rtwin80days

Hi all,

I am spending 3 weeks in Italy in end July & first half August as part of a last minute opportunity for a 5 weeks Europe trip, out of which first 8 nights are booked. 3 nights in Venice and 5 in Florence.

I would certainly cover Rome. Maybe spend 5-7 nights there. I fly off from Rome to my home country.

Given it's too hot and crowded, but especially in the south, I think it's best to avoid Amalfi right now?

I'd be traveling solo and depend on public transportation.

In terms of interest, I like art, history & culture, food, nature, people watching, taking long walks, cooking, etc. I guess I'd get my art, culture & history fix in Florence and Rome. Looking for a different experience for the remaining week. I guess given I'm covering Venice, Florence and Rome, I should be looking at Tuscany or Central Italy? Kindly suggest a nice village / town to base myself in, which has good public transportation connections with nearby towns for making day trips. Some village in Tuscany, perhaps? Or a big town like bologna?

I am also trying to find out if I can do some vegetarian cooking classes for few days! But either dates don't match or vacations are too expensive (3000E for 6-7 days!). I can arrange for my own accommodation and would focus on getting just the daily cooking lessons, if that helps bringing the cost down.

I wanted to go to Puglia as well but clearly the connections are not convenient and are turning out to be quite expensive. Maybe I reserve the entire south Italy for another trip.

Thanks in advance!

kja

With your interests, you might want to add a night or two to Venice, and even a night or two to Florence. (I love art and architecture and did not see everything I wanted to see in Florence in 5 days -- which included zero day trips.) Rome certainly merits at least 5 nights, more if you can spare it.

I don't think you have enough time for the Amalfi Coast on this trip, and I think waiting to visit Puglia until you are visiting southern Italy makes sense.

What about Lake Como or Lake Maggiore? The Cinque Terre (which can be very busy when you will be there, but which are worth seeing IMO.) Milan?

It should be wonderful, no matter what you choose -- enjoy!

rtwin80days

@kja, thanks for your reply. I've managed to get good hotels in Venice and Florence in a last minute booking in peak season!!! I guess that part is set for now.

I spent 5 days in Salzburg visiting the lakes in Salzkammergut region and Berchtesgaden. Would it be worth it to repeat lakes in Italy?

How about some towns in Tuscany or Umbria or Liguria where I can establish base for few nights and do a lot of day trips? I'm dependent on public transport.

sandralist

You should spend some time looking at weather forecasts. There are not totally reliable this far in advance, but Italy is experiencing an unusually cool summer. I don't know what your upper limit for heat is, but many places people normally consider "too hot" for a July or August trip are not going to be hot this year. And one hopes most of the rain will have passed. A great many beach destinations have had next to no real suntan-and-swim weather this year. It has just poured rain around the lakes (and even hailed). Venice is having significant rain this week.

You will struggle to find cooking classes in August, I think, unless you go to the more touristy parts of Tuscany or Sorrento. Actually, Sorrento might not be a bad idea for your last week. If it rains, you can go to Naples (and if it is not raining too much, Pompei). Otherwise, in the sunshine, you can take boat trips to islands or towns on the Amalfi coast.

If a 3 week trip to Italy is not enough time to include the Amalfi, I don't know what is. It is certainly just as time consuming to get to the lakes as it is to get to the Amalfi. And since you are flying out of Rome, it should definitely be in the mix of places to consider.

But for me, what would be "different" after visiting Venice, Florence and Rome in summer would be to go some place with much fewer tourists. (And in that regard, Sorrento would NOT be a good choice). It is usually hard to put together the combination of spectacular seaside views + non-touristy local culture. If you are willing to pull back a bit on picturesque, Salerno might work for you, since you would still have access to the spectacular views + plus fabulous historic sights. Yet the ratio of locals to tourists is 100 to 1, rather than the other way around. And you might even be able to track down a half-day cooking class (although you would probably need to day trip to somewhere along the Amalfi or around Paestum to do it, and your chances of it being strictly vegetarian are slim).

