mclark0229

We will be getting married in June of 2014 and taking our Italian honeymoon the first two weeks in August. We would like to hit the big 3 (Venice, Florence, Rome) along with a beach stop somewhere. We are just at the beginning stages of our planning and I wanted to get a good idea of an itinerary. Here's what I have in mind (note - we have a wedding to attend in Malmo, Sweden at the end of the trip):

Aug 2 - Fly from US
Aug 3 - Arrive in Venice
Aug 4 - Venice
Aug 5 - Venice
Aug 6 - Train from Venice to Florence
Aug 7 - Florence
Aug 8 - Florence
Aug 9 - Travel from Florence to Beach
Aug 10 - Beach
Aug 11 - Beach
Aug 12 - Travel from Beach to Rome
Aug 13 - Rome
Aug 14 - Rome
Aug 15 - Fly from Rome to Copenhagen
Aug 16 - Wedding in Malmo, Sweden
Aug 17 - Fly back to US from CPH

We are very interested in visiting Venice (for romance), Florence (for Tuscany wine country), Rome (its Rome!), and spend some time on one of the many picturesque beaches Italy has to offer. Like I said, we are just at the beginning stages of planning so daily activities and adventures, hotels, restaurants, sights, etc. will be figured out later but right now I'm really interested in everyone thoughts on a few main things:

- WHAT BEACH? We want a relaxing place with beautiful scenery (not really into hiking or water sports - just a nice place to relax in the middle of our trip). We definitely want to stay somewhere in the Riviera region that wouldn't be too out of the way from Florence to Rome (Livorno? Viareggio? Cinque Terre? Portofino?) HELP!
- Is this itinerary doable in this amount of time? Will we be shorting any of the destinations to an extreme degree? Should we shift more time from one place to another?
- Travel logistics to/from places, within places - trains, planes, automobiles?

Thanks guys, we really appreciate all the help!

PalenQ

I've found Viareggio to be a nice nice town on the beach not far from Pisa or Florence - day trip from there to the Leaning Tower perhaps.

Cinque Terre beaches are mainly rocky except Monterosso whose sandy beach has been names at times one of the finest in Europe (something I would not characterize it as being but it is a nice sandy beach)

VIAREGGIO'S BEACH AND TOWN CENTER
https://www.google.com/search?q=viar...=1600&bih=1074

If going by train and that is a great idea for those cities and beaches where you will not need a car check www.trenitalia.com for schedules and fares and discounted fares that are sold in limited number so must be booked weeks in advance to get and then cannot be changed nor refunded without a penalty but you can save euros that way.

Otherwise full-fare tickets can always be bought as you go along - so so many trains so do not worry bout that. For lots of great info on Italian trains I always spotlight these IMO fantastic sources - www.seat61.com (good info on discounted tickets); www.ricksteves.com and http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id12.html.

I would avoid Portfino as it is one of the most tourist mobbed places in Europe - but nearby Santa Margharita Ligure is a primo seaside resort with beach - can walk the few miles to Portofino on paths thru woods and hills or take a bus or boat.

oedipamaas

I was thinking Viareggio as well. Just to note that the beach in August is likely to be packed throughout Italy. And there's probably a trade-off between scenery (which usually means rocky coastlines) and nice beaches.

I loved the Adriatic beach in Le Marche - it's really not necessarily a further detour than Liguria but the scenery is different. And I'm not sure I could recommend it for August, as I went off season in September.

You have a rushed itinerary, but doable. I think Rome in particular needs at least an extra night. It's a big city that takes a while to get a feel for/orientation to.

I always travel by public transport but if you rent a car that could open up the possibility to bypass Florence and stay right in wine country, adding one of your days to Rome.

yorkshire

August + beach = crowds.
Rome could use another day.
I find if I rent an apartment in a neighborhood, that can be almost as relaxing as a seaside location (almost).
If you are open to renting a car, I'd investigste le Marche further.

Jean

August + beach = crowds

For the time between Florence and Rome, I'd find a nice place in Tuscany with a pool and rent a car for a little exploring. IMO, this would be much more relaxing, and you'd spend less time moving around. Check the train times Florence-beach and beach-Rome.

dwdvagamundo

Agree with oedipamaas that you need more time in Rome.
It is quite rushed, but doable for a first trip.

StCirq

Beaches in August in Italy will be standing room only - not terribly relaxing. That said, I am very fond of Sperlonga and Gaeta, which though crowded aren't like Tokyo on sand.

