Rome, Amalfi Coast & Sicily Workation Package

Rome is an iconic city that bridges the ancient world with contemporary life. When you arrive at the airport, your Workation representative will meet you and help you settle into your accommodations pre-screened for the amenities you need to enjoy your Italy. Workation package.

Enjoy the rest of your day exploring your new neighborhood and getting a better feel for the atmosphere of the “Eternal City.” If you are in the Trastevere neighborhood, you can visit the main church in Piazza Santa Maria. The basilica dates back to the 12th century and has gilded mosaics on the facade that glint in the shifting light of day. You may also see the fountains from the original 4th century featured throughout the interior. 

Focus:
Step into your new accommodations and close your eyes to settle into the space. Perform focused breathing by Inhaling through your nose for four seconds, holding your breath for seven seconds, and exhaling through your mouth for eight seconds while making a whoosh sound. Do this three to four times.

Suggestion:
If you have the time and energy, don’t overlook Villa Farnesina in Trastevere, which features the works of Renaissance master Raphael.

The combination of St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums can take an entire day, especially when you consider the number of historical treasures and artistic masterpieces on display in each space. You can choose to visit on your own but a guide could focus your attention on the most popular and most overlooked areas of Vatican City. 

At St. Peter’s Basilica, the dome is immediately striking, standing over 446 feet tall. It was designed by Michelangelo and still acts as a beacon to pilgrims visiting the holy city. Once inside, the pillars supporting the dome only add to the marvels of engineering with thick supports leading to elaborate niches carved by Bernini. Inside the Vatican Museums, you can finish the tour beneath an elaborate masterpiece of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel where the Brith of Adama and Eve stands at the center. 

Focus:
Make a to-do list of things you would like to do when touring St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums. It’s ok if the list is small or large, but check items off the list when you return, after the tour is complete. Did you see more than you expected? 

Suggestion:
Before returning to your accommodation, climb to the crown of St. Peter’s Basilica’s dome.  

You have a full day to explore the history of Rome and discover how the ancient remains informed the evolution of the streets, architecture, and culture. Visiting the monuments and iconic ruins of the city is best with a guide who can lead you on the best route while also explaining hidden concepts or facts for a more engaging experience. 

You can start at the Colosseum, the icon of Rome. The stadium could hold 50,000 spectators and you can feel the remaining energy when sounds echo around the theater. You can peer inside the Hypogeum, the maze beneath the stage where gladiators would train and warm up before battle. At the Pantheon, you can connect ancient and Renaissance history in Rome beneath the unreinforced concrete dome of the former temple turned church. The interior was designed around harmonious proportions over 2,000 years ago and acts as the resting place of famous Italians, including Raphael and Victor Emanuel II. 

Focus:
How do you think an emperor would pose? Take the power position before leaving on your tour. How does your body feel? How much space do you take up? Do you feel empowered? 

Suggestion:
Pay attention to how generations after the Roman empire reutilized the architecture, including in the Pantheon.

Today is your first day of work while in Rome. Establish a routine or ritual that will help you start and end work with ease. Try grabbing an espresso at the local cafe before focusing or stretching before sitting down to start your projects. How you start your day will inform your process during your Workation package

When the work is done, you can take a fast and easy train to Tivoli, a mountain town outside of Rome that once acted as a summer retreat for the aristocracy. At Villa d’Este, the symbols of the Renaissance will come into full view through the harmonious blend of architecture and landscaping. Built in the 16th century, the gardens highlight gushing fountains and terraced flowers, meandering walkways and tall hedges sprawling across nearly 10 acres. 

Focus:
Look at the ancient designs and how the emperor took inspiration from other cultures at the time. Think about what you take different inspiration from and where you feel it guides you.

Suggestion:
Visit the villas with a guide for more ideas on the history, importance, and impact of the architectural details.

On your second day of work during your Workation, you can further ingrain the ritual you have started to make your work day focused and easy. When you have completed the work day, you will travel to the outskirts of the ancient city where you can explore the famous catacombs. 

The mazes of ancient, subterranean burial chambers date back to the time of early Christianity and feature the burial grounds of former popes and martyrs with tombs decorated by Coptic iconography. St. Callixtus is the largest and most popular catacomb to visit, with chambers covering approximately 12 miles and housing an estimated half-million people. In the cool temperature beneath the modern city, remains dating back to the 3rd century include the likes of St. Cecilia. 

Focus:
Look at the Coptic images on the tombs and meditate. Write the feeling down then return to your accommodation and recall the feeling. Has it changed over time? 

Suggestion:
Visit the catacombs with a guide for more information on what you are looking at and why it’s important. 

