dandy93

Good afternoon! After months of researching, I am now beginning the planning stages of a 15 night trip to Italy for late September 2018. It will be my husband and myself. We plan to start in Rome for 5 nights, 3 nights in Siena, 3 nights in the Dolomites, probably Ortisei and 4 nights in Venice. I think our plan is to pick up a rental car as we leave Rome. We plan on just keeping the car until we get to Venice. Is this the most advisable method to get to the Dolomites and then to Venice or should at some point would public transportation be more time efficient? Also I'd like to know if this itinerary seems ok as far as time in each place. We might have an extra night and if we do we will add that to the Dolomites. This will be our first visit to Italy. We don't want to be rushed but at the same time these 4 regions are where we want to spend our time. Thanks for any help or prospective you can give!

massimop

If your trip is beginning in late September it is best to get to the Dolomiti as soon as possible -- and even then I would suggest that you make reservations that you can cancel in case there is rain or snow that make the journey not worth it. Fly into Venice, and then rent a car to go to the Dolomiti -- but have a Plan B in place meaning: If bad weather forces you to cancel the Dolomiti excursion, decide where else in Italy you would like to spend 4 days in late September that is not far from Venice or Siena by car or rail, and which has plenty of indoor interest, since wet weather in the Dolomiti often is part of wet weather in most of Northern Italy. so you want to be someplace with indoor activities that interest you.

So start in the north & head south, Fly out of Rome.

dandy93

Thanks massimop! I did look at rain averages before I came up with this itinerary as hiking and enjoying the outdoors is the reason we will be in this area. I didn't find any data that particularly made me worry. I will certainly rethink our travel direction before making any solid plans or I could even begin our trip a little earlier if a good bit of rain or snow is a real threat. Thank you for your input!

massimop

If I'm not mistaken, it is snowing in some parts of northern Italy this week at higher elevations (and the Dolomiti are definitely higher elevations). Any trip to the Dolomiti needs to hava a parachute bail out plan. But the sooner you can get there -- summer ends earlier there than Sept 22 -- ups your chances of clear dry days, which are essential to seeing the spires of the mountaintops that make the Dolomiti worth the considerable effort to see.

PalenQ

Car would be great the whole time I think - you may want to take a train out of Rome like to Orvieto - classic hill town about an hour out of Roman metropolis and noxious traffic plus no-drive zones in Rome for private vehicles.

Those are regional trains just buy ticket once ready to leave -could take train all way to Siena but I'd start the Tuscany drive from Orvieto area- for lots on Italian trains check www.trenitalia.com; www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

bussa17

I would say to rent the cat only to go to the dolomites.
Rome as very good public transport connection if you organize your stops in advance.
3 nights in Siena probably too much. Probably 2 in Florence and 1 in Siene would make more sense to me.
Venice as well you might as well just walk and take Vaporetto if straightly necessary. So i would rent the car only for dolomites. It would save you some money.

dandy93

PalenQ, we had thought about stopping at Orvieto on our way to Siena. But didn't think about taking the train first and renting the car in Orvieto. We will definitely consider this. Thank you!
Bussa17, I should have said that Siena will be our base for 3 nights, with a day spent in Siena and probably one other town, possibly Lucca. Do you have a favorite hilltown that would be a nice day trip from Siena?

greg

Depending on where you are coming from, look at Rome arrival option (the way stated) vs. Venice arrival for a reason in addition to the Dolomites consideration.

The Rome and Venice arrivals and departures are not symmetrical.

If I do it from where I live, the Rome arrival is around 7 am (bad because I cannot check-into hotel on arrival) and Venice departure is around 6 am (bad because it is time consuming to reach Venice airport from Venice).

For me, the other direction is far more palatable. Venice arrival is around 1pm, hotel arrival around 3pm, which always allowed me to check-in on arrival, quick walk around, have a quick dinner and go to sleep matching the local time to eliminate the jet lag over the first night. Rome departure is 6:30 am, and unlike Venice airport, Rome airport is just a quick 30 min taxi ride to the airport at that time in the morning, or even faster if you find a "right kind of" driver

Jean

IMO, Lucca is too far for a day trip from Siena. It's close to 2 hours each way.

