Hello!
I am starting to plan a trip for my husband and i as well as a friend and her husband for next April or May. We have never been to italy although our friends have been to rome and want to go back. I was wondering if anyone has any great ideas for places and things to see in a 16 day time frame. in our recent trips to europe I know that my husband and I prefer the quietness of villages but we understand that there are just some big cities you must see. I want to include the chinque terre and maybe lago di como - any itenarary ideas? Our goal is to see famous sights AND relax -we prefer big cities with relaxation in between. There have been no tickets bought so the entire trip is open to ideas! Also... any ideas on places to stay including renting apartments/villas or anything would be great. Since there is 4 of us I thought that might be an option! Thanks!

Well, I was going to suggest you mix up cities with countryside, so we are already in agreement! You could always fly into Rome and do 4 days each in Rome, Cinque Terre, Lake Como and Venice. Then you could fly out of Venice. Or reverse the order of Venice and Lake Como and then fly out of Milan. This would be a nice trip, although apartment rentals are usually week long. If you want a slower pace, leave out a place or two that don't excite you. Either type of trip would work.

Hi TravelinSteph,

I am also a believer in mixing countryside with cities. Love both! If you definitely want to visit the Cinque Terre and Lake Como, stick with May for better weather.

The only tweak I would do to Cimbrone's itinerary would be to cut a day from Como and add it to Rome! Just too much to do and see and a fabulous, exciting city.

Buon viaggio!

do you think that even a quick stop through florence just to see the david and such would be adding too much...?

I know that florence would be a different trip seeing as there is far too much to do there but just to see it even if it is quick would give us an idea if we would want to come back...

If you are going to be there for 16 days, you can definitely do Florence! We flew into Rome and out of Venice and that worked well for us. You could take the train from Rome to Florence, then take the train from Florence to Milan, renting a car to go to Lake Como, as we did. Then we drove to Venice and dropped the car off on the outskirts. We stayed at the Hotel Belvedere in Bellagio on Lake Como and the Pensione Accademia in Venice. Cinque Terre is a bit out of the way. I'd vote for Florence over it.

I found that we could go from florence to pisa and pisa to la spetzia (spelling??) in the CT and it was like 2.5 hrs total train time. It doesnt seem hard to get to. Then you can go from CT to Milan and on to como

But if that is adding too much then I would nix it.... I have a habbit of trying to cram way too much into a vacation

There are lots of threads on here about Italy.

I would read the Fodor guides here, and either buy or go to library to read a few travel guides. You need to know thinking about what interest you, and then people can guide you from there.

Why Italy? What have you always wanted to see there? What is your budget? What are your interests? How do you want to travel? Do you like art, museums, food, guided tours, etc...Travel style...fast or leisurely...beaches or not? Churches or not? Vatican or not? Like crowds or cows?

You need to do some research...

You should check www.frommers.com
Seriously though, if you REALLY need IDEAS for Italy, you should just as well go to Billings, Montana. More bang for your buck and TONS to see there. Trust me.

Hi Steph, Below is my blog (aka trip report) from September 2005.

Two couples
Two cars (a lesson you can learn from our ineptitude)
Three Weeks
20 or so Hill Towns
Hundreds of Photos
Thousands of Memories

Have fun!

http://travelswithmaitaitom.typepad.com/travels/

Hi TravelinSteph,

Ignore certain posts of people that feel they must insult you to provide themselves with some level of self importance. The majority of the people on this board can and do provide great ideas and advice.

First thing I would do is to put together a list of things you individually like and dislike. Looking at each other's lists can help to narrow things down. It can also give you ideas. Then you are able to come back and discuss specific ideas.

Scroll through the lists here and see things that really interest you. That's what we did for last Christmas' trip.

Planning is half the fun.

dave

I think it may be helpful to list some things you'd better NOT to do, in my opinion:

- don't try to see all of Italy in one trip, it's impossible: choose the 2-3 cities you really want to see and then have side trips from there
- don't switch hotels too often, or you'll waste half of your time packing and unpacking
- don't bother with booking train tickets from home, if you plan to use trains for moving around: it's better to buy them in Italy 1 or 2 days in advance, and you can change your plans on the fly
- don't try to bring half of your home with you: packing light is an essential key to easy traveling, if you use public transportation and also if you rent a car
- don't plan too much: leave room for the unexpected and for the pleasure of just being there and doing nothing but look at the people around you

bye
stef

Hi TS,

>...next April or May....our friends have been to rome and want to go back.

16 days is a good time frame.

I suggest that you include Venice (4 nights), Florence (3 nights) and Rome (4 nights), in that order.

This gives you 4 nights for visiting one or two of: Tuscany, the Lakes region, the Cinque Terre.

Come back when you have a draft plan and we will help you improve it.

If you are staying 16 days I would suggest including Rome, Florence and Genoa as big cities. If, for example you start you tour in Rome, you could work your way up to Tuscany and then Liguria. Between Rome and Florence there are beautiful small towns, villages and countryside to explore, such as Viterbo and an area called La Tuscia (80 km north of Rome, with quaint medieval towns, lakes, woods and archeological excavations); the region called Umbria (very green and with interesting art towns) and Tuscany of course, the region where Florence is located. In Liguria you can see Genoa, Le Cinque Terre (wonderful, not to be missed). Also, the sea in Tuscany (Argentario, Isola d'Elba) and in Liguria is beautiful. If you are travelling in summer, there are also a lot of music, food and wine festivals in various villages. Food in these areas of Italy is delicious and if you go to Genoa try pasta col pesto alla genovese. If you are looking for accommodation, including villas for rent (there are gorgeous farmhouses in central Italy), I can suggest the follwing site http://www.holiday-velvet.com/tuscany