A taste of Italy in 11 nights
Nov 18th, 2014, 01:58 AM
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A taste of Italy in 11 nights
We are a family of 4 from Australia. My husband and I have been to Italy about 20 yrs ago.So we feel like we are starting again. Our children are 13 and 14 and love travelling. We fly in to Rome on the 14th April (from Montpellier) 2015 and fly out of Venice on the 25th April. These are the things we think we would like to do but are open to suggestions. While in Rome (maybe 3 nights) have a day trip to Pompeii. Travel by train to Cinque Terra (stay 2 nights). Travel to Florence (with a stop in Pisa). Stay in Florence 2 nights. Travel to Venice 2 nights.That leaves 2 nights elsewhere. We would like to visit a walled town but maybe best as a day trip from somewhere perhaps Florence. Should we stay longer in Florence and do more day trips or stay somewhere else and do Florenec as a day trip. We will be travelling by train. We mainly want to show our children a taste of Italy but have time to enjoy the places we visit without getting on and off trains too much.
Nov 18th, 2014, 02:36 AM
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Knowing what I know, if I had to limit myself to two nights in any of these places, I wouldn't take the trip. IMO, two nights is a good plan for staying with the in-laws. It's NEVER a good plan for visiting Italy.
Nov 18th, 2014, 03:06 AM
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Two nights in a city is ONE day - and you are giving major cities with a large number of sights very short shrift.
If it were me I would bag the CT and spend any extra days and the CT days in rome and venice - which IMHO have WAY more to see/do unless you really want to go hiking back and forth between these tiny villages.
Caveat: I want to see every museum, church, castle and monument there is and love cities and don't want to hike anywhere. (I will walk all day - either city or pretty countryside - but don't want to be on any cliff trails.)
If it were me I would bag the CT and spend any extra days and the CT days in rome and venice - which IMHO have WAY more to see/do unless you really want to go hiking back and forth between these tiny villages.
Caveat: I want to see every museum, church, castle and monument there is and love cities and don't want to hike anywhere. (I will walk all day - either city or pretty countryside - but don't want to be on any cliff trails.)
Nov 18th, 2014, 03:16 AM
#4
well, that's not exactly constructive advice for the OP, is it, NYC?
Lauren, I well understand the temptation to try to cram in everything, but IMO what you have here is a recipe for disaster as you are really going to have very little time actually to see anything which is likely to make everyone frustrated and miserable. you need to remember that 2 nights in a place translate into 1 day, 3 nights into 2 days, etc. So when you say that you want to spend 3 nights in Rome with a day trip to Pompeii, you are really only giving yourselves one day to see Rome. add to that the time that it takes to move from one place to another [roughly half a day each time] and you are not giving yourselves time to see anything.
In April, I think that I would concentrate on Rome and Venice with ? florence? in between. I've not been to the CT in April so i can't say what it would be like - it could be lovely or horrible - so i'm not sure that I'd want to commit myself to it when I'd got so little time overall.
when you're trying to plan your time, it's useful to set it out in tabular form, starting like this:
14/4 - Fly into Rome @ ? arrive hotel/apartment [approx 2 hours later if you're lucky]
15/4 - Rome - ?colosseum. forum etc. Capitoline museums
16/4 - Rome [poss day trip, but really too much to do in Rome, IMO - 1/2 day trip to Ostia antica might be nice]
17/4 - Rome - St Peter's, climb dome, castel San angelo, Trastevere.
18/4 - train to ? Florence. Arrive midday, check into hotel by 1 pm. afternoon Florence
19/4 - Florence - poss 1/2 day trip to Pisa - try to be there in the evening when the tour buses have left and the monuments are illuminated.
20/4 - Florence - poss day trip to San Gim by bus?
21/4 - Florence
22/4 - train to venice. Arrive by 1pm. check in by 2pm. Afternoon in Venice
23/4 - Venice - ? Basilica and Secret itineraries tour of Doge's Palace.
24/4 - Venice - boat trip to the islands - esp Burano and Torcello.
25/4 - fly home
see - you really don't have time for anything else, and many would consider the above itinerary quite tight, but it should enable you and the kids to enjoy the highlights of each place without feeling too rushed.
have a great trip!
Lauren, I well understand the temptation to try to cram in everything, but IMO what you have here is a recipe for disaster as you are really going to have very little time actually to see anything which is likely to make everyone frustrated and miserable. you need to remember that 2 nights in a place translate into 1 day, 3 nights into 2 days, etc. So when you say that you want to spend 3 nights in Rome with a day trip to Pompeii, you are really only giving yourselves one day to see Rome. add to that the time that it takes to move from one place to another [roughly half a day each time] and you are not giving yourselves time to see anything.
