First Trip to Italy/ Roma, Sorrento, Firenze, Barga, Venezia
 

Last minute advice for a 17 day trip. Want to experience the true feel of Italy and the culture

Nice trip--what advice do you need?
When? How many? Is a car an option for Tuscany?

We are celebrating our 5 year anniversary. This was our gift to each other.
We are in Roma for 4 nights, doing the standard tours, walking and public transportation. We would like to find an old fashion wine bar where the locals go.
From Roma we head by train to Sorrento for 2 nights, day trip to Pompei and Capri, using public transportation. Would be nice to have a pleasant dinner with good view in Capri.
Leave Sorrento by train for 1 night in Firenze, just had to spend at least one night there. Walk the city, need suggestions for 1 day adventure.
From Firenze we pickup rental car at airport and drive to Barga.
We spend 6 nights in Barga with day trips to Pisa, Milan, and the wine regions. Need some tips on best places for great wine and fresh italian fare.
On Easter Sunday we drive to Venice airport to drop off car. We would like to attend an Easter service at one of the churches. We are Christians and are open to suggestions for churches. Thinking of the water bus for transfer to Hilton Hotel. 3 Nights in Venice, then the flight back home. Would like to do the Gondola ride through the small canals and just soak in the feel of the city.
Any suggestions for any area would be greatly appreciated.

A couple of notes. There is no way to see Pompeii and Capri in the same day.

You can dine in Capri only if you are staying there overnight. the ferries/hvercraft leave for Sorrento or Naples before dinner time. (I guess yuo could eat there if you rent a private boat to take you back to Sorrento.)

As for Ester Sunday - almost all churches are Catholic - and I know some Christians don;t include Catholic in Christian. There are a limited number of protestant churches - of various denominations. You could search online. Or might be better asking in your own church if they know of any similar in Venice - since you might not want Anglican (US Episcopalian) or Lutheran.

You need to check distance on Google map or viamichelin. A quick check indicates a 3hr39min trip from Barga to Milan, and this is optimistic. To round off, you would be spending 8 hours RT for a day visit to Milan.

Assume you are visiting Barga for the Scottish connection.

But the town is not so well placed for touring the main wine regions.

Barga to Montalcino, for example, is 3.5 hours drive in each direction, while Barga to Radda is 2.5 hours. Both according to Via Michelin.

I suggest dropping your rental car at Piazzale Roma in Venice rather than the airport. This will put you right in Venice and it's a short a vaporetto ride to your hotel. Dropping off at the airport will require an additional step and more time.

Yes, 2 nights in Sorrento followed by a train trip to Florence is not a lot of time. Capri would probably be a whole day by itself, Pompeii at least half a day.

You could catch an early train from Rome to Naples, switch (downstairs in the station) to the Circumvesuviana commuter train to Pompeii Scavi, leave your bags there at the Deposito Bagagli, tour the site, then pick up your luggage and continue on the Circumvesuviana to Sorrento for your first night. That would give you all of the next day for Capri.

It would be possible to do Pompeii leaving Sorrento on your way to Florence but the longer train trip from Naples to Florence crams more into this day.

I really think your cramming too much into your whole itinerary. I assume this is your first time. Maybe allow more time on your next trip. If you want to absorb Italian culture, you must slow down, spend time at sidewalk cafes, rest in the afternoon, enjoy the dolce far niente.

Yes, drop the car at Piazzale Roma--much easier than the airport.

Why Barga---cute village but very isolated from much of Tuscany. It is in an area known for hunting and fishing and is a long drive to most everywhere---except Lucca and the Garfagnana area of NW Tuscany. I would skip Florence if you only spend a day. Train from Rome to Pisa and get the car there. And, forget Milan---a very long trip. You could consider Portovenere on the coast as a day trip.

Great Information from everyone.
We know the drive is long to Milan, we wanted to visit the Painting of the Last Supper, so the drive will be well worth it. Not sure when we will be back to Italy.
NO option on the car dropoff since it is a Sunday. Only found the rental at the Airport was open.
I have attended Mass and enjoyed it, just wanted my husband to have the experience.
We are planning on Pompei the first day in Sorrento and Capri the second day. Anyone been to the Blue Grotto?
No Scottish connection, but nice to know it exit.
I really do enjoy all the feedback...has my mind reeling.

There are wine growers in the hills of Lucca and around the lovely town of Castelnuovo Magra on the Tuscan border with Liguria, and Sarzana, which would make a fine daytrip destination to get a feel for the Italy that other people miss.

