SnLTravel

Looking to travel in August 15 complete days in Italy.

Here's my temporary itinerary - I know nothing about Italy (the last trip I planned was Spain - Barcelona, San Sebastian, Bilbao, Hondarribia, Madrid) - so if the forum could advise on which parts to visit - we loved our Spain trip so much. (I kept suggesting we just revisit Spain - but we must do Italy eventually). We enjoy living like a local, eating local food (not necessarily fancy - just good food), markets, people watching, walking, coffee, some art, I have a love of Italian wines (maybe a trip to a vineyard).

Flying into Naples, Flying out of Venice
Must hits: Siena, Bologna

obviously have to do Rome, and Venice.

We're looking to do bus and train mainly - as I'm scared to drive - but are there parts that I should drive? Looking to stay in some nice B&B's...

Suggestions totally welcomed. The forums helped me greatly in my past travel experience and I need your help once again!

ekc

Have you already booked your plane tickets? Did you choose flying into Naples so you can see Pompeii? Ideally you would be flying into Venice, as it is a good city for walking off jetlag for the first couple of days and the flights leaving Venice for the US are usually brutally early out of Venice.

qwovadis

ultimateitaly.com
eurocheapo.com Italy good city tips
seat61.com/italy train best

Do this a bunch last in May. Positano Best Western Paistea Hotel Delfino Sorrento Majestic Palace for Pompeii then Rome
www.orvieto.info Siena Florence Bologna venice-tourism.com
our fav truly magical.www.booking.com for good hotels all over.

Happy Planning!

zeppole

Naples, Rome, Siena, Bologna and Venice sounds like quite a trip to me. You'll get a great mix of spectacular sights and (in Naples and Bologna), relief from the tourist hordes. Even though you are traveling in super-high season, you will actually find Rome, Naples and Bologna fairly empty. Only Siena and Venice are likely to strain your patience for lack of elbow room.

Best of all?

In Naples you will get some of the best coffee on the planet (Caffe Mexico). The historic cafes of Venice also have great coffee (save money by drinking it standing up at the bar). Rome isn't bade for coffee either

Trains would be best for most of your trip, but you might consider a bus from Rome to Siena, because it's a bit more direct.

Naples is a marvelous destination, far more rewarding than Positano in my book, but some internet posters really hate the city. But for how you describe *yourselves* and what *you* like to do ("living like a local, eating local food (not necessarily fancy - just good food), markets, people watching, walking, coffee, some art") -- Napoli is all that.

For wine, your best bet for visiting a great producer and vinyard is taking a daytrip from Siena, so plan to do that there. Italy's national wine institute is in Siena, and they do tastings, so that is something to check out.

Fifteen days is not a lot of time to tour Naples, Rome, Siena, Bologna and Venice. If your Spanish trip also involved a lot of moving around -- no problem. You know in advance you are just getting a bite of each place.

But if your Spanish trip was 20 days or more, then please realize that right now you are looking at cramming a lot of Italy into an extremely short time frame. If that sounds like a problem to you, then spend more time in fewer places.

Michael

This is where we stayed in Bologna a few years back. It's close to the university.

http://www.miramonte-bologna.it/

We stayed at the B&B Medea in Naples and loved it. You might want to take a look at my trip report; click on my name to find it.

If staying in cities or large towns, you should be able to do all your travels by train plus a bus connection for Siena.

Michael

For Venice accommodations, you could start here:

http://en.turismovenezia.it/Where-to...324596039.html

degiulio

Try B&B You and Me in Venice. Gets great Tripadvisor reviews, is centrally located and very reasonable for Venice.

http://bbyouandme.it/index_en.html

jnjfraz

You have allowed at max 2 or 3 days for each town after you consider the time to get from town to town.

If you have not bought your tickets and if there is not a compelling reason to go to Naples then I would cut that and fly into Rome.

Then Rome, Siena, Bolgna and Venice.

Train works but as someone said you should bus from Rome to Siena and then bus from Siena to Florence for the train. You could also do this part via car.... take the train to Orvieto and then drive up to Siena and use the car to see Chianti which is spectacular. You could drop the car in Siena and then bus up to Florence to catch the train. As long as you are not driving in the cities it is not too bad, but you do need a good navigator or good GPS.

I don't know what month you toured Spain but if it was August then the temps will be the same... pretty hot and humid.

SnLTravel

Thanks for the suggestions -

We are flying on Miles - I wanted to check out Amalfi Coast - thats why I planned on flying into Naples first. My itinerary is still up in the air - Could do the reverse with Venice being the starting point as well. Pompei is not a must on my list - the Amalfi coast is though.

