lib1006

We are starting to plan a trip to Italy this summer. Have never been there; don't know where to even start. Would like to go 10-12 days, and would like to visit Rome, Tuscany, Cinque Terre and Florence. Any advice on itinerary &/or places to stay? Thanks.

Calabria62

You can start by deciding what you want to accomplish with this trip. Decide what your priorities are...art, history, geography,
being outdoors??? What are the 3 teens interested in? 10-12 days is not a long time, so I think deciding what you want to see and do will determine your itinerary. There are so many guidebooks & forums to learn from, once you narrow your focus a bit. BTW, it's always fun to read some historical novels prior to the trip to add some context to the place you are visiting.

cometstar

I did this a few years ago with my family, 2 teenagers and about 11 days. We started in Rome for about 3 days, then rented a car and made a loop south to thr Amalfi Coast and Sorrento and Pompeii then up North. We were flexible and did not have hotels booked in advance for most places (just day before) so we were able to fit in one night in Venice, before moving on towards Florence. We stayed in Siena for a night and made a day trip to Pisa while we stayed in Florence. Then we headed back to Rome for another day before our flight back.

neckervd

A somewhat decent visit of Rome and Florence will take a whole week. I would spend the remaining 4 days in the countryside, but not necessarily in crowded 5Terre. May be you check the Islands: Giglio, Elba, Ponza, Ventotene or the Etruscan places of Tarquinia and Chiusi.

Ackislander

Roman stuff is just generally interesting. Art may or may not be, so I would save most of the museums for another trip. Ditto churches with a couple of exceptions below.

Siena and Venice are just overwhelming as places, and I would include them. Neither is going to be anything like anywhere they have been before, so they will remember them. Siena also has the head of St Catherine on display in the cathedral. Orvieto sits on a cliff, and you have to ride up a funicular to get there: memorable.

So I would fly into Rome and see the usual things, Forum, Colosseum, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, including St Peter's and the Jesuit Church, Il Gesu, for its amazing ceiling. Then I would go by train to Orvieto and spend a night before going on to Florence. I would get tickets to the Accademia so they can see the David. Memorable. Spend a day walking around, then maybe a day trip to Pisa and a day trip to Siena.

Then I would take the train to Venice for as long as you can manage, and fly home from there. You can take an easy day trip from there to Verona by train or you can find a bus tour for the day up into the mountains.

If you have girls, they will love street style and window shopping. Boys will like looking at the cute girls. Everyone will like eating gelato.

bobthenavigator

First, decide how many nights you will sleep in Italy--is it 8 or 12? That will determine your feasible options.

Then pick a time of year. Lastly, pick a budget range for accommodations. After all that, come back for real help based on real facts.

Mimar

And plan on doing an open-jaws flight, say into Venice, out of Rome. Such a ticket (multi-city on airline websites) should cost about the same as round-trip and save you the time and money spent backtracking.

You didn't mention Venice, but it's one place your kids would love. Much more than Florence unless they're fans of Italian renaissance art and architecture. Venice has no streets, no cars and trucks, just canals with water buses, water taxis, water garbage scows, etc. Unfortunately Venice gets very crowded in the summer. (So does Florence; both are relatively small cities.) Be sure to stay in Venice proper to enjoy the quiet hours in the evening and morning before the daytrippers arrive.

And Venice is a good place to start your trip, easing you into the Italian culture. If you arrive after a long overnight flight, you can wander around Venice in a jet-lagged daze, getting lost. This is appropriate sight-seeing in Venice, saving the cacaphony of Rome till the end.

Generally you can get around in Italy using trains. Trains or boats are a must for the Cinque Terre because there is no road between the 5 towns. And you don't want a car inside any Italian city. Parking is hard to find, expensive and inconvenient. Trains take you city center to city center.

But if you want to stay in the Tuscan countryside and visit little hilltowns, a car is best for that part of your trip.

Unless you want to rush madly between sights, 10-12 days are not very many. It usually takes a day or 2 to get over jet-lag, so add time fr that at your first stop. I'd suggest limiting yourselves to 3 or 4 stops. The more you research, the more places you will want to go. Resist! The more places you go, the less you (and the kids) will remember. Or you'll just remember time in transit, not the sights you went to see.

laneydos

cometstar- Do you mind sharing around about amount that you spent? I'm wanting to plan something similar to what you did. Thanks