1st trip to Italy-2 weeks to plan-help?
Jun 3rd, 2008, 11:59 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
1st trip to Italy-2 weeks to plan-help?
My wife and I are planning 2 weeks in Italy beginning around July 1st-I'm thinking Naples and then north-I'm reading Bologna shouldn't be missed. Car or train? Arriving Rome and leaving from Milan or vice versa? It is our 1st visit and we would appreciate any help. We are in our active 50's and enjoy food, wine, beach and neat stuff-thanks for your help...Kevin
Jun 3rd, 2008, 12:14 PM
#2
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 10,253
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Can you explain 'neat stuff' better? For some, neat stuff might be visiting every church in every town along the way. For others it might be museums, shopping, mountain climbing. Knowing this will help us decide what is 'not to be missed' for you.
You idea to fly into one city and out of another is a good idea. If you are from the US, there are a few direct international flights to Venice and Pisa as well as many to Rome and Milan. You can also connect through other European cities (London, Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid . . .) for flights to Venice, Pisa, Bologna, Florence, and Naples.
You idea to fly into one city and out of another is a good idea. If you are from the US, there are a few direct international flights to Venice and Pisa as well as many to Rome and Milan. You can also connect through other European cities (London, Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid . . .) for flights to Venice, Pisa, Bologna, Florence, and Naples.
Jun 3rd, 2008, 12:50 PM
#3
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 148
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I would skip Naples.
Fly into Rome and out of Venice.
I would take a train from Rome to LaSpecia an see the five cities of Cinque Terre then take a train to Venice.
You can also stay in one of the five cities but a little more pricey.
If you decide to go to Venice a good B&B is Corte Campana
easy to get to the websight has great picture directions on how to get to it which is very helpful in that city.
Driving in Italy can be really crazy,I have been several times an i am going again in Oct,an yes i am driving i am doing the southern tip this time so driving shouldn't be as bad as some places i have driven in Italy.
It's a wonderful country you will love it.
Fly into Rome and out of Venice.
I would take a train from Rome to LaSpecia an see the five cities of Cinque Terre then take a train to Venice.
You can also stay in one of the five cities but a little more pricey.
If you decide to go to Venice a good B&B is Corte Campana
easy to get to the websight has great picture directions on how to get to it which is very helpful in that city.
Driving in Italy can be really crazy,I have been several times an i am going again in Oct,an yes i am driving i am doing the southern tip this time so driving shouldn't be as bad as some places i have driven in Italy.
It's a wonderful country you will love it.
Jun 3rd, 2008, 01:05 PM
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Neat stuff to us is getting local. We don't need all the pomp-see it and move on (note: Smithsonian in 1/2 day). Relaxing in the local life is more our style. Not to discount Rome, etc but hanging out in a neat towns or villages with the locals is high on our list. We don't want to miss the truely incredible stuff but we don't wear matching outfits. And I hear shorts are out...true?
Jun 3rd, 2008, 01:17 PM
#5
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 663
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Shorts are so tourist. Avoid them.
As for your interests it sounds like you want Tuscany or Umbria where there are many small places the you can hang out with the locals. I like Todi for example.
It is rather late however to be planning a July trip. You need to invest in a few guide books pronto.
As for your interests it sounds like you want Tuscany or Umbria where there are many small places the you can hang out with the locals. I like Todi for example.
It is rather late however to be planning a July trip. You need to invest in a few guide books pronto.
Jun 3rd, 2008, 01:54 PM
#6
hi rondvurat,
if you like things "local" a stay in an agritourismo [may be B & B or self/catering] in tuscany or umbria may be what you are after. or fly into Venice, tour the lakes, fly home from milan. the slow travel website may give you more ideas.
in July, I'd avoid big cities, especially Naples - they've got a bit problem there dealing with all the rubbish from the rest of Italy - it probably pongs a bit. Rome will also be very warm. probably.
but you'd better get on with it - most good places will have gone already.
good luck,
regards, ann
if you like things "local" a stay in an agritourismo [may be B & B or self/catering] in tuscany or umbria may be what you are after. or fly into Venice, tour the lakes, fly home from milan. the slow travel website may give you more ideas.
in July, I'd avoid big cities, especially Naples - they've got a bit problem there dealing with all the rubbish from the rest of Italy - it probably pongs a bit. Rome will also be very warm. probably.
but you'd better get on with it - most good places will have gone already.
good luck,
regards, ann
Jun 3rd, 2008, 02:00 PM
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks already-we're planning 2 weeks starting early July-you're right but it's so like us! What not to miss would be a good start and how much time to see a location, Rome for 3 days or? Travel by train? Or car? Fly into London and take train to Italy? Oh, so many questions!