I would concentrate on southern Tuscany + Siena. I might not even stay IN Siena because I don't think it's the easiest place to drive out of and return to. Hotel Ravizza in Siena does have a parking lot with direct access the doesn't violate the city's ZTL. However, we have encountered lots of rush-hour traffic around the perimeter of Siena, and it seems to get worse every year.

If you decide to explore southern Tuscany (Montepulciano, San Quirico, Pienza, Montalcino, etc.), you could train to Orvieto or Chiusi and rent the car there. If Orvieto, AFAIK Hertz is the only option, and you have to book directly with them. Chiusi offers more options, and you can book on Autoeurope.com if that's your preference. In both towns, the car rental offices are near the train stations, but as someone mentioned they are closed for lunch, Saturday afternoons and all day Sunday.

I'd leave Florence for another trip when you have more time.

It would be at least a 5.5 hour drive from Siena to Ortisei, and there are several interesting things to see along the way that could add travel time. We've had great, dry weather in the Dolomites in the second half of October, but nobody can tell you how good or bad the weather will be. Plus, mountain weather changes rapidly, so the weather forecast before you leave Tuscany won't necessarily be what you find when you get there. I'd just cross my fingers and go. Having said that, it's awfully far to go for just 3 nights. I might leave it for another trip (again, when you have more time) and visit some other interesting place between Tuscany and Venice. There's no shortage of options.

Jean

greg makes a good point about arriving Venice v. Rome, but as he pointed out it does depend on where you're flying from and what the flight options are. I've done early flights from both Venice and Rome, and Venice is much less convenient. But historically I've had more problems with connections than direct flights. I can fly direct to/from Rome but not Venice. I don't care if I get delayed or my luggage goes astray on my way home, but a problem at the start of a trip can ripple through the itinerary. If you have to make a connection in any scenario, consider flying into Verona and heading to the Dolomites first.

dandy93

Greg and Jean, you both have given me a few things to think about. I haven't really looked into arrival and departure times since it's too early to book. I have just plugged in dates In order to give me an idea of the flights costs. I guess I'll remain open to to the route until I can actually make flights. I appreciate your input as these are the things I might not think of as I'm making decisions.
Jean thanks for the heads up on the distance from Siena to Lucca. We certainly don't have to stay in Siena, there seems to be lots of charming options outside of Siena, and we have even considered staying in an Agriturismo. We are open to any suggestions.
I'm going to really try to make the Dolomites work for us. I am particularly drawn to this region. Hopefully I can add the other night to give us 4 nights there. I don't think I can take a night from one of the other places, do you? I wanted 5 nights in the city that we arrive in just because of jet lag. I am trying not to plan this as if we might not ever get to Italy again, but it's hard to do that because who really knows!

HappyTrvlr

It is best to have a car in Dolomites. I would arrive in Venice rather than depart from there. Tides can affect water taxis and early flights can be stressful as you may have difficulty getting to the airport.

Jean

dandy93, what is your home airport? You can see now which airlines fly where... Flight times will change but airlines' "where we fly" usually doesn't change much.

isabel

I think you plan is very solid but I do agree with starting in Venice, not just for arrival/departure times but because it's just such a magical place to first experience Italy. The main thing to do in Venice is just wander around and that's perfect for getting over jet lag, a little less hectic than Rome, which I absolutely love to put at the end of trips. I agree with car between Venice and Rome but obviously not while staying in either of them - so good idea to have them as bookends to the trip.

I wouldn't worry too much about weather in the Dolomites - while there could be snow on high peaks it's probably not going to be road closing bad, and rain you can get any time, even summer. But I would suggest basing in Bolzano rather than a mountain town. It's only a 20-30 minute pleasant drive and you're up in the mountains (actually there are lifts going up from the center of Bolzano) and none of those mountain towns did much for me (compared to mountain towns in other areas). There's more restaurant choices in Bolzano and stuff to do in the evenings - even if it's just strolling around. There's the ice man museum and it's easy to get to the other cities in the area (Trento, etc.) so if the weather is bad in the mountains you have other options. Here's the trip report I did that included the Dolomites: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nd-castles.cfm

Between the Dolomites and Siena there are lots of options of places to stop for a few hours. Verona and Bologna are obvious places except they are both large enough to probably be frustrating to only stop for a few hours, and driving might be an issue. But Modena is on the route and would be a great choice.