As part of the 15 day excursion - I had my sights set on:
2 Days Venice
4 Days Rome
2 Days Siena (day trip to hill Country)
2 Days Bologna / Florence
3 Days Amalfi Coast

Mimar

You need to reorder this to spend less time on trains. So Venice - Bologna/Florence - Siena - Rome - Amalfi coast - Naples.

You should stay in Naples the night before your departure. (Sometimes transportation in Italy -- trains, ferries, highways -- can not be depended on.)

Also lay this trip out in nights, not days. Does 2 days in Venice mean 3 nights? If not, I think you're cheating yourself there. And not allowing an extra day or so to recover from jet lag. Though admittedly Venice is the ideal place to get over jet lag.

As usual I find, you have too many stops in too little time. I'd seriously consider dropping one of your destinations.

kybourbon

It would save time to drop the nights in Siena and Bologna and stay in Florence. You can easily day trip to Siena (by bus - 1 hour) to Siena. You can also day trip to Bologna by train (40 minutes).

ekc

Building on ky's suggestion, the following is another option:

Day 1: arrive Venice, get to hotel, check in, wander around
Day 2: see Venice
Day 3: see Venice
Day 4: early train to Florence, get to hotel, check in, wander
Day 5: Florence
Day 6: day bus trip to Siena
Day 7: day train trip to Bologna
Day 8: train/bus/ferry to A/C, hotel check in, wander
Day 9: explore A/C
Day 10: explore A/C
Day 11: explore A/C
Day 12: ferry/bus/train to Rome, hotel check in, wander
Day 13: Rome
Day 14: Rome
Day 15: Rome
then fly home

anothertravelinsong

Since I would want at least 4 nights in Rome and Venice, I would drop either Bologna, Siena, or Naples. Probably Naples. I spent 5 hours in Bologna and had a great time. Never been to Siena but I'm "saving it for next time"

JBX

OP clearly delineated their interests for Italy trip ..... one being FOOD, good food, experiencing local scene and many respondents have suggested staying in Florence and only day-tripping to Bologna???

Okay .... not saying that Florence does not offer good dining ..... rather, would point out that the poster, Zeppole, does live in Italy and her response reflects that she actually read/understood what SnL Travel may be seeking for this Italy trip.

kybourbon

The OP has too many places and hotel changes in such a short time. They said local food - >eating local food (not necessarily fancy - just good food)<. Two days the OP designated for Florence/Bologna is not a good plan and Florence is more convenient for their must sees (Siena/Bologna).

LuvToRoam

We stayed at B&B Sandra in Venice a few years ago and Highly recommend it.
http://www.bbalessandra.com/
We are slow travelers so the itinerary looks too ambitious for us.

SnLTravel

Thanks for all the additional suggestions.

Food is a must given we are foodies and to have at least 2 nights in Bologna seems more the route for us.

What are some must see's in Florence? We're leaning more towards Siena vs. Florence because I've read that Siena you get both the architecture and art whereas Florence just art.

Mimar

OK, Bologna and Siena are musts -- as the OP said in her first post. Modifying ek's plan, which I like:

Day 1: arrive Venice, get to hotel, check in, wander around
Day 2: see Venice
Day 3: see Venice
Day 4: early train to Bologna, get to hotel, check in, wander
Day 5: Bologna
Day 6: train to Siena, check-in, etc
Day 7: day bus trip to Florence
Day 8: train/bus/ferry to A/C, hotel check in, wander
Day 9: explore A/C
Day 10: explore A/C
Day 11: explore A/C
Day 12: ferry/bus/train to Rome, hotel check in, wander
Day 13: Rome
Day 14: Rome
Day 15: Rome
then fly home

You might take a day away from Rome or the AC to add to Siena.

Comparing Florence and Siena, there's more art and architecture in Florence, including one world-famous museum (the Uffizi). My list of must-sees: Duomo/campanile/baptistry, Piazza Signoria, Ponte Vecchio, Uffizi/Accademia/Bargello. But, in August, there will also be more people in Florence than in Siena.

In fact both Venice and Florence will probably be very crowded -- as well as the Amalfi coast. For Venice you can get a hotel away from the the Piazza San Marco and the Rialto to avoid crowds. In the AC avoid the buses; stick to the boats between towns. But it's harder to avoid the crowds in Florence and still see the sights.

annhig

mimar has it for me.

i might even not bother with the day trip to florence and leave it for another time, but you can decide when you get there.

if you could bear NOT to see Rome this trip [I'd been to Italy about a dozen times before i went to Rome and survived without it, though I love it now] then you'd be able to spend probably as much time as you needed elsewhere and not feel rushed.

ekc

Great revision Mimar! and I agree with Annhig that you could well leave Florence for your next trip - because you will be back!