PalenQ

I don't mind overcrowded beaches as long as the crowds are eye catching!

Tabernash2

We stayed 3 nights in Santa Margherita Ligure, and liked it a lot. Here are my notes, from May 2006:

"We left Venice by train and arrived in Santa Margherita Ligure at 8:10 p.m. The taxi was 12 EUR (including baggage costs), and took less than ten minutes to arrive at our hotel, the Albergo Nuova Riviera.

The hotel management prefers people check in by 6:00 p.m., but they graciously agreed to our later arrival because I’d called in advance from Venice to discuss our train schedule options and to request the late check-in. To arrive earlier would have meant more train connections, so we were happy to take just two trains: one train from Venice to Milan, then another from Milan to Santa Margherita. 



We really enjoyed the Nuova Riviera, via Belvedere 10, www.nuovariviera.com. The little B&B hotel is located on a slight hill, on a quiet narrow road, in a nice semi-residential neighborhood, only 200 meters from the harbor and the center of town.

They call it a “liberty villa with garden”, and you feel at home there. 

The owner met us at the front gate, to assist with our bags from the taxi up to our room on the third floor. There is a beautiful staircase at the Nuova Riviera, but no elevator. Breakfast is included (very simple pre-packaged rolls, but nice cappuccino, also simple juice).

Our room was very reasonable, 98.50 EUR for a double/twin with breakfast. (It would have been slightly less expensive if I hadn't gone through venere.com) 

Actually, our room had three twin beds, and was quite large with a big wardrobe, a desk, a roll-top desk, and two upholstered chairs.

The room had a unique rounded wall, with large windows, and also a ceiling fan. The bathrooms are relatively new, with nicely tiled shower stalls. It was sparkling clean and very charming.



The owner and his manager live there, I think, so they are there to say Hello and Goodbye whenever you are coming and going. It's a very personal touch, so you feel like you're staying in a private residence really. They are very helpful in answering questions, providing maps and directions. 



Despite the late hour of our arrival, we were interested in dinner, so we walked down to the town. Santa Margherita feels very safe, and we were comfortable there walking at all hours to and from the hotel.

We easily found a few interesting restaurants, and chose the Ristorante “A Lampara”, via Maragliano 33. It is a small and cute place, with some locals still there chatting. It was fine for our light, late-night meal.



The next morning was slightly overcast, and since we were planning on going to the Cinque Terre, I asked the manager at breakfast if he knew the weather forecast. He said it could clear, or it could rain; then he very kindly found the forecast on his computer and printed it out for me. Another example that service at the Nuova Riviera is very personal and friendly.

In fact, my daughter had chosen to sleep in and skip breakfast that morning, but the manager insisted on preparing a tray for me to take to her in our room. 

We decided to risk the weather and head to Cinque Terre, which was a good decision as it turned into a beautiful blue-sky day after all.

We took the train to Vernazza, and had a simple picnic of yoghurt and fruit at the waterfront. Before leaving, I picked up a card from a hotel there, which looks nice, the Gianni Franzi, Piazza Marconi 1, www.giannifranzi.it. 



We headed up the trail to Corniglia, expecting it to take about 1.5 hours, which was correct. It is a breath-taking walk, in more ways than one. The views are amazing, and the uphill stair stepping takes your breath away, too! Actually, in retrospect, I wish we’d taken the train all the way down to the southernmost town, Riomaggioire, then walked up to Manarolo, and on to Corniglia. Those two walks would probably be less strenuous than the one we selected, which is all uphill and all stairs. However, there were plenty of spots to stop in the shade and view the unbelievably clear water below, and the gorgeous coastline.

Once we arrived in Corniglia, we took a break in a pretty little piazza. We found a little market to purchase a bread, cheese, tomato and wine snack, while we decided how to spend the rest of our visit in Cinque Terre. I chose to take the train to the next town, Manarolo, while my daughter opted for the hike, since it was the one walk she hadn’t been able to do yet. 

We decided to meet at the train station in Manarolo, and I set out to walk to the Corniglia train station.

Again in retrospect, I should have just taken the hike, because it is a long walk down to the train station, on another seemingly endless stairway. I probably walked as far to the train station as the hike to Manarolo would have been. (I’ve since discovered there’s a free shuttle from the town of Corniglia to its train station.)

We easily met in Manarolo, which is quite small. I found a nice little gelato shop there, and we again had the pleasant task of deciding how to proceed with our day’s itinerary.

