Help with Italy itinerary
 

We're planning a 3-week trip to Italy in late July to mid-August. The cheapest fares through our travel agent would be to and from London. We're planning a couple days there and then to Paris for a couple more. (While we originally planned to fly straight in and out of Rome, the possibility of seeing London and Paris and travelling by train to Italy has appeal to my family at this point.)

From that point we're planning to take the train to Milan for an overnight break. Once we're in Italy we want to see Venice, Florence, Rome and Assisi. We'd also like to spend a bit of time in Tuscany and get up to the area around La Spezia and the Cinque Terre.

I'm trying to figure the best itinerary by train once we get into Italy. As it stands now we're going on from Milan to Venice for 2 days then back to Florence where we'd probably rent a car to drive through Tuscany (Sienna/San Gimignano, etc.) and then up to La Spezia area for about 4 to 5 days total. Back to Florence to return the car and then on to Rome for three days. Then over to Assisi for a day before heading back by train to Milan/Paris/London. We'll spend another day in London probably to make sure we're back in time to catch a return flight to D.C.

Can anyone give me advice on whether this is a reasonable itinerary without undue backtracking? I'm particularly interested from those who have done it in whether doing that Tuscany/Liguria portion of the trip by car makes sense.

Thanks for any advice, and for all the other leads I've found on this group that has helped us get this far in our planning.

Patrick

Hi PSG,

Do you have to train to Milan?

www.volareweb.com will fly you Paris/Venice for 40E pp, and save you time.

I would pick up the car as you left Venice, drive to La Spezia/Cinque Terre, drive to Lucca or another Tuscan town that can serve as your base for exploring the region and allows easy access to Florence. Then drive to Assisi and finally drop off the car in Rome, where it would be easier to catch a fast train to Milan at the end of your trip.

With three weeks, I guess you don't feel constrained by time. Personally, I would not find the lengthy train travel appealing (to and from Italy), overnight or not. Train travel within Italy, on the other hand is a good idea, especially on the "Venice-Florence-Rome" trunk (Eurostar) line.

It is (can be) considerably cheaper to fly various routes Italy to/from Paris on volareweb.com as ira mentioned, or to/from England on ryanair.com or easyjet.com - - there may be other relevant airlines as well.

Best wishes,

Rex

I would suggest flying from Paris to Milan as well. Easyjet is also a good option like volare. Both Orly (just south of Paris) and Milan Linate are fairly convenient.
If you would like to see the Last Supper in Milan, make your reservations before you leave home. If you wait until you get to Italy, you will probably be shut out.

It sounds as if your train trip from Paris to Milan is just to get to Italy, that you are then heading straight to Venice. Since many are suggesting flying Paris to Milan, why not fly Paris to Venice?