We are planning a 10yr anniversary trip for early next year. We don't want to scrimp on comfort, and are pretty much willing to splurge to go upscale all the way. Can you pls comment on our proposed itinerary, and give me your best suggestion for a hotel in each place? We are into museums, window shopping, food and wine...not too much for hiking, biking, etc. We have only been to Florence, Rome & the Amalfi Coast, so this itinerary will be completely new for us. We are flexible on times (willing to go at a less popular time thinking it might be cheaper), but are thinking March/April. Please give thoughts, travel experts!! Thanks in advance!!

3 days Venice
3 days Lake Garda or Lake Como areas
3 days Bologna (hitting Modena, Parma, Ferrara or Ravenna during those days)
2 days Italian Rivera (Genoa/Portfino)
2 days Cinque Terre

Does this seem insane? Should we cut out either CT or Italian Riviera? Also, my husband will go crazy in a place where all we can do is sit and relax...we like to be on the go (but at the same time, feel like we're losing a lot time traveling in between these places). Thanks again for advice!

If you are willing to splurge and like wine, you might check out Punta S. Virgilio on Lago di Garda and enjoy the view plus the wines of the Veneto. That said, the view from Bellagio in Lago di Como is one of the finest in Europe. The food is just nothing to shout about.

But given your interests and the time of year, I would almost suggest you skip the lakes and concentrate on Emilia-Romagna. You'll have a fabulous time and eat like royalty.

I think March is too early for the lakes for sure, and a bit early for Emilia-Romagna.

I live in Liguria. It is all about hiking and seafood outside of Genova. Fascinating art and culture, great food, and wonderful shopping in Genova, but a gritty, odd town. If you're up for it, go for it, but don't think it will be picturesque.

Portofino can be really nice -- or really awful when the tourists stampede in off the tour boats, which is constant. I've never stayed at the Splendido, but it might be amusing. I wouldn't expect good food in Portofino. Too touristy.

If you're not into hiking, I don't know why you're going to Cinque Terre! Just take a car to Portofino. Drive to Levanto on a sunny day. Take the 5-minute train to Cinque Terre. Look at it. Maybe drive on to Portovenere. Drive home.

I think maybe I'd do this on my next anniversary:

4 nights Venice (with beginning 2 at Locanda Cipriani on Torcello for me! )

Pick up a car, stay in someplace fab in the rural Emilia-Romagna near Bologna for 7 nights -- some gourmet agriturismo -- and do day trips to Parma, Ferrara, Bologna, Modena, Ravenna and Cremona for lunches.

Then 3 days Portofino in the Splendido -- although in reality, I'd go to Camogli or Portovenere, most likely, just to avoid those tourists off the cruise ships.

fly out of Genova to London to US

Good start, but we need more input:
1. Is a car an option?
2. You need to pin down when---the lakes before May can be quite iffy.
3. be specific on hotel budget--is it 300E or 600E
4. Where can you depart Italy---Pisa, Milan??
I would pick one location on the coast---especially that early.

Ok - sorry for lack of detail...we'd rather stick to trains, not rent a car. What is the absolute earliest you'd visit the lakes? We'd ideally like to stay right around 600USD/night, but maybe that doesn't get much anymore...We are completely flexible on arrival/departure points depending on which order everyone would recommend hitting the destinations. Thanks again!!

If you don't want to rent a car, you don't want to go to Portofino. Stick to the train line. Rapallo has luxury hotels. Camogli has 4*star.

Without a car, Bologna is probably the smartest base and maybe you can find an oasis of a hotel. Otherwise, probably Ferrara.

I wouldn't go to Lago di Garda without a car.

If you are keen on seeing the view in Bellagio, there is a legendary gourment hotel in Cernobbio nor far from the town of Como, which is reachable by train. I forget the name of the hotel, I've never stayed there, but if you get a nice day, you can zip up to Bellagio on the ferry and have lunch. Otherwise, you can go window shopping in Milano.

Thanks, Zeppole! My husband's a wine lover...are we making a mistake not stopping in Piedmont...or will we be fine in E-R on both the food & wine front? I am looking for a day cooking class while there, and I'd like to find him something for wine lovers he can do while I'm learning to make pasta & bolognese...

Zeppole - do you think it's Villa d'Este (the hotel near Como you say is stuff of legend)? I have heard of that before, but wasn't sure if that was it...

PS Zonagirl,

You say your husband doesn't like to just sit around, but there is little else to do in Liguria or the lakes, even more so if you get socked in with rain and have no car.

You really could have a fantastic trip without a car in Emilia-Romagna. Basing yourself in Bologna, you can even repay a visit to Firenze in 45 minutes, or Prato -- where nobody goes and probably should. Faenza? Do you like ceramics? Even Verona is doable.

