Best places to visit in Italy?

Hi

I have been to the tree cities that you mention. My advice is that you should nopt squeeze in too much on a short trip. Rome itself is amazing and has so much to offer that 3 days is not really enough. But here is a trip report with some pictures and links from our trip to Rome last summer: http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm . We also went to Milan/Venice a couple of years back and here is the trip report link http://gardkarlsen.com/italy_milan.htm . I hope that you can find some useful info there. Get in touch if you have any questions

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Hello cooknchill, how many nights will you have in Italy? That gives one a better idea of how much actual time you will have in Italy.

I am one that really likes Milan but is there some specific reason you plan on going to Milan.

Have you purchased your airline tickets yet? If not have you considered buying "open jaw" tickets also known as "multicity" tickets, fly into one city and depart from another so you don't have to backtrack.

Perhaps that is why you are going to Milan. Are you planning on flying into Rome and departing from Milan, or perhaps Venice?

Some more details per my above questions would help me or others here offer suggestions for your trip. Best regards.

Thanks for yr replies!

gard: just scanned thru yr trip reports, they look great! i'll read them carefully later, i'm sure i'll be able to gather lots of useful info

loveitaly: i'm purchasing the 3 months eurail pass coz i plan to travel a lot during my exchange programme in Paris i want to see the best of Italy coz i don't think i'll get a chance to visit again. Which cities would you recommend i visit that would make the trip most enriching?

Hi cooknchill, so you are in Paris as an exchange student, how fun!!!

So I am still confused how long you will have in Italy. You mention a 9 day trip, but list a total of 7 days for what you have planned in Italy. So I will assume you are figuring the other two days for getting from Paris to Italy and back to Paris, all via the train.

I have no idea what you and your bf are interested in. Do you like museums, historical sites and sights, walking around cities and getting away from the heavy populated tourist centers, sitting at an outdoor cafe in a piazza while having a drink or something to eat etc.? In that you mentioned the cities of Italy I assume all of the above are of interest to you two.

Rome is a city I love, most people do. with the dates of your travel you will not have the hot and humid heat and the overwhelming number of tourist. You could certainly see a the major sights of Rome especially since you are young and no doubt energetic. I hope you would take a little time though to just soak in the atmosphere of Rome, try not to be busy every second although I am sure you want to see as much as possible.

You don't sound interested in Florence, that is alright. But is it only because people have told you it is "over-rated"? There are lots of young people, students, in Florence. I am thinking when you leave Rome if you took the train early in the morning, you could get of the train in Florence and spend the day checking out Florence for yourself. Of course you won't see everything but it would give you a good idea to know if you want to come back and visit in the future. At least you would get your impression of Florence rather than other people's impressions. And than late afternoon you could continue on the train to Venice (a 3 hour trip). I would get into Venice by 7:00pm in the evening. By the time you get to whereever you are staying and get checked in it will probably be close to 8:00pm. You would still have time to get something to eat and than you can walk around Venice after dinner.

At the end of your stay in Venice you could take the train to Milan. Now, again, is there a special reason you want to go to Milan? Are there friends in Milan? Certain sights you want to see? I love Milan, some people do not. Milan is the financial center of Italy, basically an elegant city and there are lots of young people working there. Lots of night life for young people also, as Milan has lots of university students. I am just curious why you want two days in Milan, not that I disagree with your thoughts, it is just not typical for the average traveller. But I think it is because you and your bf are students..and you will find fun things to do in the evening.

If you do not need to spend two days in Milan you could stop and visit Verona on your way from Venice to Milan.

Or when you leave Florence instead of going by train directly to Venice you could get off the train in Bologna (which is between Florence and Venice) and spend one night there and than take the train the next morning to Venice. Bologna as I am sure you know is one of the oldest University cities in Europe and consequently has a heavy university student population. It is a charming city, one I like very much.
But that would only work if you went from Venice to Milan late afternoon (about a 3 hour train ride) and consequently had that evening and the next day in Milan. I say that because you will want to spend as much time in Venice as possible I would think.

Do keep in mind the travel time cooknchill. Basically about 90 minutes or so from Rome to Florence. About 3 hours from Florence to Venice. A little over 3 hours from Venice to Milan. And of course also figure out the time it will take you to check out of your lodgings and check into the next lodging plus the time it will take you to get from the lodging to the train station etc.

I hope I have given you some food for thought and not confused you. And to get back to your original plan, Rome, Milan and Venice would be just great..you are young and I am sure you will have many more trips to Italy throughout your life. There is not way you can see "everything" during this trip. One could spend a year and not see "everything". But you will get a good feel for Italy which will be so much fun for you and will also help you when you plan trips in the future.

Enjoy Gard's trips reports..let us know what you decide. It will be fun to hear about your plans.

By the way, where are you from? I ask because you said you don't think you will have a chance to visit Italy again. Best wishes to the two of you and have fun planning your time in beautiful Italy.

Hi cook,

Before you buy any railpasses enter your itinerary at www.railsaver.com and click "only if it saves money".

Rail travel in Europe is much cheaper than in the US.

www.voyages-sncf.com offers deeply reduced fares on many of its routes.

Click on "toutes nos offres PREMS" on the home page.

Same is true for Italy. See www.trenitalia.com.

>3 days in rome, 2 days in milan and 2 days in venice. Still thinking of whether to visit Florence, heard its highly over-rated!<

A bit rushed for me, but perfectly doable.

Florence is not "highly overrated".

Why are you visiting Milan?

From whence are you departing for Italy?

loveitaly: thanks a lot for yr advice! i'm from Singapore, i don't think i'll have the chance to visit Europe at least for another 5 years, so i'll want to make the best out of it

i'm not into shopping as i'm on a very tight budget, so i'll probably give Milan a miss. Currently, i'm looking at 3 days in Rome, 2 days in Florence & 2 days in Venice. Planning to stopover at Pisa on my way from Rome to Florence coz my bf is really interested in the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Are there any other stopovers would you recommend i take along the way? Thanks!

ira: i've calculated roughly how much all my train rides will cost and i think a eurail pass will be a better choice than point to point tickets. I'll be travelling a lot in France as i'm lucky to get a two day week lesson timetable, and the eurail pass will come in handy.

I've decided to skip Milan and visit Florence instead

IMO missing Michelangelos David in Florence would be a great loss. It is a MUST SEE.

Hi Cook,

>3 days in Rome, 2 days in Florence & 2 days in Venice.<

Quite doable.

Keep in mind that you will have to pay for seat reservations on high-speed trains (eg, ES* in Italy) when you have a railpass.

You can get your reservations at all train stations.