Bhavana

Hi,

We are planning a 16 night trip to italy from 24th May to 9th June. We are 2 couples in early 30s with a 4 yr child.

Following is the rough iterenary:

24th- arrive in milan- night in milan

25th & 26th- to lake como (varenna) ...pls suggest any other place in lake como if better

27 to 29 (3 nights)- venice

30th to 3rd-florence/sienna- which is better - day trips to pisa, chianti,sienna, florence, assissi...or any other you may suggest. Plan to hire car to explore the countryside

6th to 8th- Naples (amalfi coast/pompii etc)

Please let me know whether this sounds doable. Any thing we should skip or add.

We are not too much into museums...just want to visit the famous ones.
Our agenda is to explore the culture and small villages.

Let us know.

Thanks a lot

senozkadir

In 2011 summer we toured Italy in 5 weeks so I have some suggestions.
You should add Bellagio(the pearl of the lake) to your itinerary.From Varenna you can go to Bellagio by boat(15 min)
www.navigazionelaghi.it
From Bellagio you can take the ferry to Como town.While in Como do not forget to take the funicular to Brunate to enjoy the view.
IMO Florence works better as a base to explore the region.You can do day trips to the towns you mentioned easily by train.My other suggestion is adding San Gimignano(a medieval town close to Siena) to your itinerary.
Your plan sounds doable but 3rd-6th June is not mentioned.
Have a nice time in Italy

senozkadir

Sorry I forgot to add Orvieto (Umbrian hill town) between Florence and Rome.

Bhavana

Thanks senozkadir for the quick response.

slipped out to mention 4 to 6 will be in Rome.

Yes have read about Bellagio and is definitley on the list.
We just hit information on San Gimignano while researching on Sienna.

For florence, will you suggest stay in the city or some place outside?

downtownbrown

To make sure I understand the Florence part of the trip: Your question is where to base yourselves and which is the "better" day trip? And you're going to hire a car for one (?) day?

Florence is the better base, but you won't want to have a car while you're seeing Florence. Plus, if you want to visit Siena, you can get an affordable express bus from Florence, which is the way to go (not the train). I assume you want to see the "famous" museums -- Acaddemia and Uffizi. If so, book your tix in advance via the phone service, not online.

All in all, the trip sounds doable, if you're departing Naples. On the last part, are you basing in Naples and doing day trips to the AC?

Bhavana

Thanks downtownbrown for your reply.

For Florence city we will not be hiring a car.
Car would be for surrounding area like pisa, assissi, san gimignano,orvieto etc.

Yes, we were planning AC from naples...should it be other way round?

Also if we want to shorten the trip by 3 days where do you all think we should shorten it?

mamcalice

You will not want to take a 4 year old to the Uffizi. It is a world class art museum that is so crowded that you can't move much of the time. The child would see little or nothing except the legs of the other museum-goers.

As for shortening the trip by three days, consider dropping either the lakes or the Amalfi Coast.

senozkadir

For Capri,Pompeii,Sorrento,Ischia and Procida day trips we were based in Naples and then we chose Salerno as a base for the AC.
Considering the weather at the end of May,I would shorten Milan and Lake Como and spend my time in the South.

bobthenavigator

I am confused--are you flying home from Naples?
How many days with a car in Tuscany?

mama_mia

I think you have too many stops.

I would suggest going straight from airport to your Como accommodations, then adding the night (that you took from Milan) to Como or Venice.

You can get to the sites you mention in Tuscany/Umbria by train from Florence, if you choose to base in Florence. The only thing not doable by train would be the Chianti countryside, which you could visit as a day trip with a driver/guide.

If you would prefer a car in Tuscany, do not stay in Florence. Instead, stay in countryside and train in one day.

I would skip Amalfi coast and add those days to Rome. You could then take a guided bus tour to Pompeii and Sorrento or other town.

Moving around so much (as in your original itinerary) eats into your touring time.

Just something to think about.

Mimar

The day trip by bus from Rome to Pompeii and Sorrento would be too long for a 4-year-old. Lots of walking too.

The 4-year-old is going to slow you down. Does she or he still nap?

If you're interested in the Amalfi coast and Pompeii, Sorrento makes a better base than Naples, which is a big city. It's reachable by the Circumvesuviana commuter train, which leaves from the lower level of Naples' main train station. This same train stops at Pompeii (Pompei Scavi is the stop) making it an easy trip from Sorrento.

Your trip plan has a lot crammed into it, a lot of moving from one place to another, checking into and out of hotels, getting to and from train stations. And your stops are mostly cities, whereas you prefer smaller towns. Consider slowing down and spending more time in smaller places. Maybe rent a villa and a car, do some of your own cooking. This will work better for a child. Of course, this will mean cutting destinations from your ambitious itinerary.

Googs

>>>24th- arrive in milan- night in milan

>>>>25th & 26th- to lake como (varenna) ...pls suggest any other place in lake como if better

I agree, don't stay the night in Milan. We recently flew into Milan, rented a car and drove the picturesque winding roads to Bellagio, which is less busy than Como. In Bellagio you can relax and also see sights. One day we drove into the hills and explored....Stumbled upong a restaurant overlooking Bellagio and was a highlight of the trip.

