elysag

I am traveling with my aunt, uncle, cousins, parents and brother to Italy next July. My brother and I have been to Italy but for everyone else this is a first trip. The following itinerary has been proposed:

July 1 depart USA

July 2 arrive Rome in the afternoon- can do afternoon touring to get a flavor of the city

July 3 Rome--see Vatican and Forum/Colosseum

July 4 Rome for half day and then drive to Tuscany--or one more night in Rome (don't know how much Rome you want or if the Tuscan countryside is calling you)-suggest you rent a car on the way out of Rome to keep in Tuscany and return upon your arrival in Florence

July 5 Tuscany- check out some of the charming towns, walled cities, wineries, Siena's amazing church for the next couple of days (good hiking and biking in certain areas of people are into this)

July 6 Tuscany

July 7 drive into Florence and return car--great museums and shopping

July 8 Florence

July 9 pick up rental car OR take train to Cinque Terra. Pisa was mentioned as a point of interest so if you want to see it you might like to have a car. If not you can make train connections easily. Note that on the train you do have to lift your luggage so some people who travel "heavy" don't like this. There are small "middle of the road" family run hotels in the Cinque Terra towns. I have had excellent reviews from several clients who have stayed at Hotel Villa Steno. If you want to go a little more upscale you could stay along the coast in Forte dei Marmi or Sestri Levante area. (Grand Hotel Miramare in Sestri or Augustus and Lido Hotel in Forte Dei Marmi.)

July 10 Cinque Terra

July 11 take the train to Venice or if you still have the car you can drive to Venice. If you drive you could stop in Verona (a charming town- I was there last year) for lunch and see Romeo and Juliet's famous house and a lovely amphitheater and then drop the car at Piazzale Roma (same place where the train will take you). From this spot you will take a water taxi to your hotel.

July 12 enjoy Venice ***some people like more time in Venice- if that is the case I would recommend adding one day to your trip or doing two nights Rome, two nights Tuscany, two Florence, two C.T. and 3 Venice (due to the distance you will only have a short first day there)

July 13 fly home

I would love to hear suggestions. I wanted to go to the Amalfi Coast, because I have never been, but my aunt was told that does not work timing wise. I have seen all of the major sites in Rome, Florence and Venice and really interested in smaller towns and wineries but I understand that everyone else will want to do the regular site seeing. I was also thinking a good option would be to rent a house somewhere in Tuscany for part of the trip. I am considering going a few days early or staying few extra days at the end. Money is not an issue and I welcome all suggestions!

vjpblovesitaly

I would dump CT and stay and extra day in Rome.

BarbaraJ

It may be difficult to do justice to the Forum and the Vatican in one day. We took a whole day for both and didn't see all there was to see. We were there in July and found it to be very hot. We took a number of rests to rehydrate and cool down.

I don't know how you like to travel, but I would suggest dropping one of your destinations (probably CT as it is more out of the way). I agree with adding another day to Rome.

kja

Hi, elysag -

> July 3 Rome--see Vatican and Forum/Colosseum

I agree with BarbaraJ: It would be difficult to do justice to the Forum and the Vatican in one day. I also spent a whole day at each and didn't see all there was to see.

> I have seen all of the major sites in Rome, Florence and Venice

Then you undoubtedly know that you won't have much time in any of these wonderful locations!

> July 13 fly home (from Venice).

Personally, I prefer starting in Rome and ending in Venice, but be forewarned that many flights from Venice to the US leave prohibitively early.

> I wanted to go to the Amalfi Coast, because I have never been, but my aunt was told that does not work timing wise.

I agree that it would be difficult to fit into the part of the trip that will include your family. But if you want to go early 4 or 5 days early or stay 4 or 5 days late, you might be able to work it out.

Hope that helps!

mhyde1

Where is Cinque Terra? Even the agent at AAA couldn't find it.

franco

Consider that you are planning on seeing just the most touristy parts of this amazing country. Rome is certainly less touristy than the rest of your itinerary (not because there are really fewer tourists, but because the city is so large that they get more easily absorbed), but what you are going to visit, Forum and Vatican, is definitely super-touristy, as well. Florence is super-touristy. Venice, of course. And the Cinque Terre are the worst of them all, since those five hamlets are so incredibly small and narrow that the ones who get absorbed are the few locals, not the tourists. Verona, in July, is rather an Austrian-German town than an Italian. Tuscany outside Florence? Depends on where you intend to visit. Siena is another super-touristy place. Montepulciano and Pienza, ditto. And S. Gimignano, just in case that you want to see that one, too, is far worse.
What I'm trying to say is that your relatives may end up figuring Italy as one large tourist resort. Which is definitely not true. There are so incredibly many hidden jewels rarely disturbed by any visitor. If I were to do this trip, I'd try to mix crowded destinations (of course there's a reason why they are crowded: because they're beautiful!) and "unknown" destinations.

franco

mhyde - small wonder the agent couldn't find it: "Cinque Terra" is nowhere. There's no place of this name. Five is more than one, right?, so it must be a plural: Cinque Terre, literally "Five Lands". It's the easternmost part of Liguria, and these are the five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, Riomaggiore.