Sorry -- our posts crossed.

I was thinking of Villa d'Este.

If I were you, I'd swap out Liguria for Peimonte in a heartbeat, given your husband's interests.

Torino is going to be chilly, and definitely, wait until April. But if you like museums, food and window shopping -- beleive me! There is no better destination that Torino, and there are some lovely old piles of hotels there -- or something very modern if you like. It would make a great destination.

Without a car, I don't how much you can burrow into Piemonte countryside. I just don't know. But you might feel Emilia-Romagna plus Torino is a great trip. I would.

I think food in Venice is marginal, and I don't particularly like the food of the Veneto, but the wine is nice! I can't stand all the tourists in Venice, but if you want to see it, go for it.

But for me? I'd get off the plane in Milano, spend a night or two eating, head to Bologna, spend lots of days eating and sighsteeing, get myself over to Torino, eat go to museums like crazy, and go back to Milano and home.

PS: By going to Bologna I meant basing yourselves there for day trips to the big ticket art towns.

oh -- and one more thing: Emilia-Romagna wines have a bad rep. Liguria is much worse though.

What great advice! I had thought of Torino, but had read an expose in Vanity Fair on one of the Fiat heirs awhile back, and it made the city sound rather seedy. But, of course, VF could probably could make Disneyland sound seedy...so I will take your advice and put this on the table w/ him. Everyone seemed to be kind of down on Milano in the posts (shopper's paradise, but devoid of charm is how I read them), so I was rather gun shy. I will check out Prato & Verona, too, on your suggestion...Thank you, thank you!

No, no, no. They spruced it up for the winter olympics a few years back. The Milanese are green with envy about how stylish the place is. Look, if you start reading up on Italian heirs and politicians, you'll never go to Italy!

Torino is the home of the Slow Food movement, and EATaly. And everything delicious thing can get in Piemonte, you can get in Torino.

Check out this website for hotels and check out the museum listings. It's a great town for museums and window shopping.

http://www.extratorino.it/ENG/index.php

Regarding Milano: It is rather charmless, unless you enjoy hanging out with models and people in suits having a great time eating and drinking. You really don't need to linger there. There is bus that goes straight from Malpensa to Torino, or Bologna. There are trains too.

But if you do like beautiful people, men strolling arm in arm in great fitting expensive suits, elegant cafes, wonderful shops and some culture thrown in, then Milan is actually quite charming.

gruezi

Thank you all for your great advice and suggestions...

Absoutely visit Piedmont! Not wanting to use a car will mean missing some of the wonderful rolling hills and roads through the vineyards but it is still possible to take in some highlights by train.

Turin has been mentioned and is certainly one of Italy's best kept city secrets. Food is outstanding as is the wine and of course it is the home of chocolate!

As you are travelling by train - consider Alba, home of the white truffle and very much a "wine town" in close proximity to the famous villages of Barolo and Barbaresco. It is also possible to take a train from Alba to Alessandria - a route that winds its way through a great cross section of our hills and vines.

Your budget will go a long way in this area where overpriced tourist resourts just do not exisit.

After years of avoiding Milan on trips to Italy, we visited last year (DH had a business meeting there). I was VERY pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the city. I found it mostly full of regular people, dressed in regular clothes, and many students, all about their daily lives. In addition to the Last Supper, the art museums of Pinacoteca Ambrosiana and Pinocateca di Brera were interesting, had world-class pieces, and the Ambrosiana was located in a beautiful building, as well. The sculpture museum in the Castello Sforzesco has an unfinished Michelangelo (I mentioned those because you said you like art.)

In contrast, Turin did not click with us. I found it too large and imposing for me (but it makes sense for a city that was a capital of large parts of what is now Italy), and the piazzas, while good for people-watching, were also like sitting in a big auditorium, rather than a cozy meeting place. We visited various castles and churches here, but no museums.

If your husband is a big wine lover, I would really, really urge you to reconsider not renting a car. The Piedmont area of Italy is gorgeous, and has fabulous food and even better wine, as I'm sure your husband knows. A trip to Bologna and the Piedmont would be a heavenly combination for food and wine lovers.

Lexma-

I had the exact same reaction to Milan. Much better than I expected and I do want to return.

I don't know where you're from, but I found the majority of non-tourists really exquisitely dressed - not ordinary for where I come from in the US at any rate and much better than here in Zurich where I live now. Also, I kept wondering if anyone works there! Perhaps the lunch hour is very long.

Anyway, I very much enjoyed the city and the people watching and the pretty shops and cafes.

gruezi