Help with Itenary for 6/7 days in Italy.
 

Hello,

I am planning a trip to Italy and Spain for late summer next year and need help with the itenraly for the Italian leg of the trip. We've never been to Italy before so we'd like to see the most we can in the time.

Here is what I've put together so far. LMK what you think and what are some of the things ot do in each of the locations. All input is appreciated thanx!

Day 1: Depart USA

Day 2: Rome

Day 3: Rome

Day 4: day trip to Florence

Day 5-8: SPAIN

Day 9: Venice

Day 10: Venice

Day 11: day trip to Milan

Day 12: Venice

Day 13: depart home.

if the tickets have not yet been purchased i would try to do an open jaw.. arrive in spain, leave from italy , to not waste time back and forth.

it is unreasonable to try to do a day trip from venice to milan.
vicenza would be better, nearer, and equally satsifying IMHO.

how are you going from italy to spain?

many people would say to spend all the time in italy and go to spain another time to do each place more justice.

but if you want to visit both on this trip..try to find out which city ou prefer to vist as i truthfully feel there is no time to do more than one.

an escorted bus tour of one of the countries would give you the most variety most thorough experience if you want to cover alot of ground in limited time.

Well its sorta weird. The reason Spain is in the middle of the trip is because we wanna do/see Tomatina and that just happens to be taking place in the middle of our proposed trip dates.

check out www.whichbudget.com to see how to best get from italy to valencia spain for the tomatina.
ryanair from ciampino and vueling from milan, are a couple you can use.

do not disregard www.iberia.com totally because they also now have a cheap cheap flight to compete with all the low cost airlines. and many times their departure times ae much better, for a few euros more.

With only 6 days on the ground in Italy and 4 days in Spain, you aren't going to be able to see much, it will be summer and quite hot and quite crowded (and as part of your holiday will be in August it will be really really crowded). Concentrate on quality rather than quantity. I assume you are going to Milan to see the Last Supper, much as I like Milan, IMO this is a waste of time and money, save this for another trip. There is so much art in the places already on your itinerary. If you still feel the need to go to Spain, the fly into Rome and stay 3 days there, fly to Spain, from Spain fly to Florence overnight in Florence, early train to Venice (about 3 hours), stay in Venice and fly out.

List of things to do in each place is legion. Rome could easily consume the 5 days in itself, as could Venice and Florence. Get a guidebook, or click on Destinations above and take a look.

It would make more sense to fly from the US to Spain first, then continue on to Italy, this would save time and money and would keep you out of Italy in August, the most crowded and IMO the worst time to be there.

You can't really count Day 2 in Rome because you will be arriving, getting settled, eating, maybe napping. So with the day trip to Florence, you have allowed yourself only one full dy in Rome. So, my advice, skip Florence. I think Rome will have enough to captivate you for two days.

Ditto for your arrival in Venice. Day 9 you get there, so spend the rest of your trip based there. You could daytrip from Venice to Padova and/or Verona, or as someone else suggested, Vicenza, but Milan is farther away than you think.

"We'd like to see the most we can in the time" - That is an understandable thing to desire, but you wind up seeing not much more than a passing glance and really experiencing nothing more than the tourist speed shuffle.

Enjoy your trip!

Can you adjust the dates to start or end for your Spain event so you're not doing all that backtracking. Or, would you consider combining Spain and France?

If you want what you want then by all means skip Milan except perhaps to change planes, and spend yur time in Florence and Venice. Fly home from one of those. That would be my choice.

If the trip must include Rome, then see Rome and Florence and skip Venice this time.

People don't generally daytrip from Venice to Milan; for one thing the train ride is almost 3 hours, for another, compared to the other cities Milan isn't considered to be at the same level of interest for most people.

Plan to travel from one place to another in the evening, to use up less sightseeing time.

Hi B,

>We've never been to Italy before so we'd like to see the most we can in the time. <

Not only is this a non sequitor, it is a very common mistake.

You will go back to Italy.

Slow down and enjoy your visit instead of rushing from place to place.

Good advice from Cicerone and faredolce.

((I))

If tickets are purchased and dates set already(?) I'd suggest skip both Milan and Florence on this trip. Rome, Spain, Venice is hugely plenty for a 1 week trip.

As mentioned 'Day 2 Rome' part of the day will be spent in airport arrival, hotel transfer, jet lag, etc. so I wouldn't count it as a full day of sight-seeing. Also reiterating above, a day trip to Milan from Venice spends 6 hours minimum RT on a train. Overall it seems you will be spending a large percentage of precious vacation time on trains, taxis, planes moving place to place.