My husband and I are planning a 3-week trip to Italy in late May/early June '06. We'd like to hit the "Big Three," but I am having trouble deciding on additional destinations.

Here is a very rough itinerary -

5 nights Rome
1 night Orvieto
1 night Assisi
6 nights Florence (day trips to Pisa/Lucca, San Gimignano and Siena)
4 nights Venice
3 nights either Dolomites or Lake region

What are your thoughts on Dolomites vs. the Lakes?


I'd like to avoid as many 1-nighters as possible. That said, should I shorten the time in Florence and stay a couple of nights in one of the towns I listed as a day trip?

Any other advice on how to spend 21 days in Italy? I am saving Naples/Sorrento/Amalfi Coast for another trip, but other than that, I am open to any suggestions.

Thanks!!

I think it looks fabulous. Only one suggestion - don't make either of your one-nighters on a Sunday night. We had a Sunday night in Assisi last may and found there wasn't much to do. So if you are only going to be there one night, it should be a more lively day of the week (like Fri and Sat, maybe, or check when local markets are and arrange to go then if possible). Other than that, it looks great.

HI
If you want to avoid one-nighters, then Orvieto and Assisi can be daytrips from Rome. Lucca is also supposed to be charming.

If you want to see a bit more of Tuscany in the spring, then you could spend a couple of nights in Siena and from there daytrip to San Gim. and to some of the vineyard towns.

Were you planning on renting a car, or do you want to do this all by public transport? Makes a difference in planning of course.

Thanks for the feedback! Elaine, I think we'll do most of the trip by public transport, but we may rent a car for the Tuscany portion of the trip if we end up staying outside Florence for a few days, rather than in the City.

I like the idea of staying a couple of nights in Siena and daytripping from there.

Yes, do Orvieto as a day trip from Rome. And, spend 2 nites in Siena rather than 6 in Florence. Without a car, the lakes are your best choice, and Varenna on Lake Como is the best option.

Thanks, bobthenavigator! I was hoping you would weigh in.

Hi Abby,

I agree with the advice to spend fewer nights in Florence and more in the countryside. Personally, Florence was my least favorite Italian city. The art is great, but I found it very noisy and crowded, more so than Rome!

I would also recommend staying at least 1 night in Orvieto! A wonderful town with much to offer - art, Etruscan tombs, underground tour, galleries and great shopping, fabulous restaurants and wine!
We loved Lago di Maggiore, but they are all great!

Buon viaggio!

Hi Abby
i just returned from italy and had a wonderful stay in the dolomites,,,which i would enthusiastically recommend for a three night stay if possible,,,its glorious. An extra day or two would have allowed more time to check out the castles near trento, which i will do on another trip.

Though the dolomites are a bit out of the way compared to some other destinations it is definitely worth the trip.

I haven't used this company, but they were recommended by a reader in a magazine I subscribe to, and apparently they arrange 1-3 day tours of the Dolomites
[email protected]

You are welcome !
The Dolomites are great, but less so using public transport. Ending at Como in early June is hard to beat. You have great trip here---I want to tag along.

Thanks so much, everyone. I really appreciate all the good tips.

So how does this look?

Fly into Rome
6 nights Rome (day trip to Orvieto)
1 night Assisi
3 nights Siena (day trips to Montepulciano, Montalcino)
4 nights Florence (day trips to Lucca/Pisa and San Gimignano)
4 nights Venice
3 nights Lake Como (Varenna)
Fly home from Milan

This extends our planned trip by one day, but I think it will work out fine.

I feel a little silly doing this so far in advance, but we're going to use FF miles, so we need to book early.

Looks very good, but I am not sure how you plan to get to Siena from Assisi.

Bus connection between Assisi and Siena: Information at www.sena.it

I'm going to answer without reading the other response.
Hubby and I went for our honeymoon last year. I highly recommned the small tuscan towns. How about this:
5 nights Rome
Rent a car to explore from a base
2 nights Orvieto or Todi
3 nights Near Siena (south or east)
www.tuscany.net
1 night San Gimignano (just lovely after dark with the tour buses gone)
Turn in car
2 nights Florence
4 nights Venice
3 nights Lake como www.varenna.com

Enjoy! ( I am very jealous).

Thanks for the input! Bob, I wasn't sure how to get from Assisi to Siena, either. I'm starting to think it would be smart to rent a car for the Tuscany/Umbria hill town portion of the trip and to modify the itinerary in the manner suggested by eroz.

Thanks again, all.

I need some help, I think

I'm new to this travel board, but I'm a veteran of the AOL board. I developed a long response to this message, but it never got posted. I also developed a long response to a question about Alsace - which never got posted. Two shorter responses did get posted.

Is there am maxumum lenght to a response??? If so, how do I know when I've reached it. I spent about 30 mins composing a suggestion to this thread.

I spend 2 months vacationing in Europe every year.

I don't know if there is a maximum length for responses (I've seen some awfully long posts), but I'm sorry your response was lost. I would love to have your input!

Stu, do not think the problem was with the length of your post. Fodor's has had technical problems for several days now. At least today, in my experience, all seems to be working well again.

Try one more time.

A car for your days in Tuscany should would help.