FIRST ITALY (and Europe) Trip
 

I posted an earlier post a few days ago about taking our (my wife and I) first Europe Trip: Paris - Venice - Florence - Rome. But we're moving more toward scrapping Paris (my wife is not super keen about that) and doing a 2 week Italy trip.
Our budget is around $3000 to $4000 (not including airfare), we would like to stay in hotels rather than hostels or dorms, we LOVE great authentic food and would like to visit all the main tourist spots (a few museums, and heritage sites, cultural stuff).

So, here are my questions for you :)

1. Your top 5 place to visit in Italy in order of importance if you had 2 full weeks (not including travel days)
2. Traveling to cities via train, car, or flight?
3. Affordable hotel recommendations?
4. Any tips/ideas?

Thanks!

The cities in Italy are not far enough apart for flying to make sense. Train is faster, easier and can be quite cheap if you buy tickets far enough in advance for the fast trains (higher cost than the slow regional trains).

And yes, you should be able to get modest (not super budget) hotels for that price, visit all of the major sights and eat on a careful budget (no Michelin * places but certainly can sit down for lunch at sandwich stops or pizzerias and eat at modest restaurants for good dinners). Can't help with specific hotel recos since this is not our price point but if you search the threads you will find plenty with recos on modest/budget hotels once you settle on cities/places.

In two weeks I would not go to 5 places but would stick with 3 or at most 4 or you will be spending a lot of time in transit versus sightseeing.

I would do Rome, Venice and Florence/Tuscany, seeing a couple of the cute hill towns from Florence by train or bus - OR staying in one of the towns with good transit options and visit Florence for the day to see a couple of major sights.

If you want the seaside that is another issue and I think something else would have to give. But IMHO that is not what Italy is best at and unless you are determined to visit a beach - make sure it meets your standards - since many are pebbles or even rocks instead of the board white sand an pounding surf you may be expecting.

1. Rome, Venice, Florence, Siena, Perugia.
2. If only cities, then by train. If sightseeing in natural environment, then by car.
3. Hotel booking sites...
4. Cinque Terre, Puglis, ...

sorry, Puglia

4) eat your main meal M-F at lunch time with a meal of the day at the nearest locals bar. For E12-14 you get 3 to 4 courses with wine.
3) use trip advisor, read a few comments and it is easy to spot the crazy people (both side of the counter)
2) If you want to get Puglia, Basilicata or Sicily in the mix you might need to fly, if staying north then the train is perfect.
1) Siena, Venice, Ferrara, Montagnana (I know but so nice) Ravenna, Mantua, Montepulciano. (Rome, I find a bit meh) but probably should put FLorence in somewhere.

For my first trip to Italy was 3 weeks and my wish list of cities was Rome, Ravenna, Bologna, Venice and Milan. I now live in Italy, and if I were re-doing my first trip, I would do Ravenna, Bologna/Modena, Florence, Rome and Napoli. If I had only 2 weeks, and I had to cut something, I would either cut Rome or I would cut Florence.

B&Bs are often a better value for your budget in Italian cities. They are often run by energetic young people who understand younger tourists and offer wi-fi. The great majority have private bathrooms and often have elevators. For Florence I would recommend B&B Emozioni. For Rome, check out Gens Julia. For Bologna, try Bologna nel Cuore. For Napoli, there's an overload of great b&bs at bargain prices. I'm sorry I don't have a good recommendation for Ravenna, but you can find one by looking at TripAdvisor or Booking.com.

You will all kinds of fairy tales about the "formula" for finding great authentic food in Italy -- like don't eat near the tourist sights, only eat in places with Italian menus, eat the "menu del giorno" etc. The reality is that one of the pizza makers in Rome is right next to the Vatican, ditto one of the best Roman restaurants is near the Pantheon --- and has an English-language menu. Most bars microwave their food (by law -- they are not allowed to have an open flame).

To eat well in Italy you need to understand Italian regional food -- they don't eat the same things in Ravenna that they do in Rome or Florence or Naples -- and understand what Italians look for when they go out to eat. If you really care about experience the food of Italy -- which is an important part of Italian culture -- it is worth reading about it from someone who cares. One of the first and best travel guides I will recommend to you is Fred Plotkin's "Italy for the Gourmet Traveler". It is not about expensive food. It is about why pizza is best in Rome and Napoli, why soup is good in Florence, and how to find a good bar you can afford in Venice (if you go).

Have a great trip in my favorite country in the world.