travela

Just wondering which is a better idea?

2 nights in Florence and 3 nights in Bellagio OR

3 nights in Florence and 2 nights in Bellagio.

Either way, we would do a day trip to Sienna and Tuscany.

msteacher

Depends. What time of year are you going? If during the heat of the summer, then more time enjoying Lake Como's cooler temperatures might be preferable. What do you enjoy doing? Florence in general has more "sights" while Bellagio is more about slowing down and relaxing. Also consider how much actual time you will have to really enjoy each location. It will take about half a day to travel between the two. And will your day trip to Siena eat up one of your Florence days, or is that an additional day? If this is part of a larger trip, it may be helpful to post the entire itinerary.

travela

Hi, thanks for replying msteacher

Hi, I was wondering if I could have thoughts on this intinerary (whether we are staying at certain cities long enough, if there is too much training etc). It will be myself, my wife and our baby who will be 18 months at the time of travel.

April 20th: Arrive in Venice
April 20th-23rd: Stay in Bassano Del Grappa (Day trips to neighboring towns and Venice)
April 24th: Train to Bari
April 25th: Bari
April 26th: Bari (10PM Ferry to Dubrovnik)
April 27th-May 1st (Dubrovnik for 4 nights) Day trips from here to Bosnia and Montenegro and Korcula Island.
May 2-5: Split (Day trip to Hvar)
May 5: Ferry from Split arrives in Ancona Italy. Train to Bologna
May 5-7: florence?
May 7-10: Stay in Bellagio on Lake Como for 3 nights. Ferry trips to surrounding towns
May 11: Fly Home

The only reason we are in Bari and Bassano so long is because we have family there and free accomodation. Bassano will be a base and Bari is a point of transit for Dubrovnik.

Personal opinions would be great. We aren't big into museums, mostly will be interested in beautiful scenery, architecture, urban planning and food.

Ackislander

If you aren't into museums, skip Florence all together and stay somewhere more scenic -- Siena, Pienza, etc. Florence is hot, crowded, and expensive though insanely "wort it" for the artistic and architectural treasures.

If you like urban planning -- my daughter is an urban planner, so I get it -- Pienza was a planned town about 1500 that is holding up well. San Gimignano and Monteriggione are also extremely interesting.

msteacher

Well, that is certainly an awful lot of moving around with a baby in tow. Your journey on May 5 seems particularly arduous. I wonder if you might be able to find a flight from Split to Florence or Milan?

Since you are doing quite a bit of traveling already, I would suggest choosing just one location for the whole last part of the trip (May 5-10). Either Bellagio or Florence (or somewhere else as Ackislander suggests) would work well, depending on your interests. I am guessing that both you and baby are going to be quite travel weary by that point in the trip, so settling in to one location for five nights will be a peaceful way to end your trip.

bobthenavigator

Far too much travel---you will be exhausted.

dwdvagamundo

To answer the original question, three nites Florence. Florence has great architecture among other things.

To answer the second, yes--too much moving around for such a short trip and with a little one.

msteacher

On further thought, you could probably more easily fly from Dubrovnik to northern Italy. I'd suggest skipping Split, and adding those days elsewhere in your trip giving you more time in some of your destinations. I took that ferry from Split a number of years ago, and don't remember it as particularly pleasant, especially with a baby. Perhaps it's improved since then, but if you then add a train journey, it seems like a very long day.