1st Trip to Italy -14 days, please critique.
 

We are looking to redeem our FF pts for a 14-days trip to Italy in June. We're pretty active and used to be on the go during our trips. We're in our early 30's, love cultures, some museums, dining, enjoy wines (we thought about spending some time in Chianti region, but don't think we can fit that in this trip), and really want to just wander and stroll around. We got married this past August, and could only fit a mini-moon (5 days trip) to Napa, so we wanted this trip to be pretty special.

We have some flexibility (in vac days available), but not too much (the open jaw option for example, is only available into Rome, out from Milan, instead of Venice). So we drafted a rought itinerary of how we think we'd like to spend our 2-wks. Please let me know if you can think of a better way to structure our trips so we can save some time. We're also not too sure about Florence, I heard it's pretty touristy, but I guess every big city in Europe would be crowded in the summer. We've been to Europe several times for pleasure and business, but not to Italy. Thanks in advance for your help.

Day 0 -Arrive in Rome in AM.
Day 1 -Rome
Day 2 -Rome
Day 3 -Rome
Day 4 - Train to Florence in the PM (5.5 hrs)
Day 5- Florence
Day 6- Florence (Day trip to Sienna)
Day 7- Florence
Day 8 -Train to Bologna in AM (1.5 hrs)
Day 9- Bologna. PM train to Venice (2 hrs)
Day 10-Venice
Day 11- Venice
Day 12 -Train to Milan in AM (4 hrs)
Day 13- Milan
Day 14 -Fly back in AM to Detroit.

You really have 12 nites in Italy---you should have a max of 4 destinations--3 is better. I would skip Bologna and add that time to Venice. BTW, the train to Florence takes 1:42.
Rome--4
Florence-3[day trip Siena]
Venice--3
Milan--2
That will be a full agenda.

I would have a stay over night in Bologna h2babe. I love Bologna and needless to say the food there also. It would make a nice break after Florence as Bologna is more relaxing. I like Milan too but I wouldn't trade a night in Bologna for an extra night in Milan.

BTW, here is the website for the Malpensa Shuttle Bus that you can take from the central train station in Milan to the Malpensa airport.

http://www.malpensashuttle.it/e-default.htm

If you're planning a sampler of Italy, you're doing a fairly good job. You could expand your time in all of these areas, but I understand that you're wanting to sample a number of locations.

However, you do short both Milan and Bologna. I would suggest that you add a day to Bologna and subtract a day from Milan, leaving Milan to a later trip (although you might be able to fit in "The Last Supper" on the afternoon you arrive). Bologna gets overlooked by many travelers to Italy, but it's a fascinating city with many rewarding historical sites, and perhaps better for strolling around (especially the medieval heart of the town) than Milan. It's also the self-proclaimed food capital of Italy (although I am sure other regions would claim the title), and there are numerous small trattorias serving excellent food, Having Europe's oldest university (at least in terms of continuous granting of degrees) also contributes to the character of the city; it's made for a collision of thinking styles. Bologna was a center of the resistance in WWII, and one of the civic buildings (the city hall I believe) has a wall covered with photographs of those who died as resistance fighters in WWII.

BTW, the Hotel Novecento, in the heart of the old town, is a great place to base your operations (and they serve cheese and prosecco about four each afternoon).

Hi h2,

It's only about 1:30 hr btwn Rome and Florence on the ES* or AV train.

Look for Amica fares at
www.trenitalia.com/en/index,html

Can you fly into Venice and out of Rome on your FF fare? That's my preferred option.

Are you sure that you want to overnight in Bologna? It's an easy day trip from Florence.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

As others have mentioned, you can leave much later from Rome - trains to Florence take only about 1:33 hr or so.

Instead of packing and unpacking one more time, make a daytrip to Bologna while based in Florence but don’t check into a hotel - sleep that night in Florence.

If you feel you have not seen enough of Bologna, then break your journey in Bologna on the way to Venice for one more look.

At the Bologna Centrale station, leave your bags with the Deposito Bagagli (luggage check) service and venture out.