Jun 3rd, 2008, 03:17 PM
#8
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 10,253
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for the extra info. If your vacation is in italy, then fly to Italy. No need to waste the time taking the train from London, unless you plan to visit there. (I mentioned London only to imply that you could get a connecting flight to Italy from there.)
Tuscany or Umbria might be good for you as others have mentioned.
Or your idea of Bologna is a good one as well. While Bologna is a city, it is less touristed than many and is considered to have some of the best food in all of Italy. It's also a major transit hub--many different train lines cross at Bologna, so it's a convenient place for taking day trips to other places, large and small, like Ravenna, Ferrara, Rimini (beach), Modena, Parma (food!), Florence, Verona, and many smaller places.
For a first visit, I wouldn't visit Rome for less than 4 nights, especially if you are flying in or out of Rome--your travel day is a bit of a waste.
In general, I like to stay in each place at least two nights, usually at least three and more. Every time you change locations, checking in and out of hotels, finding your way, dealing with transportation, eats up at least half a day. If a guidebook recommends 'it takes two days to see _____,' I tend to stay three days--or more. It gives you a chance to slow down, find the coffee bar or local restaurant where they recognize you on the second visit and give you a discount on the third, get to know the local dogs.
Depending on your choices, you could do it all by public trains or buses, or combined with car rental. It's up to you and your itinerary.
Tuscany or Umbria might be good for you as others have mentioned.
Or your idea of Bologna is a good one as well. While Bologna is a city, it is less touristed than many and is considered to have some of the best food in all of Italy. It's also a major transit hub--many different train lines cross at Bologna, so it's a convenient place for taking day trips to other places, large and small, like Ravenna, Ferrara, Rimini (beach), Modena, Parma (food!), Florence, Verona, and many smaller places.
For a first visit, I wouldn't visit Rome for less than 4 nights, especially if you are flying in or out of Rome--your travel day is a bit of a waste.
In general, I like to stay in each place at least two nights, usually at least three and more. Every time you change locations, checking in and out of hotels, finding your way, dealing with transportation, eats up at least half a day. If a guidebook recommends 'it takes two days to see _____,' I tend to stay three days--or more. It gives you a chance to slow down, find the coffee bar or local restaurant where they recognize you on the second visit and give you a discount on the third, get to know the local dogs.
Depending on your choices, you could do it all by public trains or buses, or combined with car rental. It's up to you and your itinerary.
Jun 3rd, 2008, 03:22 PM
#9
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,963
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Assuming 13 nights in Italy:
Fly into Venice, stay 3 nights.
Train to Bologna, stay 2 nights.
Rent a car when leaving Bologna and stay somewhere in Tuscany for 4 nights to visit towns and maybe a daytrip to Florence.
Drop the car in Orvieto, see the Duomo there and take the train to Rome.
Stay in Rome 4 nights and fly home from there.
Fly into Venice, stay 3 nights.
Train to Bologna, stay 2 nights.
Rent a car when leaving Bologna and stay somewhere in Tuscany for 4 nights to visit towns and maybe a daytrip to Florence.
Drop the car in Orvieto, see the Duomo there and take the train to Rome.
Stay in Rome 4 nights and fly home from there.
Jun 4th, 2008, 08:18 AM
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Update on plans: Fly into Milan, visit Milan and The Lakes area, train? to Italian Riviera, visit, down to Tuscany, visit, down to Rome, visit then fly home. 14-15 days total. Good plan? Ideas and thoughts? Thanks again for your responses. FYI, my wife has no interest in Venice... Kevin
Jun 4th, 2008, 11:35 AM
#11
Hi rondvurat,
ok, no Venice then [though it makes a great place to start as there are no cars and you'd have to have the hardest of hearts not to be moved by the beauty of its situation, especially at night].
