elizabeth022

I am planning my Italy trip for March 2005.
I would appreciate any feedback on if this itinerary is reasonable or too hectic.

Rome - 3 day
Florence - 5 day with day trip to Siena, another day trip to Outlet
Venice - 2 day
Lake Como - 2 day

I really can't decide between Cinque Terre or Lake Como. What about Capri or Sorrento? Any suggestions/comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

degas

So many great choices and so little time.

With only 12 days to work with, I'd pick Rome, Florence and Venice.
Save the other places for warmer weather on a second trip.

caroline_edinburgh

I'd agree with Degas, & add extra days to Rome. Curious - what is 'Outlet' ?

ira

Hi E,

I also suggest Rome, Florence and Venice. It's early for LakeComo.

You could fly into Venice and out of Rome, or VV.

mamc

Just one more vote for Florence, Rome and Venice. As noted, Lake Como will be quite cool this early in the year. Add a day to Rome and a day to Venice.

DJDxMKD

I'll through in my $0.02, I'd agree with the rest about eliminating Lake Como - out of season and out of the way (though if you do go, I'd recommend adding a several hours to the trip between Como and Venice and take the Great Dolomite Road, it is a spectacular drive). Personally, given the choice between Rome & Florence, I'd add time to Rome. Spent 5 days in Florence, and felt like I did it all, whereas in 2 separate trips to Rome, I still feel there's whole sections of the city we haven't explored. This is based upon my preference to the architecture and ancient-ness of Rome (and Vatican City, though I am completely non-religious, it is beautiful) versus the predominately art/sculpture renaissance era quality of Florence. Siena is fabulous, we did a day trip from Florence, and we will definately be back for a longer stay in the future. Capri/Sorrento pretty much the same as Lake Como: the travel time (especially Capri with ferry connections and all) for the short period you can spend there would be better spent exploring Rome/Florence/Venice. As for the "Outlet", personal preference again, but maybe because I live in NJ, and I can find 20 malls in a 30 min drive, but I find no appeal to shopping in Italy, sure we'll browse the shops in town and purchase special items for ourselves and gifts, but to dedicate a day just to going to an outlet when there are so many great things to do and see in Italy seems (again, to me) a waste. Regardless of where you go, it will be an great trip.

elaine

Hi
Your allocated days don't allow for the travel time between cities? That can take at least half a day, even if you were to fly, even if all goes smoothly on schedule.

I agree with above comments. Save Como, Sorrento, CT, for some other, warmer, trip.
Have at least 4 days in Rome, especially if on the first day you are arriving from overseas.
Florence is great, but 3-4 days even including a daytrip to Siena or outlets is fine.
Add a day to Venice, fly home from there so you don't backtrack.

elizabeth022

Wow. Thank you so much for all your wonderful suggestions. I think I will cut Lake Como out of the itinerary. It does seem out of the way. It would be a waste...especially if the weather is not nice.

Has anyone been to Carrara? I heard that it was really nice there with the marble mountains. Is it possible to stay in Florence and go for a day trip to Carrara?

Thank you Elaine for mentioning the travel time. I will take in account the travel time. I will definitely keep DJDxMKD's suggestion on the Lake Como drive for next time. How about Cinque Terre? Is that too hectic too?

Lexma90

We visited the Carrara area once on our way from Tuscany to the Cinque Terre. I don't know how long a trip it would be from Florence, but probably it would take longer than the trip is worth.

Carrara was interesting; the mountains are white, as if with snow, but it's the marble. But I don't think I would go out of my way to visit Carrara unless I was REALLY into marble. There's not a huge amount to see or do there, anyway. We stopped at a quarry, a guy showed us around and explained things, and we stopped at one of the many marble stores. Took us maybe an hour.

If you want to make day trips, or visit the Italian countryside, I'd suggest more time in the Tuscan countryside. Maybe instead of a day trip to Siena, spend 2 nights in Siena.

caroline_edinburgh

Do I gather 'Outlet' is a shopping mall, then ?

Letah

I agree with Lexmax and think you should skip Carrara this time. We were just there last week visiting friends. We had a great time because we were visiting friends. It took us 2 1/4 hours to get to Florence by train. We had a great time but given your available days I would stay in Tuscany.

elizabeth022

Thanks for the suggestion on Carrara. I want a more relaxing vacation so I will stick to the Rome-Florence-Venice. But, what about Cinque Terre?

The Outlet is for shopping. I'm very into bags so I wanted to check them out. I heard there was a shopping outlet tour from Florence.

I've cut Lake Como and Carrara out of the itinerary. Does anyone know if Cinque Terre is do-able?