Rome is at the heart of Italy, with its own cuisine separate from greater Italy and yet also inspired by the wider culture and flavors of the major culinary traditions from around the country and Mediterranean. After work, you can set out on a guided food tour introducing you to the flavors of the city and the heritage dating back thousands of years. 

The best way to experience the history of the city rather than just view the past, is by tasting dishes shaped through generations. When you sample the local speciality, supplì, you can taste more than a simple ball of fried rice to discover the combination of effective tastes with flavorful rice often seasoned with tomato sauce and cheese.

Focus:
Sharpen your senses by closing your eyes when you taste each dish. What ingredients can you find on your taste buds? Are they layered or do they blend together? What is your favorite dish of the night and why? Think about how it affected your taste buds.

Suggestion:
At the end of your food tour, you can cap the tasty night with your preferred flavors of gelato from your favorite gelateria.

After work, your Workation representative can meet you at your accommodation and guide you to the train station for a quick and scenic ride to Naples before reaching the Amalfi Coast. You can easily get comfortable in Ravello, a gorgeous town wedged onto the seaside cliffs overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. 

If you arrive early enough, you can explore the cobblestone streets and visit the Infinity Terrace of Villa Cimbrone. The belvedere offers a breathtaking panorama of coastline leading to the horizon with the famous Amalfi Coast lying 1,200 feet below. You can often smell lemon citrus and jasmine in the breeze and it’s a great place to spend the sunset. 

Focus:
Try a glass of the local specialty, limoncello. Take your time sitting in the main piazza. Set your timer for 10 minutes. Don’t look at your phone. Enjoy the drink, the surrounding life, and the atmosphere. 

Suggestion:
Experience your first taste of Neapolitan pizza when you arrive in Ravello for a great introduction to the region and local flavors. 

A cooking class to make pizza is the perfect way to welcome in the weekend and celebrate the flavorful ingredients in and around Naples. After work, you can meet a local chef who specializes in making the famous Neapolitan piazza.

You can quickly learn the difference between pizza from the Naples area and other parts of Italy, as well as the world. While you make the dough, you may feel its slightly sticky texture and lighter quality. After topping the dough and cooking it in a woodfire oven, the slight char offers a delightful crunch together with the creamy cheese and tangy tomato sauce for a perfect bite. 

Focus:
Focus your attention on the instructions for making the dough. Practice active listening by paying attention to each detail. What sounds can you hear when the pizza is cooking? What can you smell when the pizza leaves the oven? 

Suggestion:
When in Italy, eat pizza like a local with a knife and fork.

The Amalfi Coast is approximately 25 miles of gorgeous shoreline connecting the town of Positano to Vietri sul Mare. With a full day to explore the settlements along the coastline, you can take your time visiting a select few or travel the entire length to reach the majolica-tiled church crowning Vietri sul Mare in the south. 

In the town of Amalfi, you can enjoy how the street seemingly becomes narrower as you walk deeper into the base of the cliffs. Alleyways wind and disappear into houses or touch emerging lanes. The beach offers a glamorous atmosphere with over 650 feet of sand and colorful water. One of the true treasures of the town is the Duomo di Sant’Andrea and the 11th-century bronze doors crafted in Constantinople. 

Focus:
Visit the Paper Museum in Amalfi. The centuries-old industry used medieval methods for producing thick and textured paper. What stories do you think were told during those years? 

Suggestion:
Don’t miss the crypt inside Amalfi’s cathedral, which has incredibly preserved frescoes. 

Your full day exploring the Bay of Naples will uncover ancient life and activity. You can start at Mount Vesuvius for a better understanding of how the active volcano covered the former Roman colonies in dust and ash. A pathway can lead you to the conical peak where you can look into the crater finding puffing fumaroles and the smell of sulfur. 

You can visit Pompeii with a guide for better information on what to see and where to visit during your time exploring the nearly five square miles of excavated ruins. At the Temple of Isis, the remains date back to the 2nd century BCE and was dedicated to the Egyptian goddess. The color and hints of the original artwork remain on the walls and columns. In Herculaneum, you can better experience how far the volcanic eruption spread, affecting the water in the port city and burying the buildings. You can see more of the baths where mosaics of marine life still decorate the floors. 

Focus:
After visiting both cities, which do you think tells a more informative story about Vesuvius? Which tells a more interesting story? 

Suggestion:
Don’t miss the Samnite House in Herculaneum, which was 300 years old at the time of Vesuvius’s eruption. 

Settle back into work as the day starts and enjoy how the new atmosphere can feel while you stick to your ritual. Demarcate the end of the work day and visit the archeological site of Paestum, which showcases the largest Greek establishment on Italy’s mainland related to Magna Graecia. 

