My husband and would like to plan a trip to Italy in May for about 9 days (excluding travel). Problem is we are having the hardest time deciding where to go!

We honeymooned in Italy in late September, early October for a little over 2 weeks, starting in Venice, then Tuscany (near Pienza & San Quirico), Florence, Positano and Rome. It was a whirlwind trip, and we really just got a taste of everything.

Now we'd like to return and visit fewer places (3 max) and get more of a chance to really soak in where we are. We are torn between Venice and branching out from there or Tuscany and maybe a little of Umbria.

We'd love to hear any and all suggestions to help get us started. Especially since we are so late in the game.

Oh, I'll be about 5.5 months pregnant, so wine tasting and other pregnancy no no's will be out.

Thank you so much!

Hi mw,

I would

A. Split the time between Venice and Florence and get to see them.

B. Split the time between Venice and Rome and get to see them.

C. Take a motor trip through Tuscany and Umbria.

Nine days is not long and 3 destinations is max. Here is what I would do:
Fly into MXP--get car---to Lago Como--3 nites
Drive to Dolomites--Castelrotto---2 nites
End in Venice---4 nites

That is a tight itinerary and give you a good mix of northern Italy. The lakes are still my favorite destination in Italy.

Thanks!

I think if we can get into the hotel we love, we'll definitely visit Venice again. And then decide between the Lakes, Bologna or Tuscany for the other half. Ideally staying in just 2 places total.

What is your hotel of choice? If it's a Virtuoso property, there are amenities that you can get that are not available on the internet. In terms of your itinerary, I would stay in Venice, then tour Florence and Tuscany. Perhaps you can visit Assisi on the way west.

I like Bobthenavigator's plan but would reverse it. Start in Venice, fly out of Milan. A slightly different trip is spending time in Umbria instead of Tuscany: Gubbio, Perugia, Assisi, Bevagna, with a stop in Ravenna on the way from Venice. And, now that you're pregnant, slow everything down.

Since you have seen the Amalfli Coast, why don't you try Liguria this time. You have several great options:

1) Stay in Camogli and explore Portofino, Genova and Le Cinque Terre
2) Stay in the CT itself
3) Stay in Portovenere (my favorite place in Italy!) or Lerici (my hometown) and explore all the above plus Carrara, Lucca, Sarzana, Versilia and more!

Hi, if you wish I know a great small company that works in Northern Italy that helps in trip planning. They even offer a travelers assistance program if you utilize the service, they will provide you a phone number to call if you need assistance or even get in a bind traslating or otherwise.
You can email me at [email protected] if you want the info.

Good luck

Thanks, everyone! We've now narrowed our trip down slightly. We plan to stay at Locanda Orseolo in Venice from May 18-22 and fly home from Venice on the 22nd.

We're still trying to figure out May12-18 though. It's a toss up between 1. returning to southern Tuscany (and possibly a little of Umbria), 2. Bologna, Parma & Ravenna 3. Padua, Verona etc.

I think I'd prefer to stay in just 2 places total for this trip, since lugging my stuff might be difficult while pregnant.

Of those three, what would you do?

We really fell in love with Tuscany on our honeymoon and would love to see it in the spring and explore more and have a chance to just soak it in (which we didn't really get to do before). So, I am leaning towards a repeat of Tuscany, but we are also feeling like maybe it is a mistake to not see a new area.

It is soooo hard to decide where to go with so many amazing options!!!

mw2006 . . I am having the same dilemma, repeat Tuscany staying a week in one place (after 2 days in Venice) or splitting the time in the Dolomites/Lake Region. And worse still debating aobut Slovenia/Croatia. It is so hard to decide. I want to do something new, but like you want to get a fuller experience of Tuscany. What did you decide? We are going around the same time 9/19 -9/30.

Hi there. We decided to fly into Bologna for one night, then 5 nights in Montepulciano, then 1 night in Bologna or Parma, then 3 nights in Venice (2 days).

If I weren't pregnant, we'd probably move around a bit more.