justjen

Hello! My husband has decided that his first trip to Europe would like to be to Italy. I'm excited about that because I have never been to Italy either!

Due to our professions, we have the most flexibility in the summer, also when our anniversary is so against everyone's advice: we're going to visit in the beginning of July. Knowing how busy the summer season is, I want to get a head start on planning to ensure we get the flights we want, hotels, etc.

We're looking at taking 10-12 days to tour around. I've never been there and I know there is a TON to see and do. We definitely want to see as much as we can, but also would like to relax in the sunshine and get some R&R. I am thinking that we should focus on Rome and Southern Italy so that we don't feel too overwhelmed... what are you thoughts?

In reading people's suggested itinerary, everyone seems to tell people to slow down. We would not enjoy our trip if we hopped to different hotels every 2 days. I'd rather stay in one place for 3-5 nights and take day trips.

A few questions I have and then please send as much advice as possible:
- Would Venice be 'too' out of the way if we were to focus on Rome and Southern Italy?
- Do you think its possible to enjoy our time down in the southern areas and NOT rent a car?

Thanks for your advice!

saltymuffin

When I hear day-trips and Italy, I think Tuscany.

Do you not want to rent a car at all? A Day-trip based trip without a car is not easy. How about leaving the South for next time, and renting a car just for a few days in Tuscany?

How about:

Fly into Venice, stay 3 nights
Train to Florence, pick up a car and stay in Tuscany somewhere for 4 nights
Drop car in Florence, Train to Rome, stay 4 nights

This totals 11 nights/12 days. I really like Venice, it is a great place to start a European trip, and would be a shame to miss.

saltymuffin

I forgot to mention how July would likely be much more bearable in Tuscany and Venice than in Rome and the south . . .

nochblad

My first questions are:

1. Do you have any particular interests in terms of art, architecture, archeology etc?
2. What is your budget level re hotels etc? How much are you prepared to pay a night?
3. Southern Italy - do you mean just the Amalfi coast or more? Do you have a particular affinity with the region?
4. Venice - I would not recommend Venice in July. It is much better in the spring and autumn. I am sure many will disagree with this but living in Italy I would not choose to go to Venice then unless there was a very particular reason - wedding or similar.

PalenQ

Do you think its possible to enjoy our time down in the southern areas and NOT rent a car?>

Definitely - the Amalfi Coast is the highlight IMO of southern Italy and a car there is useless practically - buses and boats constantly scoot between the cute towns and boats take you to Capri and bus-train to Pompeii - very easily done without a car.

And even Tuscany can be done sans car - i have gone to virtually every Tuscan and Umbrian hill town by bus - buses that take you right up to the town crowning the hill - not have to fending to finding parking somewhere and then having to trek up the hill, etc.

Anyway if you want to get a good fix on Italian trains i always spotlight these info-packed sites - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com - and for schedules www.trenitalia.com - the Italian Railways web site.

kybourbon

Southern Italy is a long way from Rome. What do you mean by southern? Puglia? Calabria?

charnees

To answer one of your questions, yes, Venice is WAY too far off your track if you are concentrating on Rome and south.

You could have a lovely trip by flying into Naples,staying on the Amalfi coast for about 5 days, and taking trips Capri and to Pompeii or Herculaneum or Paestum while there. Then head north to Rome for the rest of your time. You will not be able to see all of Rome in 5 days, but you can have a good, relaxed time doing a lot of it.

Rent an apartment in each place, which gives you more room, a place to relax besides your hotel room, a mini-kitchen for breakfasts, snacks and simple dinners. (We often have a big lunch, then just a salad for dinner in our apt.)

bobthenavigator

If you decide to actually sleep in Italy for 9 or 10 nites then the AC and Rome are your destinations.
If you stretch to 12 nites in Italy then 3 destinations may work. Start with that decision.

suec1

I'd suggest Venice, Cinque Terre for some relaxation, Florence or Tuscany and then onto Rome. What exactaly did you want to see in So. Italy?

jamikins

If I had 10 - 12 days I would pick 2 locations, Rome and Amalfi coast. Venice is too far away if you want to include all 3 locations in my opinion.

