First time Italy-- need itinerary help from the pros
 

The plan so far for our January trip:
Flying into Milan, staying 3 nights, Venice for 7 nights, Florence for 8 nights and Rome for 9 nights, flying home from Rome. We'll be renting apartments in all cities except for Milan where we'll stay in a hotel. Suggested adjustments? Day trips? With the Trenitalia Pass Saver, there is an option for 10 total trips-- if you take a day trip, does that count as one or two trips? TIA for your help.

Your plan sounds good to me. Three nights in Milan is longer than most people spend, but you have planned sufficient time for Venice, Florence and Rome. It will not be at its best in January, but you could plan a day trip to Lake Como (not with the regular Ferrovie dello Stato trains, but with a tiny railway that leaves for Como from Milan from a station close to the Castello Sforzesco; you can then take a ferry to see more of the lake).

Day trips would count as two: one there, one back, but the distances are so short -- and the costs so low -- that they would be a waste of your pass.

I'm not sure you need the Pass Saver at all, since you will, in fact, only be doing three longer trips. There is a Web site where you can plug in your itinerary and it will tell you which is the best alternative for you. I think it's www.railsaver.com. My guess is that you would do better with point-to-point tickets.

How did you pick those cities and the number of days? Did you know ahead of time what you wanted to see and do or are you now trying to "fill" the time?
Are you locked into staying that amount of time in each city?

what are your interests: art, history. religion, shopping.... .

Hi dm,

On the railpass, you are buying an unlimited amount of train tavel in a 24-hr period.

If you buy 10 days in 2 months you get to travel as much as you want during those 10 days.

However, I suggest that you enter your proposed itinerary at www.railsaver.com to see if you need a pass.

with that much time I'd suggest adding in another stop, perhaps further south such as Sicily, or another area such as Umbria or Apulia. Usually more time in fewer places is better, but you have more than 3 weeks.

Wow, you have allotted a nice long time for each city. You'll really be able to get to know them well and at a leisurely pace.

If you wish to do day trips, I would recommend a day in Siena (from Florence.)

Wow--your problem is unique--too much time. I love the idea of a week each in Rome and Venice, but I would steal 3 nites from Florence and 2 from Rome and pick another destination. Hmmm--this is Jan.--where to go ? Since you are training, I would suggest either Perugia[Umbrian day trips] or Naples.

Rather than add a city, I would suggest adding day trips. Among the possibilities are: from Venice, Verona and Vicenza; from Florence, Siena and San Gimignano; from Rome, Orvieto and one of the "Colli romani" wine villages like Frascati. In January, I don't think you'd want to walk around in Ostia Antica or Hadrian's Villa... Or, if you're interested in Etruscan art, Tarquinia, an hour by train from Rome.

Thanks-- all great suggestions. Railsaver.com is helpful. It told me that for my needs, a Pass Saver with 4 trips is the way to go, which will cover Milan to Venice, Venice to Florence, Florence to Rome and perhaps Rome to Naples and back in a <long> day trip. About how much are train tickets to places like say Bologna from Venice? Are those day trip tickets easily purchased the day of travel?

Venice-Bologna by Eurostar in 2nd class is 18.33 Euros. By Interregionale (about 25 minutes longer; 2 hrs 3 min instead of 1 hour 46 min), it's 7.90 Euros in 2nd class and 12.55 in 1st class.

You can check out schedules and prices at www.trenitalia.com. (The site tends to work better in Italian than in English.)