travellerwannabe

Hi Everyone,
I was wondering if i can get some help planning out trip to italy. Just some background, we (my bf and I) are in our late twenties and are fairly natury and beachy people but also like nightlife and shopping in big cities.
Here's the plan so far but we haven't booked anything

Fly out of toronto May19 fly out of Venice June 13th

Arrive in Rome May20
May20-27th

Stay in apartment in Rome for 1 week (campo di fiori) not booked yet. We really want to enjoy rome and not rush.

May27th-June 3rd. Tuscany
We're looking at staying at SANT'ANTONIO Montepulciano
maybe do some bike tours, day trips to siena and pisa. Maybe a hike at the cinq terre (not sure how far that is though)
We might be skipping florence, i know that this might be a mistake but we think we might be tired of museums etc. after rome

This leaves about 9 days (not including the day we fly back)we definitely want to spend some time in Venice at the end (not sure how long)
We can drive down the almafi coast, visit sorrento, capri, naples, pompeii? find some beaches, maybe find a resort for a couple of days??? We're also looking a sicily, do a tour of Mt. Etna, some biking tours? visit some islands? find a beach resort again? How about Sardinia? Or the Gargano Peninsula??? Or should we skip Tuscany all together and do the Almafi coast and Sicily instead???

2Italy

I would NOT skip Florence. There is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much to see and do without going to museums. I find it one of the most enjoyable and attractive cities in Italy.
I would count out the Cinque Terre as a day trip. The train trip would be 3.5-4 hours each way. Maybe you'd want to go there and spend a couple of days though.
I also would not suggest driving the Amalfi Coast. Hop on a train to Naples and have a driver take you to your hotel. Much easier and more enjoyable! Parking is a commodity on the Amalfi Coast, and many hotels suggest that you NOT bring a car. Travel around the coast is very easy with buses, ferries, drivers, etc.
Check out www.ondaverde.it/hoteli.htm
We've been there 3 times and find it absolutely wonderful. Every room has a sea view and at least a small balcony. Some have some nice terraces. Great restaurant at the hotel, helpful friendly staff. Excursions to Pompeii, Capri, Amalfi, Sorrento, etc., or you can hop on a bus or boat and go also.
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travellerwannabe

thanks for the great advice, we have to fit florence in there somehow.
cinq terre is 3.5-4 hours from Tuscany or Rome? Do you recommend Almafi instead of Sicily or Sardinia?

JeanneB

Will you have a car in Tuscany?

What about Bellagio and the Lakes Region? You could drive up there from Tuscany, stay 3 nights. Drive back down, turn in the car in Florence, stay 3 nights. Then train to Venice for 3 nights.

I may have lost a day in there. Your title says 24 days. Rome a week, Tuscany a week, plus 9 more days = 23 days. Did I miss something?

travellerwannabe

Thanks JeanneB
Sorry wrong math.
2 weeks + another 10 days
Living in toronto we crave salt water beaches, i believe that we're talking about fresh water lakes in bellagio + lakes? Is it nicer there than almafi or sicily?

travellerwannabe

Sorry, yes we'll have a car in Tuscany

DiG

Hi travellerwannabe:

Perhaps you could continue your trip in a somewhat circular pattern.

Drive over to the Riviera di Levante & stay 3-4 days, drop the car there & use local buses and boats to get around.

Then train/bus to Florence for 3-4 days.

Then train to Venice for 3-4 days.

<< Living in Toronto we crave salt water >>

After Tuscany you drive over to
the Riviera di Levante. You could concentrate on the towns & villages east of Genoa and as far south as Rapallo. There's Livorno, Camogli, Portofino, Santa Maria Liguere, etc.

Maybe chose one as a base & do short day trips. You can swim, sail, waterski
relax at the beach. Definitely will be salt water!

Di

Jubes2681

I would have to agree with everyone else - Florence is a must, even if you go for 2 days. I would recommend at least 2 days, 3 if you can manage. It's a beautiful city and you don't have to hit museums to appreciate it. There's also a wonderful leather market where you can find quality leather for cheap (if you can haggle!). The food and atmosphere of the city is something you don't want to miss.