In April, I think that I would concentrate on Rome and Venice with ? florence? in between. I've not been to the CT in April so i can't say what it would be like - it could be lovely or horrible - so i'm not sure that I'd want to commit myself to it when I'd got so little time overall.
when you're trying to plan your time, it's useful to set it out in tabular form, starting like this:
14/4 - Fly into Rome @ ? arrive hotel/apartment [approx 2 hours later if you're lucky]
15/4 - Rome - ?colosseum. forum etc. Capitoline museums
16/4 - Rome [poss day trip, but really too much to do in Rome, IMO - 1/2 day trip to Ostia antica might be nice]
17/4 - Rome - St Peter's, climb dome, castel San angelo, Trastevere.
18/4 - train to ? Florence. Arrive midday, check into hotel by 1 pm. afternoon Florence
19/4 - Florence - poss 1/2 day trip to Pisa - try to be there in the evening when the tour buses have left and the monuments are illuminated.
20/4 - Florence - poss day trip to San Gim by bus?
21/4 - Florence
22/4 - train to venice. Arrive by 1pm. check in by 2pm. Afternoon in Venice
23/4 - Venice - ? Basilica and Secret itineraries tour of Doge's Palace.
24/4 - Venice - boat trip to the islands - esp Burano and Torcello.
25/4 - fly home
see - you really don't have time for anything else, and many would consider the above itinerary quite tight, but it should enable you and the kids to enjoy the highlights of each place without feeling too rushed.
have a great trip!
Nov 18th, 2014, 04:08 AM
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Advising newbies to NEVER plan a two-day trip to anywhere in Italy, IMO, is VERY CONSTRUCTIVE advice. Exactly. I honestly don't think the potential dangers, the waste of time and money, and the inability to rest well can be expressed enough. And some people need to be banged over the head before good travel advice sinks in. (Not necessarily the case here.)
Two-night trips are EXHAUSTING. You get relatively no bang for your buck. They are the easiest type of trip to forget. They don't allow for the time it takes when things don't go as planned. Veteran travelers know, something unexpected ALWAYS happens that will alter and affect a schedule. Plus, you're living out of a suitcase, with the feeling of being constantly on the go. Honestly, how constructive can a trip like that be?
So, yes, annhig, without taking up much bandwidth, I offered the OP the constructive advice to start over and think again.
Two-night trips are EXHAUSTING. You get relatively no bang for your buck. They are the easiest type of trip to forget. They don't allow for the time it takes when things don't go as planned. Veteran travelers know, something unexpected ALWAYS happens that will alter and affect a schedule. Plus, you're living out of a suitcase, with the feeling of being constantly on the go. Honestly, how constructive can a trip like that be?
So, yes, annhig, without taking up much bandwidth, I offered the OP the constructive advice to start over and think again.
Nov 18th, 2014, 04:09 AM
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Most people would find your itinerary a little busy, but maybe it's not so bad to keep two young teens on the move all the time. Still ...
Given the time of year, as annhig suggests, consider cutting out Cinque Terre and adding time to your other destinations. That plan also will eat up less travel time between destinations. You, for instance, could use Florence for a longer term base (and maybe get an apartment instead of a hotel), and take day trips to Siena and Pisa. Or add a day to Venice or Rome.
CT is nice, but IMHO, it's best enjoyed in the outdoors, and April is iffy for that. IMHO, one of the more interesting things to do there is to take the ferry from one end into each town and Portovenere. And in April, the ferry might not even be running if the weather doesn't cooperate.
Given the time of year, as annhig suggests, consider cutting out Cinque Terre and adding time to your other destinations. That plan also will eat up less travel time between destinations. You, for instance, could use Florence for a longer term base (and maybe get an apartment instead of a hotel), and take day trips to Siena and Pisa. Or add a day to Venice or Rome.
CT is nice, but IMHO, it's best enjoyed in the outdoors, and April is iffy for that. IMHO, one of the more interesting things to do there is to take the ferry from one end into each town and Portovenere. And in April, the ferry might not even be running if the weather doesn't cooperate.
Nov 18th, 2014, 07:16 AM
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Add a day in Florence and a day in Venice. 3-4 days in a city such as Rome, Florence or Venice is the minimum. I'd personally skip CT as well. Is your goal to see as much as possible to just say you've been there or to have time to visit the cities and make memories? As an example....Vatican and Vatican Museum is easily a full day; Colosseum and Forum can be a full day; then, you still have the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Borghese Gallery, Pompeii (which is a VERY LONG day trip but doable), Ostia Antic, Catacombs, Anzio, Castel San Angelo, Spanish Steps, Piazzas, Capitoline Museum etc. Not to mention jet lag and that moving between cities is a minimum of 3/4 of a day. 11 days...4 moves eliminates 3 of those days....4 cities in 7 full days to tour the cities.
Nov 18th, 2014, 07:36 AM
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Agree your schedule is too packed, and the Cinque Terre should be dropped. Not only might the weather be bad but the trails between towns may suffer damage during the winter and not yet be fixed -- if they have been from last year.