SusanP

It looks as though you have cut and pasted that proposed itinerary from someplace. You've listed 5 places with only 11 nights. That's a lot of moving around, especially with that many people. It takes longer to get anywhere when you have a crowd, and many more possibilities for unhappy people!

I don't see how you can achieve your goal of small towns and wineries when the others will want the main sites.

Do you already have your flights? I would fly into Venice, stay there 3 nights, train to Florence for 4 nights with 1 or 2 daytrips to Tuscan towns (maybe this is where you could go somewhere new, pick places you haven't been), train to Rome for 4 nights and fly home from there.

Even if you have been to the main cities, there is much more there for you to see!
Good luck!

bobthenavigator

In that time, and with that crowd, pick 3 destinations max and enjoy them. That will still be a bit rushed.
Do not try to drive in Rome or Florence as novices. You will likely need 2 vehicles.

RosieinOz

Elysag if you like walking and beautiful scenery don't miss Cinque Terra! It was one of my favourite places after 4 months in Europe and Scandinavia!
We stayed in Levanto and had a day walking and a day cruising between the towns...oh so amazing!
Italy is wonderful so what ever you do you will love it I'm sure!
Happy Travels.
Rosie

Jean

Ditto bobthenavigator's comment, and remember it will be hot. You may not be up for quite as much running around as you think.

Jean

I just noticed how many travelers you are. You will definitely not be able to move a group of that size with any speed.

elysag

Thanks for all of the comments. I agree that it is too much to do in the amount of time we have.

Franco -- you mention that we should pick some less touristy places and I am all for that. Is there anywhere you suggest?

We have not booked our flights so we can certainly start somewhere other than Venice.

ira

Hi E,

They have 11 nights, and you are suggesting staying in 5 different hotels.

That's a lot of schlepping.

I would:

Fly into Venice - 3 nights

Rent car and visit Tuscany - 5 nights with a day in Florence

Drop car in Orvieto - see the town

Train to Rome - 3 nights.

If the Cinque Terre is very important

Fly into Venice - 3 nights

Train to La Spezia - 2-3 nights

Rent car and visit Tuscany - 5-4 nights

Drop off car in Florence or Pisa

Fly home from Florence FLR or Pisa PSA.

Hope this helps.

WebVisionItaly

I agree with all the others - 11 nights = 3 places max. Ira's itinerary sounds great.

Another idea is to skip skip Rome or Venice and CT and instead do Venice or Rome, Emilia Romagna, and Tuscany.

Traveling burns 1/2 day minimum, sometimes more. Remember there is check in/ check out, getting to train, getting lost in a car, et etc. Too much schlepping = rotten vacation for all.

I think you all should do a poll to learn who wants to see what and who is easy-going. You need to fulfill a lot of dreams here. Find out which dreams are common to the group and then make that happen.

I would probably take train with the group and avoid the car caravan to where I am staying in Tuscany and rent car there for a day trip or two. In fact, it sounds like you need a little 8-seater, which the tourism cos. have.

Tell the family to visit WebVisionItaly.com to view videos of Italy - this may help define the dream.

caroltis

I have to say that it's an ambitious itinerary. It looks like the itinerary of an organized "tour" and they tend to cram a lot into a few days. At the end, it's a bit of a blur.

Because of arrivals, departures, picking up and returning cars, drive times...you essentially have 8 days for "seeing" these incredible places. Way too much on your plate.

I would strongly advise that you choose 3 of these places MAX and divide your time between them. Personally I could easily spend my 8 days exploring just Rome and Florence.

I think combining Rome, Cinque Terre and Venice would give everyone a varied experience. However since it will be July - if you want to minimize your time amongst the crowds, perhaps Rome and Tuscany hilltowns would be nice combination.

Just keep in mind it will be peak season, you are traveling with several people - much of your time will be spent just getting to where you want to go.

kybourbon

mhyde1 - Please quit talking to your AAA agent as they obviously know nothing about Italy.

elysag - I suggest you eliminate some places as you are spending too much time traveling between them. You really can't see all of Tuscany in 2 1/2 days (it will take several hours to get there from Rome)especially if you are spending half of the first Tuscan day in Rome. You won't arrive Tuscany until 4 or so. Check driving times on mappy.com.

I also suggest you put Florence after the CT. Tour Tuscany and CT with your car, then Florence (drop the car) where you will catch the train for Venice.

StCirq

Honestly, any travel agent who doesn't know how to spell the name of one of the most popular destinations in Italy should be dismissed immediately.

elysag: I agree this looks like some canned itinerary, with no thought given to the number of people involved and their potentially varying interests.

Without a car, it's unlikely you're going to achieve your goal of seeing "out of the way places." Such places aren't served by trains, which is why they're out of the way. If you want to explore, get a car for a few days while you're in Tuscany and just meander around with a good map and guidebook. Otherwise, with that crowd, I'd stick to trains. The logistics of moving around with a group that size are going to be considerable.

elysag

Thanks for all of the help. I was not happy with the itinerary and definitely want to cut out some of the stops. We are going to do a conference call next week to re-do the plan and the suggestions here will definitely help.

mhyde1

Franco, thanks for the info. Several people have mentioned it, but they never defined it to be a place with 5 villages. I will have to tell my AAA agent.