familythattravels

Planning a trip to Italy this June and looking for suggestions/thoughts on itinerary. We are flying into Venice and staying for 3 nights. Then 2 nights in Florence, followed by 2 nights in Lucca (day trip to Pisa), then 3 nights in Riomaggiore (not our first choice but the dates work) Then we have a 3 nights (not planned yet) before we head to Rome for a few days before coming home. Suggestions for this leg? My husband speaks fluent Italian so we are in great shape to communicate with the locals so places not typically visited are fine.I will likely start a new thread to address this topic. Thanks!

familythattravels

Ignore the last line this is the new thread

Dayle

I would highly recommend not adding another destination on this very fast moving trip. Take those 3 days and add 1 to Venice definitely. I think you will be surprised how much there I'd to do and see in Venice and I think your kids will love the city. Plus you will be a bit jet lagged that first day, so add one day!

You could easily add another day to most of your other destinations, but maybe not Riomaggiore.

Alternate choices would be to head south if you all have an interest in visiting Pompei/Herculaneum and the Archeological Museum in Naples.

Or, move to another destination in either Tuscany, Umbria or Le Marche. You don't say if you are renting a car, but if you choose any of these three areas you will need one.

familythattravels

Thanks Dayle for your suggestions. At the moment we are keeping the 3 nights in Venice and then on to 4 nights in Florence (instead of spending 2 nights each in two different locations) followed by 3 nights in Cinque Terre and then the to be determined location for 5 nights before finishing up in Rome. We know it is an aggressive schedule. Pompei is something we could be interested in will run that by my husband. Thanks!

Dayle

Ok the nights you say you have planned in each place now work better. People say Lucca is an easy trip from Florence. You could also easily see Pisa on your way to the Cinque Terre. You usually have to change trains in Pisa anyway and you can check your luggage at the station.

We stopped in Pisa for 3 hrs, walked to the duomo ( which is really beautiful),saw the Tower (at the time not open to climb), took the required cheesy pics, and walked back to the station.

We spent 3 nights in Santa Magherita Ligure and loved it. Did our hiking starting in Riomaggiore and through Vernazza. If you are going to hike, star early, it gets hot.

Burn viaggio!

bvlenci

It would take seven hours to get from Riomaggiore to Naples, and another hour to get to Pompeii. Not only that, but you mentioned possibly visiting "places less typically visited", and so far your itinerary has only a list of extraordinarily popular (and crowded) tourist destinations.

Le Marche and most of Umbria would be rather out of your way, especially if you won't have a car.

I would suggest maybe Parma, Genova, Torino, or Milan, depending on your interests. You can get to all of them with just one change of train, and in less than half a day.

russ_in_LA

In your place I'd probably explore southern Tuscany or Umbria by car for the last 5 days. You can take the train from Riomaggiore to Arezzo in about 4 hours. From there you could pick up a car and either go south to Cortona, Montepulciano, Montalcino, Pienza and east to Siena; or if you have explored that area, then base yourself near Perugia to explore Gubbio, Perugia, Assisi, Spoleto, Todi and Orvieto. We have done both itineraries and found them each to be very rewarding - but only if you like history, dramatically situated hilltop towns, landscapes, art and food ;-)

This also puts you more than half way to Rome when you are ready to move on. I'd suggest dropping the car at Orvieto on the last day and taking the train into Rome. Have fun!

sandralist

If Riomaggiore was not your first choice, what was?

Since your husband speaks fluent Italian, why not get off the beaten track? Italy is relentlessly beautiful and interesting, and with 3 days, you could have a blast tossing away the guidebook and heading out on your own. You can have a lot more adventure if you rent a car, but you can also take fascinating train trips, slow or fast.

Do you want a "base" or a city for 3 days, or might you like to road trip? What are you looking for in Italy? Romance? History? Summer fun? Small towns? Nightlife?

familythattravels

Sandralist - Thanks - we will do some train and some car travel...we are going to rent a car probably after Cinque Terre and meander south until we get to Rome. Since this is a lot of travel we prefer to stay in each spot 3 nights or more so we don't exhaust ourselves but also see as much as possible. The kids and I have been to Italy before but they were very young and don't remember much so this will feel like a first time for them. My husband really wants to see Cinque Terre it's one of the few places he hasn't been to in Italy. He has family near Florence so that is a must stop destination. So basically we are looking for a good sampling of Italy - natural beauty, history, family time.

Russ - I will look into your suggestions. Thank you!

bvlenci - Prefer other destinations over Torino (husband worked there so we have explored it) and Milan.....family is luring us to Florence so that is a required stop (Oh and it's gorgeous). Husband thinks we will melt in Pompeii and become part of it's history so that is not likely I will further explore the road trip suggestions to get us further south. Thanks.

sandralist

Were it me with kids in June, I might consider the Maremma area, near the beaches and islands of Orbetello. Read Emiko Davies blog on the area. She lives there, but used to live in Florence (and continues to blog about it)

http://www.emikodavies.com/tag/maremma/

familythattravels

Thanks for sharing that link sandralist more research now Looks inviting and delicious!