After a short break, we caught the ferry boat back to Vernazza, in order to see the beautiful coastline from the sea. From Vernazza, we hopped back on the train to Santa Margherita Ligure.

It was a great day at Cinque Terre, and we were lucky to have the amazing weather. The air temperature was probably in the low 70s, with a slight cool breeze off the water. 



Back in Santa Margherita, we headed to our cozy little hotel to rest awhile, then walked back into town for dinner. We found the Trattoria Baicin, via Algeria 5, and enjoyed a nice dinner for about 35.50 EUR, including a half-liter of house wine. We were pretty tired, but on the way back to Nuova Riviera, we stopped in an internet pub to finish some e-mail correspondence.



The next morning dawned sunny, which was perfect for our plan to visit Portofino. It’s a short, and slightly scary, bus ride on very narrow and windy roads. I watched as the bus barely cleared some very nice-looking sports cars on the road’s many curves.



Portofino is smaller than I expected, and much more expensive. I is an upscale harbor, which had one especially huge and glamorous navy-blue-and-white yacht sitting there, the “Princess K”. The K had beautiful lounge areas visible, and two uniformed (somewhat snotty) young men guarding the way onboard. 



From the little harbor, we walked up the hill to a church, which has a spectacular vista of the sea and the coastline below. There is also a villa-type museum up there, but we opted not to go inside on the beautiful day. There were benches to sit and enjoy the view, and take photos.



Walking back down to the harbor, we wandered up and down the couple of little streets and looked at the numerous art and little gift shops. I was looking for a watercolor of the Portofino harbor to take home, and luckily found a cute little framed one that would be easy enough to hand-carry on the planes home.



We returned to the harbor to find lunch. There are several restaurants and cafes that ring the harbor, all with pleasant outdoor seating. We walked around and looked at menus, but we were surprised at how much we had to pay for a simple caprese salad and omelettes, especially with the extra charge to sit at a table by the water. The lunch menus and pricing there were about the same as dinners we’d found elsewhere. But, we certainly enjoyed sitting there drinking our wine, under an umbrella in the sun, watching the boats and the people.



The afternoon was so pleasant, we decided to take a ferry boat further up the coast to the next stop, which was a teeny and ancient monastery at Fruttuosa. The ferry made a short 30-minute stop there, so we could see the little place. There were actually monks chanting in the monastery, which was a lucky happenstance. 



The ferry took us back to Portofino for a quick stop, and we continued on the ferry back to Santa Margherita. It was a very nice boat, and lots of fun to sit and watch the coastline glide by.

Again on land in Santa Margherita, we found a little café for coffee and gelato, sitting at a little park harborside. 

Santa Margherita was the perfect town for our stay, as it seemed much less crowded and touristy than our day-trip destinations of Portofino and Cinque Terre. We walked up and down along the harbor a bit, looked at the nice shops in town, then walked the short way to the hotel before dinner. 



We’d heard other guests mention they had eaten twice at a restaurant in town, and we decided to try it for our last meal in Santa Margherita. It’s called Ristorante da Emilio, Piazza Martiri della Liberta 20. It had especially attractive outdoor seating, and the prices were also relatively inexpensive. Our meal included salad, cheese, veal, pasta, one-half liter of house wine, and cappuccino for 51.70 EUR.



The next morning we took our time over breakfast and packing, to check out around 11:00, and take a taxi to the train station. Next stop: Nice, France.


"

mclark0229

Wow! Thanks so much for all the information.

After considering your thoughts, it appears that a beach trip in August will not be exactly what we are looking for as far as a relaxing break from the people and hustle and bustle of the big 3 cities.

I REALLY like the idea of getting a place hilltop somewhere in Tuscany with a pool and using this as a relaxation destination. This would give us more time to explore Tuscany which is something I was a little afraid we were giving too little time to. It would also give us a chance to spend some quality time in Siena and give another day to Rome.

However, from what I've read and Tabernash2's lovely recap of her day trip to CT, I think we would definitely still want to make, at least, a day trip there. Would this be possible from a small hilltop Tuscan town? Any input on a decent home base in the hills with poolside lodging available (potential a little agriturismo - within walking distance of a little town center [ i know, im picky])?

Itin revised:

Aug 2-3 - Travel - US to Venice
Aug 4-5 - Venice (2 full days)
Aug 6 - Travel - Venice to Tuscany
Aug 7-10 - Tuscany (4 full days)
Aug 11 - Travel - Tuscany to Rome
Aug 12-14 - Rome (3 full days)
Aug 15 - Leave Italy

Thanks again guys!