Enjoy your trip!

bilboburgler

I think you have to chose when? July is way too hot.

Beach, Architecture, Golf, Wine, decisions. What do you want to do?

Small old cities are not designed for cars and motorways can be pretty fast. Trains are reasonably organised and buses are pretty good.

Sort of things I've done and enjoyed are Visiting the old cities in Puglia and the beach areas down south in June or August.

In the Po valley visiting Verona, Soave, Valipolicella and Venice. Visiting Pisa, Lucca, Siena, Florence using trains. Milan and Bergamo using the train.

Others like the West coast including Naples and Capri. This looks good.

Try searching this web site using the cities above and see how others have had a good holiday

Don't forget Rome

jabez

June would be much better, if you can go then. Make a choice on a "must visit" and then it's easy to recommend the secondary area.

catherinehaas

Excitement and relaxation to me is 2 different cities.

For excitement, I would start in Rome. There is a great deal to do. 5 days is really pushing it to do but you can certainly get a "taste" of Rome. There are things there that should not be missed. I would start with a bit of research to determine your "must see" items and begin to plan from there. There is so much in Rome that you will not get everything in but if you have a list, it might make planning easier.

* Day 1: Arrive in Rome = relaxing day
* Day 2: Plan a whole day for St. Peter's and the Museums (yes, a whole day).
* Day 3: Plan a whole day for the ancient sites if you are interested in seeing those. I found them to be most interesting.
* Day 4: Plan some time for the Borghese, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps (more of a social gathering place but still neat to see), the Trevi fountain, etc. The Spanish Steps and the Trevi can and should be seen at night. They "come alive" at night.
* Day 5: Travel to next destination.

I have never traveled south of Rome but the AC is on my "to do" list. However, with that being said, I would not miss Tuscany as the "relaxing" part of your time there. I would take a train to Florence and get a rental car there. There is certainly things to do there but with a car at your disposal, you can take day trips at your leasure. I loved Florence.

No matter where you go in Italy during the summer, it will be crowded. IMO, Venice is too far to go unless you extend your trip. If you could do 5 nights in each location, then I would say do Rome, Florence, and Venice.

franco

Please... don't try to urge everybody to make the very same trip!!!! Rome, Florence, Venice. Rome, Florence, Venice. Rome, Florence, Venice. This cannot be true!! I'm really a huge fan of Venice and Rome, and of the art and architecture in Florence, but it's simply insane that every tourist in the world should visit those three cities in the first place. Why not Torino - Mantova - Perugia? Genova - Milano - Vicenza? Palermo - Agrigento - Piazza Armerina? Urbino - Loreto - Matera? Assisi - Arezzo - Bologna? Parma - Bergamo - Verona? Italy is FULL of first-class sights, and literally DOZENS of them are as good as Rome - Venice - Florence; just (most, not all of them) smaller.
Here we have an OP who said they want to do Rome and southern Italy, did you notice? It's their trip, and they want to go south. Neither Florence nor Venice are southern Italy. (And yes, justjen, Venice is definitely out of your way.)

OTOH, "southern Italy" is way too huge to cover in such a short trip. To see Southern Italy and a tiny bit of Rome, you'd need six weeks MINIMUM - rather seven. (Of course, you could spend those seven weeks in Rome alone without getting bored. Or seven months, for that matter.) So if you stay 5 days in Rome (4 days is the minimum to get started there, but really the scarce minimum), you have 5 to 7 days for other southern destinations. Southern Italy consists of six regions (or seven, if you add Sardinia, which many do, but for sociopolitical rather than geographic reasons, obviously): Campania, Molise, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicilia. For Sicily alone, you need two weeks if you want to see it; in just five or seven days, you could see a part of it, but given the long trip, it would perhaps make more sense to stay on the mainland. You could either see two of the unknown-untouched regions (pretty completely) - Molise and Basilicata, perhaps even Basilicata and Calabria. Or you could pick one area in either Puglia or Campania: Amalfi Coast to Cilento; or Caserta - Naples - Pompeii/Herculaneum; or Lecce to Alberobello; or the urban stretch of Puglia (Bari - Bitonto - Barletta - Trani).
Otherwise, if by "southern Italy" you meant "south of Rome", you could also go to southern Lazio (which is part of central Italy), and spend five very interesting, almost tourist-free days between Sperlonga - Gaeta - Ninfa - Cori - Segni - Anagni - Alatri - Ferentino - Arpino.
Without a car (but wait for other posters who are more knowledgeable on public transport than I am), Naples/Pompeii or Bari-to-Trani would perhaps be your best bets; on the Amalfi Coast, you can't even use it, but if you go to the Cilento afterwards, the car is indispensable.