Given your interests, I'd be thinking of the following [agreeing with ellenem that stays of less than 2 nights are to be avoided]
fly into milan, and make for your chosen lake/s. personally I'd choose just one, and stay 4 nights.
Drive to Bologna - stay 2 nights.
Drive to Tuscany - stay 5 nights.
Drive to Florence, return car [you won't need one here] and remain for rest of holiday - 3 nights.
IMO this gives you a good mix of town and countryside. you just don't have time to do everything else and Rome - leave it and the amalfi coast for another time.
IMO trying to cram more than 4 places into a fortnight is just a recipe for disaster - you'll go home needing another holiday.
good luck,
regards, ann
ok, no Venice then [though it makes a great place to start as there are no cars and you'd have to have the hardest of hearts not to be moved by the beauty of its situation, especially at night].
Given your interests, I'd be thinking of the following [agreeing with ellenem that stays of less than 2 nights are to be avoided]
fly into milan, and make for your chosen lake/s. personally I'd choose just one, and stay 4 nights.
Drive to Bologna - stay 2 nights.
Drive to Tuscany - stay 5 nights.
Drive to Florence, return car [you won't need one here] and remain for rest of holiday - 3 nights.
IMO this gives you a good mix of town and countryside. you just don't have time to do everything else and Rome - leave it and the amalfi coast for another time.
IMO trying to cram more than 4 places into a fortnight is just a recipe for disaster - you'll go home needing another holiday.
good luck,
regards, ann
Jun 4th, 2008, 12:26 PM
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thank you, Ann, for your response. Very helpful. We'll be flying in and out of Milan so your suggestion of skipping Rome works well. Should we spend that much time in The Lakes or shuffle more towards Tuscany? Any specific favorites of yours (or others out there)? WOW-lots to plan, but thank you again.
Regards to all, Kevin
Regards to all, Kevin
Jun 4th, 2008, 01:37 PM
#13
my pleasure, rondvurat,
as you are flying into and out of Milan, i might suggest missing out the lakes, and going for the cinque terre [or CT] instead.
i suggest that you get hold of at least one good map of Italy, and have a look at your possible route. www.via-michelin.com is excellent for route planning and working out driving times and distances.
looking at my [fairly small scale] map of northern italy, you could do a vey nice round trip from milan down to the CT, thence to florence, then return through the northern tuscan countryside. in 2 weeks, you could have 3 bases - one in the CT, then florence, then an agroturismo in teh hills.
alternatively, [and this is better from a car hire point of view as you couldn't pick up a car til you left florence] you could take teh train to Bologna, stay 2 nights, and then another train to Florence -stay 3 nights.
pick up a car, use to explore tuscany, [4 nights] then end with the CT - 4 nights. this leaves you with a final night near/in milan prior to your flight home.
as there are only two of you, in the countryside you could probably wing it with accommodations, even in July. but I would book asap in cities.
regards, ann
as you are flying into and out of Milan, i might suggest missing out the lakes, and going for the cinque terre [or CT] instead.
i suggest that you get hold of at least one good map of Italy, and have a look at your possible route. www.via-michelin.com is excellent for route planning and working out driving times and distances.
looking at my [fairly small scale] map of northern italy, you could do a vey nice round trip from milan down to the CT, thence to florence, then return through the northern tuscan countryside. in 2 weeks, you could have 3 bases - one in the CT, then florence, then an agroturismo in teh hills.
alternatively, [and this is better from a car hire point of view as you couldn't pick up a car til you left florence] you could take teh train to Bologna, stay 2 nights, and then another train to Florence -stay 3 nights.
pick up a car, use to explore tuscany, [4 nights] then end with the CT - 4 nights. this leaves you with a final night near/in milan prior to your flight home.
as there are only two of you, in the countryside you could probably wing it with accommodations, even in July. but I would book asap in cities.
regards, ann
Jun 4th, 2008, 04:32 PM
#14
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 100
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It would be a shame to miss Rome on your first trip to Italy. Here is a quote from From the introduction to The Smiles of Rome - A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers (Susan Cahill, ed.):
...Rome has the power to blow your mind and heart, delivering man, woman, and child from small mindedness, bestowing a much larger capacity for the beauty of the world than you started out with....it's the accumulation of pasts in Rome and one's consciousness of those layers - in the city and in one's self - that can make Rome a life-changing experience. Once Rome enters your consciousness, your perspective on human time may change, deepen, mellow....the whole city seems to pulsate with hidden presences, a register of the human psyche and of 28 centuries of history striated by horror, by thrilling legends, and anonymous kindness...Getting to know Rome, we come home to ourselves...
