How to See Italy's Best Sites — From Your Sofa

Here's another check-in from our pal Erica Firpo in Rome, who is finding fresh ways to explore Italy during the Covid-19 crisis. 

I know you want to get out of your house and see more of Italy, and so do I.

When I want to take a walk out of the house and go to Venice, Naples, the Alps, or even around Rome, I click over to Skyline Web Cams. I am obsessed with the time-lapse function! My favorite piazza-watching is in Piazza del Duomo in Milan.

When I need a culture fix, I hop into a museum. Italy’s Ministry of Culture MiBACt has aggregated virtual and online cultural initiatives, divided into categories: books/libraries, education, museums, music, cinema, and theater. (It's in Italian, but it's still a great resource.) MiBACt's YouTube page has great video tours of museums and sites as part of the greater #IoRestoaCasa ("I'm staying home") campaign. Some of the text and voiceovers are in Italian, but the spaces and artwork speak for themselves, starting with Reggia di Caserta outside Naples, the UNESCO World Heritage Site that's Italy's answer to Versailles:

Northeast in Trieste is Miramare Castle and Park, built by the Hapsburg Archduke Maximilian in the mid-1800s.

Here's a moody stroll through the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art:

When I want to stay local, I skip over to the Vatican Museums for their six, 360-degree virtual tours, including the Raphael Room and the Sistine Chapel, which are never this empty. 

Musei in Comune, Rome’s museum circuit, has five virtual tours of my favorite museums: Musei Capitolini, Trajan’s Market, Ara Pacis, Museo Napoleonico, and Villa Torlonia’s Casino Nobile. (Use the maps and floorplans on the lower right to navigate around these astonishing spaces.)

The modern art museum MAXXI and La Galleria Nazionale also have virtual exhibitions for exploring.

In case you missed it, read Erica's dispatch Rome in the Time of Coronavirus: What's Happening Now.