I would also suggest Capri, if you can swing it. It's really wonderful and the caves are just amazing. Cinque Terre is also worth a visit - easily done as a day trip from Florence/Tuscany area.

bobthenavigator

You have a good start, and are going at the perfect time. I would stay north and spend time at either the CT of Lago Como before ending in Venice. You can see Florence from your Tuscany base camp--no reason to change locations. I like your idea of a week stay at primary locations. You will have a great time.

travellerwannabe

Thanks everyone for your great input. We definitely won't skip florence then. We also really wanna do a hike at the cinq terre and head south.
I think right now we're thinking to do the following after the 1 week in Rome and the 1 week in Tuscany
1 night cinq terre
1-2 nights florence (this could depend on whether we day trip it beforehand or not)
3-4 nights AC (including capri)
4 nights Venice

Is the consensus not to drive to Florence?

SusanP

Are you planning to do those places in your last post in that order? That's a lot of backtracking to get back down to the Amalfi Coast. It would make a lot more sense to go there after Rome, then up to Tuscany and the rest. Have a great trip!

travellerwannabe

We were thinking of following this order since we're renting appartments in Tuscany and Rome and most rentals go Sat. to Sat.
I'll verify the tuscany rentals, it makes sense not to backtrack if we can get a one week apartment rental midweek.

bobthenavigator

After a good start, you are now trying to add too much. The AC does not fit your itinerary---too many travel logistics. After Tuscany go north or south---not both.

ira

I agree with Bob.

JeanneB

Have you already rented the Rome/Tuscany places? It would work much better if you could fly into Venice and reverse the order.

Venice
Tuscany/Cinq T
Rome
Amalfi Coast

travellerwannabe

Thanks everyone again!
I think we're gonna reverse the order.
Venice
Tuscany/florence
Rome
AC
how does that sound?
Jeanne we haven't booked anything yet (that's the lucky part)
What's the minimum amount of time required to "do" the following cities

Venice
Florence
Sienna
Naples
capri?

Lexma90

On going to Florence - if you are more nature/beach people, then maybe it makes more sense for you to save Florence for another trip (you WILL go back). You'll be doing a lot of the art stuff in both Rome and Venice, after all. Really read up on Florence, get a picture guide book (like Eyewiteness guides) from your public library, and try to get a feel for whether the sites/sights in Florence are important to you for this trip.

In your re-scheduled itinerary, I agree that you're trying to fit in too much (and my personal preference is for Liguria over the Amalfi Coast).

If you want to do the beach thing, then I'm not sure the Lakes Region is the right place. We've visited there, though haven't spent a huge amount of time, but there aren't a lot of white sand-type beaches, to my recollection.

There are actually seaside tourist towns in Tuscany; you might want to look into those. As I've never visited them, however, I can't tell you their names.

bobthenavigator

OK--that is better if you are intent on doing the AC. However, I would end in Rome. Keep the car and drive to Sorrento to drop it. Then, train back to Rome---probably from Salerno---and spend your final week there. I see this timing: 3-7-3-7--does that make sense?

travellerwannabe

seaside tourist towns in tuscany?? that sounds great
Bob, we actually have 24 days, possibly 25 not 20. So that should give more time in the 3-day places
rome first vs. AC first will depend on what day we get to rome and when we can get a week long apartment rental for (this is gonna be the challenging part )

travellerwannabe

here's the revised itinerary
we might be able to pull off 25 days instead of 24.

Fly to Venice, leave from Rome
1. Venice arrive Wednesday –leave Saturday (3 nights)
2 Tuscany arrive Saturday- leave Saturday (7 nights)we can only get sat. to sat. rentals. Includes day trips to Florence, pisa and Maybe Sienna.
3. Cinq Terre arrive Saturday- leave Monday (2 nights)do some hiking, relaxing
4. AC arrive Monday-Leave Sunday (6 nights)(includes naples, pompeii, sorrento, positano and capri)
5 Rome arrive Sunday- leave Sunday (7 nights) if we can't get sunday to sunday rentals in rome then take away a day from cinq terre, and shift everything up so we're in rome sat. to sunday.