Michaeldelilah

Hello,
I will be working in Lugano, Switzerland from June 19-22. I then fly out of Rome on July 2nd, leaving me about 10 days/9 nights to make my way down. I would like to spend about 3 nights in Rome, which leaves me with 6 nights to fill elsewhere. I would like to do a coastal town, either the CT or Amalfi, and then I was thinking either Florence/Venice/Tuscany for the other 3 nights (not in that order obviously). I understand that any more than 3 regions is too much, so I am looking at about 3 nights per locale. My situation is 33 years old, single male, looking for a well-balanced first visit to Italy comprised of culture/history/city/nightlife (Rome), landscape beauty (CT or Amalfi), and then a taste of the small town, loal lifestyle (Tuscany/Florence?)

Comments and suggestions welcome!

Thank you!

stevewith

Were it me, I'd take the one hour bus ride from Lugano to Malpensa airport and fly to Napoli and make the Amalfi coast my first stop. Leaving the Amalfi, I'd park my luggage in the Naples train station and see something of Naples -- talk about authentic local lifestyle -- and then pick up your luggage and head to one of the smaller towns in between Naples and Rome. My pick would be Itri, which you can get to by train from Napoli. Then you can take a train from there to Rome.

The reason I suggest this is that if you are really interested in the small town local lifestyle of Italy, it is very hard to find it in the places you mentioned, even if you have a car, because they have become destinations of mass tourism. There are beautiful places that are not on the tourist track -- like the area between Naples and Rome -- where the small town life is totally intact, and the food is fantastic and cheap, and nary a tourist in sight. Yet there are small b&bs, ATMs, enough English spoken you won't be at a loss. But it is not a town given over to shopping and tourist restaurants, but the real deal Italy.

I'm also a little concerned that if leave by train from Lugano and try to include le Cinque Terre and parts of rural Tuscany, significant chunks of your 9 days will be spent in train stations, long (unscenic) train rides and in car rental offices -- or on buses or at bus stops if you don't want to rent a car.

So hence my suggestion. The other areas you mention are popular and have many sights, so you need to decide what is important to you. A "balanced" view of Italy in 9 days is all but impossible anyway, unless you mean a balanced sightseeing agenda in the famous tourist hot spots, but your understanding of Italy will be less if you only the places other tourists go, and not the gorgeous, fascinating places where Italians outnumber the tourists 1000 to 1, not the other way around.

Here is Itri, between Naples and Rome

http://itri.shapcott-family.com/

http://valentinoswife.wordpress.com/favorite-photos/

bilboburgler

I'd tuck in 3 nights in Venice and then 3 nights on the train between between Venice and Rome.

A nice place is Chiusi (the upper town) though the hotel in the lower town is acceptable. From there you can hire a car and visit places like Montepulciano or the pleasant little town of San Quirico. Of course you could stay in these actual towns (San Quirico has a lovely little hotel in the town square while there is a nice B&B just to the left of the main gates as you walk up (and up)). With a car you can tour a fair bit of Tuscany.

Jean

Obviously, it's a big country, and there are endless possibilities. IMO, there is "landscape beauty" in every region.

Much depends on whether you'd be interested in driving solo or would prefer to stick to public transportation.

Coastal towns will likely be mobbed the first weekend of summer, so that's not where I would head in the first days.

If you'd be willing to drive, you could train from Lugano to the heart of the Piemonte in about 3 hours, pick up a car and explore your way through the Piemonte and Tuscany, leave the car in Orvieto (a nice stop itself), and train into Rome. You could stay inland the entire way and, on secondary roads, drive through areas and towns few tourists visit, and/or you could drive part of the coast if that's a priority to you.

FYI, June 24th is a Feast Day (St. John) in Florence, Genoa and Turin, and June 29th is a Feast Day (Sts. Peter and Paul) in Rome. There will be various events, and some businesses may be closed.

Michaeldelilah

These are all excellent suggestions; I sincerely appeciate your time. What is clear to me is the idea of avoiding the masses, as well as managing time.

Billboburgler-what do you mean "3 nights on the train"?

Jean- I like your idea of train to Piemonte and spending a day or two in Tuscany with a car. I have no issues with a car rental in this area. Is 2 days sufficient here?

Jean

"Is 2 days sufficient here?" Well, no, not really, but only you can decide how you want to divide/spend your days. The drive from, say, Asti in the Piemonte to Orvieto (technically in Umbria) is at least 350 miles (by a rather direct route). Obviously, once you start wandering onto secondary roads and detouring/stopping for interesting things, the miles will increase and your driving speed will drop significantly.

You have 6 nights which equates to 5 full days. You need to do some research to see what appeals to you in these regions and decide what's realistic to attempt in the time you have. maps.google.com can give you an idea of driving times but can also be way too optimistic, so I always add more time. Note the search option to "avoid highways, avoid tolls" under the to/from boxes if you plan to drive mostly secondary roads.

Beware of the peril of driving into big cities like Genoa, Pisa, Florence, Siena, etc. They all have limited traffic zones (Zona a Traffico Limitato, aka ZTL) which are only open to residents with permits during most daylight hours. Even many medium-sized and small towns are instituting these zones, so be on the lookout for signs as you approach towns. Google Images has several examples.