Lois2

for St. Cirq and the rest helping this poster...do you see any similarities in the style here...just fyi she is now in every forum here asking the same broad sweeping questions...Fodor has a real sicko on their hands...help if you feel she is for real but just take a look at the new posts as they come up on the left side of the screen...new names each time...but she can't hide the style. Some people are taking much time to give detailed info...

Jean

The CT is not a convenient day trip from most of Tuscany and certainly not from the Siena area if that's where you were thinking of staying. You need to come to grips with the conflicting goals of wanting to relax and wanting to see as much as possible in the time available.

If you want useful lodging recommendations, you need to tell us your budget.

mclark0229

@Lois2 - Not sure what you're saying. I joined this website 2 days ago. And I'm also a dude haha. Good luck catching your perp.

@Jean - Very good question on budget. Like I said, we're completely ignorant with European travel and very much in the infant phase of planing haven't even begun budgeting for lodging, etc. We definitely don't need 5 star joints but will be on our honeymoon so we also won't be ok with hostel or lower end places.

Jean

There are several hundreds of euros between most 5-star lodging and the typical hostel....

And FYI, the number of stars isn't a sole indicator of cost or even necessarily quality/luxury. Stars reflect the number and type of amenities, some of which (like a business or fitness center, 24-hour room service, on-site parking, etc.) may be of no interest to you. Decide on a budget and search websites (booking.com, tripadvisor.com, venere.com, etc.) to see what that budget buys you. State your budget here, and you'll get loads of recommendations that you can then compare.

mclark0229

Jean - I appreciate your delineation between the typical 5 star hotels and hostels. However, I think you are overestimating my experience with european travel and lodging. As I stated before, we have never been to Italy or anywhere in Europe and have literally ZERO idea of what a lodging budget should be. And I really mean that - we have no idea what a typical hotel, apartment, lodge, flat, agriturismo, etc., etc., etc. will cost in early august in Italy. We have budgeted a good bit of money for this trip so we should be able to afford the type of lodging we are looking for but I cannot give a budget without a recommended idea of what to shoot for.

To clarify - I'd like recommendations on Tuscan hill town / wine country lodging with a pool and within walking / biking distance of a cute little hill town center with restaurants, coffee shops, etc. that would be a good local to explore Tuscany.

Thanks again!!!!!

Jean

I'm not trying to be obtuse. At some point, you need to decide what you want to see in Tuscany, what lodging location is geographically best for your plans, and how much you want to spend. There is no one location that will "work" for exploring all of Tuscany (which is 9000 square miles).

It requires searching here ("Search the Forums" at the top of every page), on websites such as the ones I mentioned earlier, printed guidebooks, etc. Even Google or Bing.

But zoecat has provided lots of info on another thread which might help you get started, but you are still the decider.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-backroads.cfm

Dayle

mclark,

I would just make one suggestion which is based on my preferences. Since you are "hitting" the big three and planning on some time in the Tuscan countryside - STAY in the countryside.

This will give you a nice mix between the large busy cities packed with tourists in summer and the gorgeous countryside. Rent a car and enjoy yourselves with short day trips to as many of the hill towns and abbeys as you feel like.

Find a train station convenient for a day trip in to Florence for sightseeing there.

You will probably fall in love with Italy and all it has to offer and return. You can stay in Florence on another trip in the future.

With just 12 days, I would definitely opt for 4 of them in the countryside! I speak from personal experience. My first trip was

7 nts Cortina d'Ampezzo (skiing trip)
2 nts Venice
2 nts Florence
3 nts Praiano (meet boyfriend's relatives)
2 nts Rome

Not something I would ever recommend to someone else or do again myself!

Buon viaggio!

PalenQ

Aug 2-3 - Travel - US to Venice
Aug 4-5 - Venice (2 full days)
Aug 6 - Travel - Venice to Tuscany
Aug 7-10 - Tuscany (4 full days)
Aug 11 - Travel - Tuscany to Rome
Aug 12-14 - Rome (3 full days)
Aug 15 - Leave Italy>

Looks really sweet to me - for Tuscany take buses from Florence to say Siena - and leave at least two full days for Florence itself. I would day trip from Florence to Siena or Pisa (if into seeing the Leaning Tower) or other hill towns.