Book your trains accordingly so that you have seat reservations (mandatory) on both legs, Florence to Bologna Centrale, and later Bologna Centrale to Venice Santa Lucia. You can do that in advance in Florence.

I'm not sure where Bob gets 12 nights. I count 14, if your Day 0 is a night in Rome, which it seems to be. I actually don't think this is a bad itinerary. It's a bit more rushed than I would want, but a lot less rushed than a lot of proposed itineraries we see here.

If you leave Florence early, you have the better part of 2 days in Bologna. I would probably take a day from Milan and add it to Venice.

Don't skip a place because you've heard it's touristy. The reason so many tourists go to these places is because there are so many great things to see and do and eat!

Hello everyone, thanks so much for the replies! Bob, thanks for pointing out the travel time from Rome to Florence, DH was supposed to look it up and that was the time he gave me :-) Thanks Ira for the website, and loveitaly for the shuttle website, they are now bookmarked.

We couldn't fly into Venice, then depart out of Rome, somehow they didn't have the perksaver that we had points for. We booked them last weekend and were surprised they even had the schedule that would work in June!!

I think the main reason that we wanted to spend some time in Bologna was because it's a gastronomic capital of Italy. Originally, we were going to focus on Rome, Florence and Venice (the common route for first timers like ourselves). I'm also aware that this is pretty rushed, but it's really tough for us to take more than two consecutive weeks off work.

We're going to continue our research and try to readjust our itinerary as we find out more info, keep the suggestions coming.

So, how many nites will you sleep in Italy? You arrive the next day on your way over.

I think we have 14 nights and 15 days, if I counted my days correctly. Leaving June 10 evening, and departing Milan on June 25 in the morning.

Hello again h2babe, may I suggest if you truly want to stay overnight in Bologna I would reserve a hotel room there ASAP as Bologna often has many trades shows and it can be quite impossible at those times to obtain a room. Best regards.

Hi Loveitaly, thanks. Do you have a recommendation? We've been browsing the internet tonight trying to secure hotels. We requested reservations at a couple of hotels in Florence and Venice tonight, so hopefully we'll hear something back in a few days. We still need to find one in Rome, Bologna, and Milan.

Hello h2babe, assuming you are coming from the US on an overnight flight you counted correctly and you will have 14 nights in Italy.

h2babe, due to always running into problems due to trade shows I have never stayed over night in Bologna although I have had long days visiting there. That is why I suggested if you do want to overnight in Bologna make your hotel reservation ASAP. Because of where I usually stay in my case Bologna is reachable for the day. I am not the most organized person regarding planning trips in advance, lol.

Hi h2,

You might find my trip report useful:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34451044

((I))

I may be the only one to suggest this, but since you seemed iffy on Florence to begin with, and you like wine & food (thus Bologna, right?), what about ditching Florence to stay in one of the smaller towns of Tuscany or Chianti? I don't know if you ONLY want to do the train, but renting a car for 3 or 4 days in Tuscany would be, for me, a great way to add a little something to all the bigger cities you are seeing. We spent 2 nights in Pienza last year and 2 in Lucca. I preferred these towns and the touring around Pienza (Montepulciano, Montalcino, Val d'Orcia) to Florence and even to Siena. I always have to add that we visited Florence in July and it WAS very crowded and very hot. I hope to return at another time when I might appreciate it more.

Hello again everyone, thanks for the thoughts and suggestions. Still working on the accomodations. Ira, I reviewed your trip report and took your recommendation (and booked the B&B Peterson-great find!). We're still trying to finalize our itinerary. We know for sure that we have to fly into Rome and out from Milan, and we have flexibility in the middle.

My DH is still not convinced that he wants to drive in the Tuscany region. But yea, in our travels in the past, I have ended up favoring the smaller towns, so we're debating that right now.

Looks pretty good but I personally would cross off either Bologna or Milan and spend more time in one of those two cities.

Never ever could I possibly recommend that you skip Florence!!!!

Thanks Carol, we'll keep that in mind ;)