nytraveler

IMHO if you have only 12 days total you should do no more than 2 destinations if you want any of it to be relaxing rather than rushed. Southern Italy is huge - which parts are you talking about - just the Amalfi Coast. That's good for 4 or 5 nights easily when you include the Isle of Capri, Pompeii etc. And you could spend the other 5 or 6 nights in Rome (IMHO 5 nights in Rome is the minimum to see much AND relax a little there).

For these end of June would be better if possible and a car is not at all necessary (in fact would be a detriment).

screen_name_taken

franco - as much as I really enjoy reading your posts, which I value because you are a "local", the reason people urge first timers to R/F/V is because those are the 3 BIG must-see places. I'm pretty sure that a first time traveller to the US will NOT choose St Augustine, Savannah, Richmond and Albany. They would choose Miami, Atlanta, DC, and NYC. You know, the must-see places we have all heard and read about ...

justjen - for me, Rome offers so much, I would be happy to spend a week there, and then some. My next trip will be Venice (first time) and surrounding towns like Padua and Verona, and parts of Tuscany, but not Rome or Florence.
But that's because i've already been to Rome and Florence (which as lovely as Florence is, I would choose, as Franco says, other small towns around, I would not stay a week there).

Just my opinion ....

leuk2

We have been to Italy numerous times and agree with saltymuffin's suggestions. Last September we spent time in Tuscany and the Amalfi coast. I would return to Tuscany in a heartbeat, but would give the Amalfi coast a pass. The AC is very crowded and expensive and not at all relaxing. We didn't have a car in the AC and thank goodness we didn't. We witnessed 2-3 accidents a day. Granted they weren't serious because you can't drive very fast on that road. We travelled by bus and if you are prone to motion sickness, you will not be happy. The buses were very hot and crowded and we usually had to stand up for the entire ride. We ended up hiring a car & driver to take us to the airport in Naples. Whereas in Tuscany, driving is easy, the food delicious, the scenary amazing and it's much less crowded than the AC. We stayed in B&B's in Siena and Montepulciano. Both were great. WE rented a car and dropped it off in Orvieto. We took the train into Rome. Don't even think about driving in Rome.....

PalenQ

the earlier you can go in July to places like the Amalfi Coast then the less the crowds will be - they tend to get bigger as the month progresses to the ultimate sardine-city of August.

alg

this thread just shows how different everyone's travel preferences are...

We did Venice in July a few years ago and while I loved the city, our timing sucked. It was so crowded I felt like I was in Disney World.

In May we spent 5 nights in SE Tuscany and for me that was too long. I realized after the trip (of course) that since moving to the 'burbs a year ago I really want to travel to cities for vacation. I was bored in Tuscany (I know, it's an awful thing to say on this board...3 nights would have been perfect for us).

I LOVED Rome. Like, if it were at all feasible right now I would be actively searching for a way to move there. Seeing the David in Florence was amazing, but I could spend ages in Rome.

So, I like Rome, Naples (day trip maybe?), and the AC for your trip!

nochblad

Bravo Franco!

screen_name_taken - They would choose Miami, Atlanta, DC, and NYC. OK about NYC, Miami - once is more than enough, Atlanta - where did that come from?, DC?? This seems to be an American choosing and not a European!