If a vegetarian cooking class is important to you, consider researching this the other way. There are some notable vegetarian agriturismi in Tuscany and Umbria (mostly run by non-Italians). Try googling for them and consider spending 3 nights with them or the whole week. You might need a car to get there, but maybe not.

bilboburgler

Given the time of year and the short time until you go I'd go to Bologna. It is a major train junction, it is normally busy with students who will be on holidays now and it shuold not be crowded out. All the local cities are pretty good too. So Parma, Modena, Ferrara are would also be good choices but they have slightly less good transport links. Still they are smaller and a more approachable (embraceable even). My favorite is Ferrara.

nytraveler

In terms of weather Florence may well be the hottest of these places sine it's i a sort of bowl that holds in the heat. Places on the heat may well be cooler due to sea breezes - but in any of these places staying anyplace without good AC is close to madness in august.

I would definitely spend more time in Venice - esp if you are arriving there - since there is so much to see and do. And would probably spend time at one of the seaside resorts - but only a place with great AC and a good pool.

And while I love both Florence and Rome you might want to do slightly less time there and consider spending some time at the northern lakes - where the weather is likely to be less awful - and you will get a chance to see a whole different part of Italy.

(Actually if it were me I would move the whole vacation to Switz, Austria and southern Germ to get much better weather but I simply can't tolerate heat.)

Marsle

I agree with the suggestion using Bologna as a base.

Another excellent smaller city to use as a base would be Verona. If you look at Verona, check the opera schedule as that could make hotel prices more expensive.

If you spend some time in the northern lakes area there is a fun cooking class in Varenna: http://www.ilcaminettoonline.com/lezioni_e.html

sandralist

It is actually possible to look at a weather forecast and see that what nytraveler is saying is TOTALLY WRONG. Florence will be significantly cooler than Rome both this week and next. It will be about on a par with the Amalfi coast.

As for the lakes, plenty of predictions for loads of rain this week. Gets better next week, but temps are on a par with the Amalfi coast.

Right now, Venice is having totally lousy weather, but that will improve markedly the following week, when temps will be on a par with Florence, with less chance of rain however.

No one in Italy is turning on their AC this summer, or even in most of Italy.

If you look at weather forecasts for Switzlerand, you see predictions of non-stop rain.

Some people on travel message boards just sit and their computers and make things up on the Internet when they could actually look them up. They might mean well (although I think they really mean to just appear knowledgeable and talk about their own travel fantasies without thinking of you), but you really need to ignore what they are telling you if you are the one actually spending money and making decisions.

zoecat

I suggest basing in Perugia for a few days before Rome and doing some day trips using train/bus to Umbrian towns. Gubbio, Assisi, Spello, Todi all make easy and rewarding day trips from Perugia. You'll see some of the lovely countryside and get an escape from the big cities.

bvlenci

I was in Rome the day before yesterday, and had dinner on a roof-top terrace restaurant. We had to leave early, because I was absolutely freezing, literally shivering with the cold.

When we were in Scotland in June, it was actually warmer (and a lot dryer) there than it was at home. People were teasing me about having gone to Scotland to get a tan.

We've turned on a fan exactly twice so far this summer, and haven't even dreamed of using air conditioning. There are signs all over of an unusually cool summer: sunflower fields (near sea level) that are still not in bloom at the end of July, wheat harvests almost three weeks later than usual, tomatoes that are just beginning to set fruit.

There's no guarantee that this pattern will continue, of course. My favorite weather forecast site, Ilmeteo.com , for Italy is predicting high temperatures in Rome of around 33C for the first week in August. For Amalfi, the prediction in the same period is for 31C, and for Florence 29C.

It is true, though, that when it's hot, it's usually hotter in Florence than in Rome, and Bologna is usually hotter still. There are no ironclad weather rules, anywhere in the world.

suze

Well I'd add more time to Venice, but sounds like that is already set?

I like the idea of a seaside resort but that may or may not appeal to you.

I think going to one more major city or large-ish town as suggested is the easiest thing to add on to your trip (can get there by train, etc.) compared to trying to head into the countryside.