Bhavana

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and help.

In last 2 days I read quiet a few reports from fellow fodorites and it is extremely helpful.

I have rearranged as follows:

24th & 25th - arrive in milan. travel to bellagio and 2 nights there. take ferry and see towns across the lake: Bellagio, Varenna, Menaggio and Cadenabbia

26th, 27th & 28th nights- in Venice. I wanted to see verona (after seeing the movie Letters to Juliet) will it be possible as a fay trip?

29 to 1st (4 nights)- Florence / nearby small town. Would really need help to identify which town we should stay in and any good apartments/villa. Nothing too expensive though. Would want to see Pisa, chianti country, sienna and florence.


2nd to 5th night (4 nights)- Sorrento. Would like to see capri, amalfi coast,pompii

6th and 7th night in Rome

Fly out on 8th from Rome.

Ideas/suggestions/critique please. Thanks.

downtownbrown

Yes, Verona is doable as a day trip from Venice. There is direct train service.

4 nts in the Sorrento area should be OK, if you consider one day each for Capri and Pompeii, and then the other two days exploring Positano, Amalfi, and the surroundings.

It's possible you could stay in Florence the whole 4 nights and do day trips from there, instead of seeking accommodations elsewhere. One of the days you could hire a driver to take you through wine country. Lots of people here have used Luca from hillsandroads.com. Excellent guide. And while hiring him isn't cheap, it may be better than packing up and finding accommodations in a town. And it's likely you'll want to take a couple of days to see Florence.

Mimar

Four nights in Sorrento is really only 3 days or maybe 3.5. You need to account for the time to get there and the time to get to Rome. And your 3 days will be very full, with trips to Pompeii, Capri, and the AC.

Three nights in Venice is really 2 days. If you make a day trip to Verona, that means very little time for Venice.

So how are you getting from the Milan airport to Bellagio? You don't want to drive after a long flight, especially because the road up the peninsula to Bellagio is a bit difficult.

In fact, if you stay in Florence, you probably don't want a car at all. The train covers all your destinations quite well.

jgg

I am not clear on how you are getting from one location to another, but if you are renting a car consider stopping in Verona on your way from Bellagio to Venice, that way you don't have to do it as a daytrip from Venice and use up one of your days there.

It is only about 3.5 hr drive from Bellagio to Venice so you should have plenty of time to have a nice top in Verona.

We stopped in Verona on our drive from Bellagio to the Dolomites. It is a beautiful city and we had fun seeing Juliet's balcony and also had a fabulous lunch (one of our favorites from the trip) at Osteria il Bertolodo (http://www.osteriailbertoldo.com/index.en.html). It is just about 5 min. walk from the main piazza in a lovely quiet part of the town.

Bhavana

Yes its slightly hectic in Rome. Others will have to shortlist from the sites we want to see to sites we can see. Thats the next step in my to do list once i freeze on the iterenary along with how to travel etc

We donot mind a fairly gud paced travel...as dont know when we will be back in Italy. Have visited New Zealand & Switzerland...both are again on the going back list apart from other beautiful places yet to see!

We decided not to go for the car and use public transport. May be will hire for chianti country visit.

Might play it by the ear for Verona.

Bhavana

Hi everyone...do you think this property:

http://www.ipianelli.com/

is a good place to stay to cover the florence leg of the itenerary.

Has anyone stayed at this property? Or else could you suggest similar villa type rustic stay near florence/sienna to make as our base

We have read that driving in AC is not recommended, is driving around florence and sienna ok?

crazyfamilyof4

Sounds exciting! We are also planning on going over this year but not until July! We really wanted to do South Italy but as we are travelling with a 2yr old and 4 yr old we have taken it out and those days into Siena, We are going to stay in this area in a villa with a pool for 5days.

Since you are not in Rome that long and it is an amazing city (we have been 2 times before) I will share what we are going to do on our trips. On the day we arrive we are going to catch the hop on hop off bus tour straight away and just do the circuit and then map out what we want to do the next day. Then we will get off and grab some tea and then head back to our room etc I know it is more expensive and the travel/train systems are great but since time was an issue we just feel this would be a novelty for the kids and would allow us to get our bearings etc.

We are basically going to do this everywhere Just seems to make sense to us!

Look forward to hearing how you go and where you end up staying etc! This forum is amazing and has so far helped us sooooo much!

Can I just say we LOVED Rome! There is ALOT to do there! We have chosen Varenna as we could get better bang for our buck . . .the apartment is situated on the lake with a small garden for the kids for around 200 euros a night.

Good Luck!

Bhavana

hey...i know am reallyyy excited...and planning is half the fun (though overwhelming at times!)

Could you share with me your intel on the villa in siena and hotel in Rome and varenna.

On second thoughts I was also thinking that when I set up base in Sorrento, 2 days out of 4 I am in AC...so would it be better to move the base to AC and do day trip to Pisa and sorrento from there?