Maudie

We have 8 weeks holiday due in 2011 and our initial thoughts are to spend roughly 4 in Italy and 4 in the UK. I would love your input to help me with the backbones for the Italian part so I can start doing some research.

It will be our first time in Italy, arriving around 25th April, we can use either Rome or Venice as our port of entry. At this stage our main places of interest would be, Venice, Tuscany or Umbria, CT, Florence and Rome. Possibly a visit to Pompeii to keep DH happy, either as a day trip or a stay in the Sorrento area so we could also see Ravello, Positano etc but that is wish list only for now as we might be stretching it too much. We think we would fly into Paris at the end of this leg as we wish to catch the Eurostar to London.

So, after trying to give you some basic background, my question is: taking into consideration the time of year, do we start in Venice and work south or the other way round, just really need the general order of things. Thanks so much.

zeppole

I would fly into Rome because April 25 is a huge national holiday in Italy -- the day the Italians chased the Nazis out of the country -- and Rome is likely to be comfortably roomy and relaxed, even if a few stores are closed, while Venice is liable to be uncomfortably packed to the gills if it is a nice day.

I also would start south because it starts to heat up in the south in May, and should you want to go to Pompeii, it will be much pleasanter to do so in the marginally cooler spring. Also, the Amalfi area will be less jammed, provided you steer clear of that April 25 holiday. And May is a lovely time to be in Liguria (le Cinque Terre). By the way, Pompeii is a tremendous sight, one I hope to revisit many times. I don't think you will be unhappy to be "dragged" to it. An attempt to pair it on a single day trip with Positano and Ravello would make for an incredibly rushed day, maybe even undoable without a private car hire or bus tour at some point. If you decide going south doesn't work for the logistics of this trip, Ostia Scavi, a very easy 50 minutes from the center of Roma, is a highly enjoyable, atmospheric place, filled with umbrella pines and very vivid remnants of the life of an ancient Roman town, so consider that.

After Rome, the difficulty for completing your wish list is including both Venezia and le Cinque Terre. At some point, it is going to unavoidable that you either take a longish train trip, or pay to park a car somewhere you really don't need it. Some will advise you to pick up a car in Orvieto to make Tuscany/Umbria your next stop, dropping the car in Firenze (Florence) and using trains from there, to either le Cinque Terre or Venice first. Others will advise you to head to Firenze after Rome, do that urban sightseeing, rent a car, go to Tuscany/Umbria, then drive to le Cinque Terre, drop off car and continue by train to Venice, or pay to park the car (probably my choice) and drive to Venice. With four weeks, you might want to consider renting cars as you need them, rather than trying to organize your trip about only dealing with one rental contract.

Be aware that there a regular flights out of the Genova airport to Paris on Air France should you wish to end your trip in le Cinque Terre, and to London as well. But you should be able to find flights to Paris out of all the major airports, including Milan.

Hope that helps!

caroline_edinburgh

What I like to do is have relaxing periods at the start & end, with busy sightseeing in between. Last year we were lucky enough to have a 4-week holiday in Italy & this is what we did :-

week 1 - relaxing on the beach in a seaside village in Ischia

week 2 - driving & sightseeing - 1 night Subiaco, 2 nights each Assisi, Bologna & Padua

week 3 - pavement pounding & sightseeing in Venice

week 4 - relaxing at a town on a lake.

I realise that as this is your first time in Italy, you are unlikely to want to visit the same places but thought you might find the structure useful.

Also, as this is your first time, I realise you may not want to spend whole weeks just relaxing; but if so I'd strongly advise building in more shorter periods to rest. We spent our 4th full week in Venice - and our 3rd at the Biennale - this year, and at the end decided that for the next Biennale we'll try to do 2 weeks but with with maybe 2 breaks of 2 days each during that time, relaxing at the Lido. Pounding city pavements all day every day is tiring and the effect is cumulative.

Thinking about your geographical itinerary and looking at your dates, I'd suggest starting in the south and moving north as the weather gets better. Although late April may be nice, it may not. Places like the Amalfi Coast and the Cinque Terre are better visited in late spring/summer weather. Or why not visit the UK first since you probably won't be going to the seaside here, then go on to Italy in late May when the weather should be fairly reliably good there ?

One more thing - curious about why you want to fly to Paris to catch the train to London rather than just flying to London ?

zeppole

I wanted to add, Maudie, that I think you might actually have a much more enjoyable trip that gets beneath the tourist surface if you decided to either stay mainly south or mainly north -- and not try to do both. In other words, Rome and the Amalfi, with Tuscany and Umbria, or Venice plus Tuscany/Umbria, with le Cinque Terre in between or as a finale.

Many people spend two weeks doing your wish list and manage to have fun with non-stop sightseeing. But with the luxury of time, you could have lots of adventure and relaxation. If you'd rather keep on the go all the time, your four weeks will let you skim across a lot of geography.

Maudie

Zeppole - thank you for your insight and suggestions. April 25 is a special day for us Aussies too, we also have a national holiday to commemorate ANZAC day and remember all those who have fought for our freedom. Rome sounds like a good starting point, a day to get over jet lag then maybe. Unless we do a long day trip to Pompeii, Ostia Scavi sounds like a good alternative. I can now start to formulate a plan and yes, you have been very helpful. We like the sound of adventure coupled with relaxation, our sort of holiday.

Caroline - Thanks for your suggestions, yes some time in cities but we much prefer countryside and just going for walks, exploring and taking time to soak it all up. We are meeting up with friends in the UK in June to take a driving tour of Ireland so it has to be Italy first off. As for Paris, we thought we might have a couple of days there before heading to London, we like the idea of taking the train and arriving right in the heart of the city. But who knows, this is just the start of much researching and planning!

I thank you both for your time.
Maudie