I think Siena is a great choice to base in. Hotel Chiusarelli is right outside the walls and there was parking nearby. But there are plenty of other hotels that would be easy to drive to and also walk to the center from. And, like Bolzano, Siena has lots of things to do in evenings and on rainy days which isn't the case if you base in smaller hilltowns.

Photos of all these places are here: http://andiamo.zenfolio.com/f739967755

dandy93

Jean, my home airport is Charlotte NC.

massimop

Isabel's advice not to be concerned about weather in the Dolomiti in late September is really poor advice. The weather in the Dolomiti starts to deteriorate after the first week of September. This is NOT about whether roads are "open". It's about weather there is so much low cloud cover that you cannot see the mountain spires, making it a waste of time and money to go. Of course there can be sunny days in late September & October in the Dolomiti. But if they are not the days you will be there, it is a tremendous disappointment to go all that way and see nothing but the nearby trees and some hilly areas because everything else is covered in grey clouds.

Speaking only personally, I would not go to the Dolomiti and sleep in a city, and go sightseeing in other cities, especially if I had a car. I would stay in a mountain village or a mountain lodge immersed in the natural beauty of the Dolomiti. Most of the restaurant menus throughout the Dolomiti are identical, so there is very little reason to want a lot of different restaurants, unless you are planning to go Michelin star restaurants (there are a few around). In fact, most places to stay will offer you meals in the evening (especially if you stay in the areas with easy access to hikes). The meals -- like everywhere in the Dolomiti -- are hearty mountain food.

If you have a car leaving the Dolomiti all the way to Siena, please do not target large cities like Verona & Bologna as places to stop.

jamikins

I agree with Massimop! We were in the Dolomites the first week of Oct 2013. We were very lucky to get 4 sunny days out of 7, but the days it was cloudy you couldn't see much and it was not fun driving those roads in the pouring rain.

Also, a lot of the lifts are closed and the towns are 'closing down' for the season. Restaurants were closing post season, renovations were being done etc. It was definitely end of season.

We stayed in Ortisei and loved it. Big enough to have some restaurants, but small enough to feel intimate. We enjoyed our day trip to Bolzano but didn't fall in love with the town. I wouldn't want to have to drive out every day. The great thing about Ortisei are the lifts right from town centre to different areas for hiking/walking.

You can see our pics here:

https://flickr.com/photos/[email protected]

Enjoy your planning!

isabel

Well if you go by the advise that going to the Dolomites when you might get a string of cloudy days is not worth it then I guess you best forget about it completely. We were there in JULY and had 3 and a half out of five cloudy days. In fact the day we finally did take a lift up to the top it was so cloudy the gondolas were just disappearing into clouds. It was our last chance and we figured we might as well despite the clouds. After hiking around in the rain for a while the clouds parted, the sun came out and we had a gorgeous two hours before the clouds came back. Most guidebooks say there can still be snow on the mountain paths in May and even June, people here are saying don't risk it in September so that leaves July and August and I just told you one experience in July.

The advise to stay in Bolzano is to minimize wasting time if you do get lousy weather. Point being there are other things to do in the region. I suppose if you can find a hotel in Ortisei, etc. where you can cancel at the last minute (most seem to have three day cancellation policies which aren't going to do you much good). Then you would also need to find some other location you want to go to for those three or four days that you can either get decent lodging at the last minute (September is still high season in much of Italy) or find something you can cancel till the last minute and then cancel whichever one of them you don't go to. But if you book a hotel in Bolzano you can choose from day to day, depending on the forecast, what you want to do. We probably wouldn't have done the day trip to Trento if the weather had been better, we would have spent that day hiking in the mountains. But there were lots of clouds and showers around (in JULY) so we went to Trento and had a perfectly nice time.