The Greek settlement started around 600 years BCE before becoming a Roman settlement for nearly a millennium. The elaborate collection of pillars forms the Temple of Neptune where you can find three naves and fantastic natural light. Explore the temples and visit the cemetery where you can find tombs painted with vivid colors that depict daily life, including people enjoying food, wine, and music. 

Focus:
Set your timer for 10 minutes and walk around Peastrum without looking at your phone. Don’t take pictures, don’t check the time, just wander and pay attention. 

Suggestion:
Don’t miss sampling the local mozzarella di bufala, mozzarella cheese celebrated for its flavor and texture.

Capri has been a draw for emperors and aristocrats alike for millennia and after work, you will learn why. The island features craggy cliffs plunging into rich blue water and sits less than 15 miles away from the Italian coastline. You will arrive in the marina and can take the funicular to the Piazzetta, where cafes set out tables beneath the clocktower and offer views of the water. 

Explore the island your way, by visiting one of the villas for their tremendous panoramas or by relaxing with a pastry and an espresso in the main square. You can take the hike to the viewpoint of Sentiero dei Fortini Borbonici to find the ruins of old fortresses or visit the quieter streets away from the glitz of the main town at Anacapri, where ancient stone steps have connected the plateaus since Phoenician times. 

Focus:
If you visit Monte Solaro, you can enjoy a quick chair lift for a panorama of the island and the Bay of Naples. But what other sensory details can you enjoy? Set your timer for five minutes and focus on what you can smell, hear, and touch. 

Suggestion:
If you have time, the Blue Grotto is famous for the natural glow produced by the combination of water, sunlight, and cave walls. 

Naples is a city often described as chaotic but there is a beauty to the pulse and hum of its streets set against the backdrop of the bay and peak of Mount Vesuvius in the distance. 

One of the best ways to experience Naples is with a tour of the National Archeological Museum, especially for fans of history and art. Culture comes alive through the collection of ancient artifacts including the Farnese statues and the remains of the Alexander’s Battle mosaic taken from Pompeii. The featured art piece is over 16 feet long and focuses on a battle between Alexander the Great and king Darius with incredible details allowing you to see the fear in the horses’ eyes and determined look on Alexander’s face.

Focus:
Inside the archeological museum, you can find the colossal Hercules. Focus on his face. What expression is he emoting, how does it change how you see the statue? 

Suggestion:
If you have time visit the elaborate shopping center of Galleria Umberto I that can feel like a destination to be seen as much as one to shop in. 

You can start work early to give you more options on your timeline for traveling to Catania, a lively city on the island of Sicily. After work, your Workation representative will take you to the airport for your flight with plenty of time to check in and travel.

You will spend time in Catania to experience the true life and culture of Sicily, including the flavors favored on the island and around the world. After visiting your accommodation and its amenities, you can visit the island’s second-largest city. For a great introduction, visit the Bellini Gardens, a spacious park with walking paths wrapping around bubbling fountains and tropical trees adding to the island’s special Mediterranean atmosphere. On clear days, the nearby trees frame Mt Etna in the distance.  

Focus:
Witness the exterior of the Basilica. Focus on the details and how they interact with the surrounding city. Does the structure affect or create the atmosphere?  

Suggestion:
Neapolitan traffic is notorious. Your Workation representative will meet you with enough time to avoid the traffic, so account for the extra time in your schedule. 

You may have to amend your ritual today when you change your normal starting hours for work to visit the elaborate and active fish market known as La Pescheria. Explore the alleys and stalls with a guide for more intimate knowledge on the foods to try and the ingredients for which the island and the city are known. 

The market will invigorate your senses with the smells of charring fish, the textures of fresh seafood, and the sounds of vendors yelling to one another from across the way. The marketplace embodies the culture of Catania, intense and captivating, punctuated by the everpresent peak of Mt Etna. After work, you can continue your exploration of the city with a visit to the Saint Agatha Cathedral to step inside the Baroque architecture. 

Focus:
Enjoy the vibrancy of the marketplace. What do you smell and hear? Memorize those details. When you get back to your accommodation, close your eyes and think of what you heard and smelled. Does it affect how you remember the marketplace? 

Suggestion:
The street food in Catania is famous. Don’t be afraid to try the arancini.

Taormina is the quintessential image of what visitors expect a coastal town in Sicily to look like. A mixture of opulent views and glitzy historic architecture, the city is perched on a cliff above the Ionian Sea and a popular place for the global glitterati, especially in summer. 

