Real trips. Real recommendations.

RL Approved,
one city at a time.

Every place on this site is somewhere we actually ate, stayed, toured, or got happily lost. No filler, no "best of" lists we haven't tried ourselves.

Destinations
Guide + full itineraries

Roma

Our favorite city in the world — wine bars, carbonara arguments, and ruins that never stop being ruins.
Recommendations

Firenze

The David, the Uffizi, and pizza we went back for twice.
Recommendations

Venezia

Prepare to be lost, and embrace it — nowhere else is this maze-like.
Recommendations

Prosecco Hills

Vineyards, cooking school, and hosts who feel like old friends.

Roma is fully mapped out with day-by-day itineraries. Firenze, Venezia, and the Prosecco Hills have full recommendation lists for now — itineraries for those will get built out over time.

RL Approved seal

About Us

We're Ross and Lisa — RL Approved Travel is us.

We love food, wine, travel, history, and architecture, and we've been traveling together for nearly two decades. This site is where we're putting all of it down: the restaurants worth the reservation, the ones that weren't, the churches worth wandering into, and the itineraries that actually worked for the pace we like to travel at.

Everything here comes from a trip we actually took. If we say skip it, we skipped it too, eventually.

— Ross & Lisa
Beyond These Cities

Windstar Cruises

Great small-boat experiences for seeing more than one region without repacking every two days.

🚢 Windstar ↗

Classic Italy & The Dalmatian Coast

Took this in October 2021 — great tour, lots of Italy and a bit of Croatia. Misses Florence, so stay extra days or go early to add it before/after Rome.

🚢 Itinerary ↗

Rome to Barcelona

Our first Windstar cruise — not as Italy-focused, but a great itinerary with Mediterranean stops including Monaco. There's a special version timed to the Monte Carlo F1 race.

🚢 Itinerary ↗ 🚢 F1 Special ↗

Athens to Rome

A fantastic mix of Greece and Italy — could easily stay a few extra days and add Florence after the cruise ends in Rome. Includes Italian stops in Sicily, Sorrento, and Ponza.

🚢 Itinerary ↗