...Rome has the power to blow your mind and heart, delivering man, woman, and child from small mindedness, bestowing a much larger capacity for the beauty of the world than you started out with....it's the accumulation of pasts in Rome and one's consciousness of those layers - in the city and in one's self - that can make Rome a life-changing experience. Once Rome enters your consciousness, your perspective on human time may change, deepen, mellow....the whole city seems to pulsate with hidden presences, a register of the human psyche and of 28 centuries of history striated by horror, by thrilling legends, and anonymous kindness...Getting to know Rome, we come home to ourselves...
Jun 5th, 2008, 07:13 AM
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thank you Dickensdad for throwing the big curve ball! Much appreciated but 'what to do?' Rome puts rather alot more travel into the mix, yet I understand your point. As our flight to Milan isn't until July 8th we have a little more time to plan. Ann, you suggested the Cinque Terre-great suggestion! We may do lunch at Lake Como and head that way. Do you think we'll have trouble with lodging in CT? Again, thanks for all your help...Kevin
Jun 6th, 2008, 08:43 AM
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
New update-due to dickensdad's response concerning Rome, I agree so here is a possible itinerary:
Land in Milan-train to Rome
3 nights Rome
Leave Rome,drive thru Umbria, zig zagging over to Siena/Florence/Tuscany/Bologna for 4-5 nights (staying in one location with daytrips)
Drive to CT/Genoa area-3-4 nights
Drive to Milan/Lakes 1-2 nights then fly home.
In Rome I'm looking in the Trastevere area as a base, found a nice location but since I'm at work and the info is at home the name escapes me. Any other suggestions?
We're thinking Siena area for a base on 2nd leg.
3rd leg (CT) I'm not sure yet, again, any help will be appreciated.
OK-enough for now-thanks again...Kevin
Land in Milan-train to Rome
3 nights Rome
Leave Rome,drive thru Umbria, zig zagging over to Siena/Florence/Tuscany/Bologna for 4-5 nights (staying in one location with daytrips)
Drive to CT/Genoa area-3-4 nights
Drive to Milan/Lakes 1-2 nights then fly home.
In Rome I'm looking in the Trastevere area as a base, found a nice location but since I'm at work and the info is at home the name escapes me. Any other suggestions?
We're thinking Siena area for a base on 2nd leg.
3rd leg (CT) I'm not sure yet, again, any help will be appreciated.
OK-enough for now-thanks again...Kevin
Jun 6th, 2008, 08:58 AM
#18
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 506
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Three "problems" with the CT.
In July it's going to be very crowded. At this late date you may have a problem finding confirmed accomodations from here. The CT is not very car friendly. If you are set on the Ligurian coast, then I would suggest Portovenere near La Spezia. You can get to it by car, there is usuqlly parking good views and restaraunts. The boat that goes to the CT villages should also be running as well.
While Rome may be a wonderful place, you can go to Italy without including Rome. Even if it's your first trip.
In July it's going to be very crowded. At this late date you may have a problem finding confirmed accomodations from here. The CT is not very car friendly. If you are set on the Ligurian coast, then I would suggest Portovenere near La Spezia. You can get to it by car, there is usuqlly parking good views and restaraunts. The boat that goes to the CT villages should also be running as well.
While Rome may be a wonderful place, you can go to Italy without including Rome. Even if it's your first trip.
Jun 6th, 2008, 12:07 PM
#20
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 42
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi! maybe i can help you: i live in rome.
for your first question shall you take the train but about "Rome to Milan" "milan to rome" it's better
in italy the food is good everywere and the peaple are friendly.
where are you going to stay? in a hotel or a farmholiday?
for your first question shall you take the train but about "Rome to Milan" "milan to rome" it's better
in italy the food is good everywere and the peaple are friendly.
where are you going to stay? in a hotel or a farmholiday?
