simjay

Hi. Our family of 5 is travelling to Italy in June/July this year. Our accomodation has all been booked so if I have messed up on that it's too late to change. I only discovered forums after I had made the bookings. So what i really need is for people to check our plans, give advice on day trips, travelling from place to place and any warning signs i should be aware of, like long days travelling, too many day trips etc. Here is our basic itinerary.
25th June : Arrive Venice 10.50 am. Stay in San Marco for 3 nights. Will probably include island trips to Burano and Murano for 1 day and the other full day see the sights in San Marco, Rialto etc

28th June: Depart by train to Verona. Stay 1 night. The main aim is to see Juliet's balcony and maybe 1 other sight.

29th June: Depart by train to Varenna. Catch ferry to Bellagio. Stay 2 nights. Explore the town and maybe do a ferry ride on lake to get a general feel for the lake. Or should we just stick to Bellagio.

1 July: Ferry to Varenna, catch train to Florence. Pick up hire car and drive to San Gimignano. Stay for 5 nights. Whilst there, do day trips which would include Pisa, Volterra, Chianti wine region and Siena. And maybe train back to Florence for a day trip if possible?

6 July: Depart San Gimignano and drive to Orvieto. Maybe stop in at Montepulciano and Montalcino on the way. Stay 4 nights. Do day trips, which would include Assisi, Spoleto,Perugia.

10 July: Depart for Rome by train. Stay 4 nights. See the main sights in Rome and hopefully make a trip to Tivoli as well.

How does this sound? Am I being realistic in our day trips?
Any advice would be appreciated.

Lexma90

It looks like a good plan. The good thing about day trips is that you can decide when you're there whether or not you want to take them.

dwdvagamundo

simjay--looks realistic to me.

Some comments:

In Venice, don't leave out Torcello in the Lagoon. It is the most interesting of all the islands and easy to see all three in one day with Vaporetto. Do get Vaporetto passes--(http://www.veniceconnected.com) You should book these before you arrive in Venice. You can also get passes to the Museums.

Verona has a lot to offer, and "Juliet's Balcony" is just some balcony. One thing we really enjoyed was the Scaliger tombs and the Castelvecchio. Both are easy to reach and lots of fun. You can see all three of the above easily in a full day. Verona is quite compact and easy to walk around in.

I would see more of Florence, if I were in the area, had not been there before, and had any interest in art, architecture or history. You might have time on arrival before getting car.

bobthenavigator

Nice trip---I have 2 comments:

Be sure you have your tickets in hand before you depart Varenna by train--may not be able to buy them there. And, it is a long uphill walk to the station.

I would have chosen Spello or Bevagna as your Umbrian base. Orvieto is nice but too far for Perugia and Assisi.

Have fun !

senozkadir

It looks like a great plan.
Have a nice time in Italy
Buon Viaggio!

jent103

In Venice, I really enjoyed Burano but personally wasn't all that enthralled with Murano. If I were doing it again I'd skip it in favor of a little more time actually in Venice.

Bellagio itself is pretty small, so you'll probably want to do some exploring around the lake. Varenna is lovely and there are some villas to tour. To underscore bobthenavigator's point about train tickets in Varenna, here's what our hotel clerk told us:

<i>We asked the brother on duty if there was a ticket machine at the Varenna train station, since upon our arrival it looked like the tiniest train station I’d ever been in. His reply:

“Absolutely not! You take the ferry? Yes. You keep your ticket, you get on the train. If they ask, you show them you come from Bellagio and cannot buy ticket. You buy on the train. If no one ask, you don’t pay! <shrug> ...Italia!”</i>