rickmav

We are planning our first - and possibly - only trip to Italy, probably in 2006, maybe 2005 if we aren't too late. Would very much welcome any comments on itinerary and answers to our initial questions.

- Fly in to Venice from London. Stay 3 nights.
- Train to Verona, overnite.
- Train/bus (?) to Lake District - still deciding where to stay for 3/4 nights.
- Train to Florence. Stay 3 nights.
- Pick up rental car, wander about Tuscany/Umbria for week.
- Return car to Florence, train to Rome, stay 3 nights.
- Train to Sorrento.
- Rent villa - somewhere on coast for week.
- Train to Rome.
- Flight to London.

At this point planning on travelling in March. Hate crowds. Don't mind some cold or rain. We both want to soak up as much 'atmosphere' as possible, eat great food, walk, watch people, just enjoy ourselves. Plan on visiting main museum spots in each location but not big on lots of Italian art and being inside. Late 40s/early 50s. Not sun worshippers. Experienced travellers (in other parts of Europe), pack light.

Are we making any mistakes that you can see at this early stage?
Will there any problems flying in to Venice and out of Rome from London?
Is car necessary in Lake District?
Is is easy/hard/incredibly expensive to rent car for portion of week?

Thanks very much for any advice you can give.

nytraveler

I wouldn't recommend a week on the Amalfi coast in March. It's going to be awfully chilly to do a lot of the things that you would want to do there - and I'm not sure how often the various ferries/hydrofoils run at that time of year.

bobthenavigator

You have an outline here for a nearly perfect trip with one big exception--March. You can enjoy most of Italy in March--I have twice in my 12 trips--but you do not want to spend time at the Lakes then--and I LOVE the lakes. The Amalfi coast is not ideal in March but still not bad--much better than the lakes. I would consider Taormina, Sicily as an addition if you drop the Lakes and spend only 4 nites at AC.

So, my best advice is to move it up until after Easter--even better in May. And, go to slowtrav.com for tons of good input on planning your trip and also about rentals. Good luck !

Jean

It sounds like heaven...

Only one problem I see: March. Most of the Lake District (exception: city of Como) and Sorrento/Amalfitano will still be "closed" for the winter season. This is less a problem in the south, but a villa rental there might be hard to find. You might not ever make it to Capri because the ferries don't operate in rough seas, but nevertheless there's Pompei, Naples, Paestum and the beauty of the views. People watching will be somewhat limited, and many restaurants will not be open.

I'd leave the Lake District out of this trip altogether, reduce the time in the Sorrento area and add the days to Florence and especially Rome.

rickmav

Thanks nytraveler. At this point, since we have nothing booked, we're pretty flexible. Would a visit in Nov. be better? As you can see we are really trying to avoid the crowds. When is the best time to do that and still enjoy amenities? We're from Canada so don't mind a bit of cold weather, but stuck in our hotel room because nothing is open would be pretty dumb. Thanks.

rickmav

And thanks Bob, I was posting while you were. Looks like March has to be out.

Mthomp77

Does sound like a fantastic trip! We just returned from a month in Europe, including time in Venice, Florence/Pisa, and Verona. Verona is only a two hour trip from Venice, so no need to overnight.

Shouldn't have any problems with the air part, except the possibility of flying into Heathrow and out of Gatwick to Venice as we did. We made it easy by just taking Speedlink (bus) to Gatwick and overnighting there so we could arrive Venice during the day instead of the evening.

As others have said, I'd recommend going in May as there are still no crowds and the weather is definitely better.

ira

Hi rick,

We were on the AC the first week in Oct. Weather was warm and pleasant.

We had rain the first and last days.

mamc

We have been in May, late September and October. Each time we had wonderful weather and there were no crowds to speak of. It looks like your itinerary is nearly a month long. You have plenty of time to plan a great trip from late September to late October for 2004 or late April to late May 2005. Both are ideal times to go.

rickmav

Thanks so much for all of your help. That's why this site is so great. We will be readjusting to late April-late May or late Sept-late Oct.

Mthomp77 thanks for info. on flights and Verona. We thought about staying overnight because some earlier posts said how lovely it was in the evening. Perhaps it may be something we drop if we run out of time.

Thanks ira and marnc for Oct. info. If we went then we could probably go in 2005 - hurrah!

I'll be back with more questions once we get to the next stage after having read all the advice here on Italy. I love this planning part, it's like I get to go on a holiday twice!