If the weather is nice. In particular you could visit the winery of Lunae Bosoni in the morning

http://www.venditavinoitaliano.it/en...ae-bosoni.html

have lunch in Sarzana, and the slip off to the beach, either to the town of Lerici or the village of Tellaro. Only do this on a weekday, not a weekend.

I doubt you can switch your reservation now, but if you want to see the Last Supper in Milan try to switch it so you can drop off the car on Sunday at Milan Linate airport, take the bus to Milan Centrale train station, stow your luggage and go the church -- and then go back and take the train.

If nothing else, do not drive your car into Milan unless you have already identified the parking lot you intend to use, and it should be at the periphery of town, not the near the church. You could face significant difficulties driving in and out of Milan if you have never driven there before.

I do want to point out that if your goal is to experience the life of Italy, you are not only rushing about a great deal with time consuming trips to places like Milan or trying to do a lot heading in one direction to Pompei and then in the other to the Blue Grotto then off to Florence in less than 40 hours, you are also headed smack into the areas of Italy that will be most filled with foreign tourists, not Italians.

If you want to come into contact with Italy, I suggest you drop your plans to zoom past Italy in order to reach a scheduled stop on the iconic tourist trail. Of course these sights are unique -- but so are the sights you will be galloping past. Instead of the Last Supper, try visiting Parma and going inside its main church to see the ceiling. You won't believe your eyes

The Basilica of San Marco will be a spectacular sight for high Mass on Easter in Venice. Go early to be sure of getting in. Take a seat.

So, why Barga?

Barga looked like a nice small village to just experience the locals. I wanted to have the small town feel. Nice price for the bed and breakfast.
Still waiting on information on the winebar in Roma. I know the schedule is faster than we wanted, but how many times will we get to Italy. I am going to follow some advice and slow it down a little.

Do you have a reservation to view the Last Supper? This is not a walk-up-and-enter sight.

Why Capri? You don't have that much time, and the Amalfi coast is gorgeous on its own. You could just take the bus down the coast and back, visiting Amalfi and Positano, and enjoying the beautiful views along the way. We were't able to visit the Blue Grotto on the daytrip we took to Capri, because the water was too rough, so no one went that day. As for Capri itself, I wasn't any more impressed with it than the coast. We had 4 days when we visited, and enjoyed going up to Ravello for dinner one night...but we were staying in Priano. We didn't get to see Sorrento . You have to make choices based on where you are sleeping ;-).

We've spent seven weeks in Italy over two different trips, and still haven't made it to Milan. Our first trip was a bit of a sampler, like yours, but we learned that driving into the big cities was stressful. On the otherhand, tooling around Tuscany or Umbria is easy and gorgeous and relaxing. I think you may find that staying in one place and making shorter daytrips is great. Don't feel bad if you don't make it into Milan. Leave that choice up to how you are feeling. Last fall we did a month and loved our trip, but I think I would have been just as happy if all we'd done was stay in the flat in Umbria (near Spoleto) for 2 weeks.

you've had some good advice here - hope you have a great trip.

BTW, if you want to attend the main service in the Basilica di San Marco in Venice, you MUST get there at least 30 mins in advance to get a seat - enter by the north door, and when the attendant looks a you a bit funny, just keep going.

you might like to book somewhere to have lunch afterwards.

wine bars (enoteche) in Rome

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/201...0-bars-in-rome

You haven't mentioned where you are staying in Rome, but also poke around your neighborhood and find someplace friendly where you can be a regular. If you would like someplace very pleasant for a wine and coffee, look around the piazza Farnese (near the Campo de'Fiore) and if that is too far, try someplace around via del Corso for a very lively scene early in the evening.

I think you will have the experience of Italy that you are seeking in and around Barga. Don't be afraid to go to small towns around there that aren't in your guidebook. Pietrasanta is unusual.

More on the Scottish connection in Barga:


http://traveller.easyjet.com/feature...ottish-tuscany

I just remembered that there is a woman who lives in Bagni di Lucca who used to post on the Slow Travel message board a lot. She could tell you a lot about getting the feel of Italy in that neighborhood. She also has this blog:

http://bagnidilucca.wordpress.com/

And these websites have a lot of info about the area

http://www.eliseo.info/

http://www.holidaytuscany.it/eng/vis...garfagnana.php

http://www.pruneta.com/en/what-to-see-in-garfagnana/

Just a quick update. Landed today, took a short nap and then walked around. 10 min walk to Vatican, great location for apartment we are staying in. Love the food,wine and culture