For a walled town, you could do a day trip to Lucca from Florence. Its wall is complete. You can rent bikes and ride around the top. Lucca can be combined with Pisa in a multi-city day trip, Lucca in the morning when the shops are open, Pisa in the afternoon.
Otherwise, with your short time, you could consider omitting Florence entirely. Florence has less of interest to teens. Unless you are all big fans of Renaissance art and architecture. Or consider a daylong stopover in Florence between Rome and Venice, leaving your bags at the train station.
In addition to the time-sucking activities of moving to another city, at each stop you have to get oriented, figure out how to get around, back and forth to your hotel. That takes time too.
To get a taste of Italy, it isn't really required to hit a lot of stops. More time in one place teaches you more.
For a walled town, you could do a day trip to Lucca from Florence. Its wall is complete. You can rent bikes and ride around the top. Lucca can be combined with Pisa in a multi-city day trip, Lucca in the morning when the shops are open, Pisa in the afternoon.
Otherwise, with your short time, you could consider omitting Florence entirely. Florence has less of interest to teens. Unless you are all big fans of Renaissance art and architecture. Or consider a daylong stopover in Florence between Rome and Venice, leaving your bags at the train station.
In addition to the time-sucking activities of moving to another city, at each stop you have to get oriented, figure out how to get around, back and forth to your hotel. That takes time too.
To get a taste of Italy, it isn't really required to hit a lot of stops. More time in one place teaches you more.
Nov 18th, 2014, 08:20 AM
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It would also be helpful to understand what your children like: art, history (ancient, more recent, gruesome, etc), WW2 sites, street life, food, etc?? You might be there during the spring soccer/football season - would you want to try and get tickets to a match?
Nov 18th, 2014, 12:22 PM
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The Cinque Terre and the entire Ligurian coast have taken a terrible battering from storms and heavy rains this autumn. At the moment all the trails in the Cinque Terre are closed.
This is the second year in a row the area has been hammered by storms, and even before the recent storms, they still weren't fully recovered from the disastrous floods in 2011. Some of the lower trails have been closed ever since because of the risk of landslides. I don't know what the conditions will be in April, but it's unlikely they'll improve a lot over the winter.
This is the second year in a row the area has been hammered by storms, and even before the recent storms, they still weren't fully recovered from the disastrous floods in 2011. Some of the lower trails have been closed ever since because of the risk of landslides. I don't know what the conditions will be in April, but it's unlikely they'll improve a lot over the winter.
Nov 18th, 2014, 01:40 PM
#12
annhig -
Excuse me - advice is awful????
And then you go and give the same advice - just in more detail?>>
nyt - such is the glory of fodors, that when I was posting my repost to NYCfoodsnob's post, yours wasn't there. if you read what foodsnob wrote in reply to me, all will become clear.
you and I were/are on the same wavelength, hence my unknowing repetition of what you had already posted.
Excuse me - advice is awful????
And then you go and give the same advice - just in more detail?>>
nyt - such is the glory of fodors, that when I was posting my repost to NYCfoodsnob's post, yours wasn't there. if you read what foodsnob wrote in reply to me, all will become clear.
you and I were/are on the same wavelength, hence my unknowing repetition of what you had already posted.
Nov 18th, 2014, 09:12 PM
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Thank you everyone for your responses. I will certainly consider all,particularly taking out CT. IT'S ALWAYS GREAT TO GET ADVICE FROM SEASONED TRAVELLERS. We are a volleyball family. Any tips on tickets to a volleyball game?
So perhaps 4 nights Rome, 4 nights Florence and 3 nights Venice?? With day trips. Don't you love it when people planning trips listen.
So perhaps 4 nights Rome, 4 nights Florence and 3 nights Venice?? With day trips. Don't you love it when people planning trips listen.
Nov 19th, 2014, 03:33 AM
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Volleyball (Pallavolo) is very big in Italy. It's too early to see schedules for next April, but if you post again closer to the trip, stating where you will be on which dates, I'll try to find a game near where you'll be.
Nov 19th, 2014, 04:13 AM
#18
Forget looking for 2 more nights, put one more night in Rome and one in Venice, do a day trip to Ostia Antica and a day trip to Padua or one of the other Po valley walled towns (Ferrara etc). If you get to Ferrara hire bicycles and tour the city (no helmets required in the Italy)
Nov 19th, 2014, 09:56 AM
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I believe it's now the law that you need a helmet when riding a bicycle in Italy.
http://corrieredelmattino.altervista...-bici-e-legge/
It's an EU law, which became effective in Italy this past June. I don't know how well it will be enforced. There's a lot of controversy about the efficacy of wearing a helmet when cycling.
http://corrieredelmattino.altervista...-bici-e-legge/
It's an EU law, which became effective in Italy this past June. I don't know how well it will be enforced. There's a lot of controversy about the efficacy of wearing a helmet when cycling.
