Roman Gladiator School. We can help plan some of these excursions, and even book your hotel, before you go.

Transportation

Getting to the Abruzzo countryside is easy with a round-trip transfer from the Rome Airport provided by the Abruzzo Cibus cooking school. But a word of caution, if you miss the transfer, it could cost you up to $800 for the 3-hour ride to get there—ouch!

Bring a mixed wallet

If you want to enjoy the cooking school’s spa, take a soap-making class, or buy a souvenir or extra snacks, you’ll need to have cash. Fortunately, AAA members can order foreign currency from their local AAA Colorado store. For other places you may visit, use your AAA Member Rewards Visa, so you won’t be hit with foreign transaction fees, and bring the AAA MemberPay Visa Card—a prepaid, reloadable debit card that’s safer than cash, since it’s not linked to your bank account, that lets you get local currency at any Visa ATM.