jgandhi

We are travelling to Italy for 20 days from Late April - Mid May in 2014.

Need guidance on planning our itinerary. Listed some of the places we would like to cover, but need help in assigning the right number of days to each location.

My thoughts below:

Starting with 1 night in Milan (we are not big on shopping).
2 nights in Lake Como - Bellagio (relax / wind down, enjoy the lake side)
2 Nights in Venice (experience the culture)
5 nights in Tuscany area - staying in Florence and making day trips for wine tour and other cities within Tuscany.
4 nights in Amalfi coast with day trips to coastal town /villages such as Positano, etc.
5 nights in Rome (enjoy museums, Vatican etc.)

Need to understand if we are overstaying in some places or not, for example 5 nights in Tuscany and Rome could be an overkill, and we could re-allocate an additional day to Venice.

Also, if we are missing out on any of the key places (e.g. Cinque Terre) that could be covered, since 20 days is good amount of time.

Our aim is to have a relaxed trip, not feel rushed and at the same time sample different parts of Italy, which is why i have assigned minimum of 2 -3 nights in each place taking into account travelling time needed to reach each of these places.

Suggestions/Advice would be much appreciated!!!

pctraveler

I feel certain that you will get a lot of responses to this post; oftentimes folks will try to hit all these cities in, for example, 8 days. With your allocation of 20 days, it seems doable to me and we have been to Italy many, many times.

I do not believe that 5 nights in either Florence/Tuscany or Rome is an overkill. Sometimes we fail to focus on the amount of time that is spent/wasted moving from city to city, so I think that you will be OK.

Now you might think about going on to Lake Como/Bellagio without the overnight in Milan, if shopping is not high on your wish list. That would offer a third night in Venice, which might afford you more time to enjoy the feel of that city.

We did a trip a couple of years ago with folks who had not previously been to Italy. We met them at Heathrow, transferred by car to Gatwick and flew to Naples. A driver picked us up at the airport and drove us to Amalfi. We were there for four nights, then back to Naples via Pompeii; then trained to Rome for four nights, then trained to Florence for four nights and then to Milan for one night (primarily to see the Last Supper). That gave us enough time to catch the flavor of the cities that we visited, and yet had enough time not to feel overly rushed. I mention this because they wanted to also visit the Cinque Terre, but we felt that if we added that destination, it would take away needed time for visiting the other cities.

msteacher

I like your itinerary. My only suggestion is that you may want to consider doing it in reverse, starting in the south and ending in the north in order to catch the best weather in the spring. Would likely also give you fewer crowds in AC.

voyager61

My only suggestion would be that you are heavy on cities and a little light on the rural or wine country experience. I would stay in Chianti and day trip into Florence. It would be so relaxing half-way through the trip to be out of the city; try to find someplace to stay with views of vineyards, valleys and hilltop villages.

bobthenavigator

I too would start south and fly home from Milan.
Or, skip Milan and spend 4 nites in Venice at the end.

nytraveler

One question - are you thinking of swimming on the AC. If you go in April probably too early and pools may not be filled yet. We have gone mid to late May and they were just recently opened then - and we didn;t go into the sea at all.

jgandhi

Thank You all for your replies, it was extremely helpful. I truly appreciate it. I am flying into Milan therefore cannot do the trip in reverse as suggested by 'msteacher'. Since i will be tired from a 6 hour flight, i will need to sleep 1 night in Milan and cannot skip Milan nor want to as it will be our first time.

Any more ideas or suggestions will be appreciated

bobthenavigator

Overall, nice trip.
I wish you had 3 nites in Venice, but not a biggie.
I would drive to Sorrento to drop the car and then a driver to your base location.

bobthenavigator

Overall, nice trip.
I wish you had 3 nites in Venice, but not a biggie.
I would drive to Sorrento to drop the car and then a driver to your base location.

jgandhi

I will be doing 3 nights in Venice and have not booked anything yet, still in the planning phase of my trip

jgandhi

Made changes to itinerary, have not booked anything therefore still in initial planning phase.
Arrival Milan - stay 1 night

set off to Lake Garda and stay 1 night

3 nights in Venice

5 nights in Tuscany (base will be florence, with visits to other towns and also include wine tours)

5 nights in Amalfi (visiting all its coastal towns/villages and if possible a day tour to Capri)

4 nights in Rome

Pls let me know if this feels rushed or too much?

emmanuel91

I've just come back from a 3 month Europe holiday/adventure and spent the last 24 days in Italy. It is amazing you will love every minute. I spent 5 days in Rome and had pretty much seen everything and walked much of the inner city in 3 days. Having said that it is a wonderful city to admire and relaxing for a bit was great but I'd change it to 4 days and definitely add one day to Venice and as previously suggested by others a trip to Verona from Venice should be considered. Other then that a very well planned trip. Enjoy

msteacher

Looks good! Buon viaggio!

bilboburgler

Where does one find stuff in Milan that cannot be found in either most high streets or in Venice/Rome/Florence? Is there some out of town "mall" now-a-days?