Your Workation representative will take you from Catania to your new accommodations in Taormina where you can relax and enjoy the city however you’d like. Take in the breathtaking panoramas, stroll down Corso Umberto to visit the boutique shops, or linger in Piazza IX Aprile for views of locals enjoying a daily dose of sun. In season, you can head down to the beach at Isola Bella and dig your toes into the warm Mediterranean waters in view of the small rock-island nature preserve. 

Focus:
Enjoy the view of the coastline. Quickly close your eyes. Can you picture the color of the water and the sand? Open your eyes and see if you were right. Connect the view to a smell. 

Suggestion:
Taormina has great cannoli. Make sure you settle in with a pastry of your choice.

With a full day to enjoy exploring Mt Etna, you can turn a visit to the volcanic slopes to a summit along the fuming craters. The volcano is the most active in Europe and stands over 10,900 feet above sea level. 

In winter, snow touches down on the slopes and in summer, the Mediterranean sun helps sharpen the flavors of produce grown around the volcanic soil. You can take a 4×4 jeep to the ridge of the summit and enjoy how the colorful sand stretches the rolling edges of the landscape. At the Silvestri craters, the indentations smoke carrying the smell of sulfur, a reminder of the volcano’s active nature. 

Focus:
Visit a winery where the volcanic soil imparts more flavor into the grapes. What flavors and aromas can you find in the wine? What do you like and why? 

Suggestion:
You can hike to the top of Mt Etna to view the lunar-like scenery and fuming craters. But you can also take a gondola most of the way.

Because of the rituals you put in place, you can easily sink into work at the start of the day and pull yourself away from the computer when the workday ends. Enjoy the balance between life and work with a delicious celebration of traditional Sicilian flavors. 

Meet your chef and let them guide you through the typical ingredients of Sicily and Taormina, known for their more intense flavors informed by the volcanic soil. Sicilian cooking is a more familiar type of Italian cuisine due to the number of Sicilian immigrants who settled around the world. You can find familiar flavors enhanced by traditional recipes and local ingredients as you learn to make a multi-course meal with the likes of spaghetti in a black squid sauce, sponge cake ricotta cream, or customary cannoli.  

Focus:
What ingredient have you used the most? What flavor does it introduce to the food? 

Suggestion:
Take the recipes home with you so you can relive the experience. 

After work, you can take your time enjoying the lovely atmosphere of Taormina. Return to Isola Bella or spend more time simply absorbing the views of locals enjoying the balance between work and life as they sip espresso and chat with friends. 

For a scenic walk and alternative perspective of local life, you can follow the pathway leading to Castelmola, a nearby town perched on a rocky plateau. The tower homes climb lofty terraces and the winding cobblestone streets lead to views of the Ionian Sea, Taormina, and Mt Etna. The colorful architecture and welcoming atmosphere often puts Castelmola on the list of the most charming towns in the country. No need for activities, simply walking down the doors decorated with ceramics and seeing the castle ruins are enough to enjoy a visit.

Focus:
Think about your choice of activities. What do you want to do and why? How will it refresh you? Is it different or similar to what you would do back home?

Suggestion:
During the season, Taormina has exceptional beaches. 

You can start work early in order to finish your project and give you a bit more time visiting the ancient city of Siracusa. It is the oldest, largest, and best-preserved city on the island giving you an immersive experience into ancient Greek and Roman settlements. 

When visiting the city, you can enter directly into the past by walking through the Historic Center on the Island of Ortigia. But inside the Archeological Park, you will find the Greek Theater carved into the hillside and dating back to the 5th century BCE. The theater staged works by Sophocles and Euripides and could hold up to 15,000 people. The park and Siracusa, are examples of the profound effect history can make on contemporary life and learning.  

Focus:
What stories to the ruins tell? What can you tell about the civilization that built them? 

Suggestion:
It’s a long ride to Siracusa but worth the trip to see the ancient ruins that predate Rome. 

Depending on the time of your flight’s departure, you can start work in the morning and stick to the ritual you set out at the beginning of your Workation package. Before you leave Taormina, you can visit the Greek Theater, less for its history and more for one final view of Mt Etna looming in the distance.

You may also have time to visit Villa Comunale to relax in the comfortable 19th-century gardens that combine views of the volcano with tropical plants and delicate flowers. Your Workation representative will meet you and take you to the airport in Catania but you can always add more time to your Italy Workation package or continue onward to somewhere new. 

Focus:
Take in the view of Mt Etna from the theater once more. Does the view speak to you? Does it make a difference that you’re standing in a structure thousands of years old? 

Suggestion:
If you leave Taormina early enough, you can spend some time in Catania’s market one more time.