Help with trip planning, Rome to Milan fall 2015
 

This is long, but I'm of the opinion that too much info is better than too little, so here goes. Thanks in advance for your time and help.

I’m looking for some advice on where to spend a week to 10 days between Rome and Milan this fall.

My husband & I are in our late 50’s, love ruins, history and walking, enjoy museums but prefer seeing art in place in Churches. We like good food but aren't foodies, We prefer to spend our vacation $ on espresso in a cafe in the morning, a simple lunch while we are out and cook our own dinner in an apartment before going out for an evening stroll and gelato. Or should I say passeggiata! We do not want to rent a car on this trip, but instead use trains or buses. We like to stay in one location for at least 3 nights whenever time allows. (I feel like I’m filling out an application for a online dating site.)

We were in Italy our first time in 2010; 3 nts Venice (explored using the Church pass), 4 nts Florence (gelato & Michelangelo), 4 nts in Monticiello (car trips to nearby towns, Assisi), 5 nts in Rome. Rome was the highlight of our trip, loved it all, the forums, the Churches, the piazzas, the fountains, the people. We stayed in apartments the whole trip.

Finally, we are going back. We are not rigid about exactly when, I’m thinking late September/early October. We have 2 wks or a bit more, again, not rigid about time this trip but don't want to be away from home too long.

I had planned to fly into Rome spend 7 nts, train to Naples, spend another week to 10 nts visiting Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, staying for awhile in Sorrento or Positano then flying out of Naples or Rome dependent on cost.

While looking for flights, I’m finding airfare into Rome is considerably more than Milan:$1400. ea. prox for Rome rt or Rome/Naples opposed to $900.ea.prox for Milan rt. With a price difference like that I’m rethinking our trip.

We still want to spend 7 nts in Rome. But since we would be flying into Milan I think we should plan the rest of our trip for North of Rome instead of South.

What do you all recommend when arriving in Milan? Should we reserve train tickets for Rome that day? Or spend the night in Milan in case of problems with our flight so we don't have to worry about missing the train? We are flying out of Buffalo NY so jet lag is an issue. Maybe spend a couple nights in Milan at the beginning of the trip before heading to Rome? I’m on the fence about this.

So, we get to Rome, either first night or later. I have a list of things we didn’t have time for the first trip, including a lot more time spent just sitting in piazzas or cafes. After I get the broad plan in place I will be back for more questions on Rome.

When it’s time to leave Rome (boohoo) to ease the pain we take the train to???? Orvieto for 3 nights? Or Sienna? Both? Somewhere in the Cinque Terre area for 3 or 4 nights from where we can take some walks/hikes? I know CT gets blasted for being too touristy, but we are tourists too and can deal with that. The area sounds beautiful and would be our alternative to the Amalfi coast. If not CT, where else can we get to via train that we could spend some time walking in the countryside? I’m open to all suggestions.

At the end of the trip we are back to Milan for our return flight. We would want to be there at least a day before our flight. If we haven’t spent time there on the front end, should we plan a few nights at the end? I don’t know if we could get tickets to see the Last Supper, but from what I’ve read the Duomo is worth seeing and there is the Expo thing going on, don’t know if that would be crazy busy or not?

I can't wait to get your ideas. Thank you again.

Not sure what you'd do with 3 nights in Orvieto though you could do day trips by bus or train to places like Mongtepulciano, another iconic hill town - Sienna is a better base with several neat things very close buy - Pisa isn't far - San Gimignano and Florence itself.

For walking the Cinque Terre can't be berat - get off the main beaten trail for solitutde on a myriad of other hiking possibilities and you can do day trips by train to places along the Italian riviera of Levant. and Genoa is a really neat old town worth a day or two by itself.

Anyway for train info check out these IMO superb sources: www.seat61.com - good info on discounted tickets; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.
Note that going to Orvieto or Siena by train is mainly regional trains that do not take seat reservations and have a flat fare - just buy those tickets there - and actually to the Cinque Terre and onto Milan can also be by regional train but Milan to Rome can be booked at www.trenitalia.com or its competitior www.Italotren.com for sizeable savings over just walking up.

I think you should first look at all flight options. In to Naples/out of Rome (vice versa), in to Rome, home from Milan, etc. Also look at smaller airports as I sometimes find reasonable flights to cities such as Bologna, Florence, Pisa, etc. Don't forget that using an airport somewhere you don't really want to be uses valuable vacation days and it costs to get from there to where you do want to be (trains aren't free). Is it worth 2 vacation days getting to and from Milan when you really want to be in Rome and the Amalfi coast?

I think you should first look at all flight options. In to Naples/out of Rome (vice versa), in to Rome, home from Milan, etc. Also look at smaller airports as I sometimes find reasonable flights to cities such as Bologna, Florence, Pisa, etc. Don't forget that using an airport somewhere you don't really want to be uses valuable vacation days and it costs to get from there to where you do want to be (trains aren't free). Is it worth 2 vacation days getting to and from Milan when you really want to be in Rome and the Amalfi coast?

Sorry. The post said page not found and then it posted twice.

I agree with kybourbon--plus, the AC is so conducive to using public transport, as you wish to do on this trip.
Read through the posts here on Liguria, as you could go from Milan to Genoa and then down the coast.

In general I would agree with kybourbon. But if you are finding $500 difference (times two people) flying into Milan over Rome or Naples then perhaps it would make sense to take the train from Milan to Naples. You want to be in Rome anyway so the difference is not that much. You could obviously have a very nice trip to any of the places you mentioned between Rome and Milan - but if you really want to do the Amalfi Coast (along with Rome) for this trip I would say you should do it. Look at the prices and times on trenitalia - certainly no where close to $1000 - and in terms of time - you are going to Rome either way so the 'extra' train time is really just the one three hour trip from Milan to Rome that you wouldn't have to make if you could fly direct to Rome.

That being said, north of Rome is great too. If you do decide to go that route I'd go to Rome on arrival and put your Milan days at the end so you'll be there for the flight home. I would just wait till you get there to buy the train tickets. That way not only do you not loose the value of them if your flight is late, but if you figure the timing wrong you might waste a few hours sitting around the train station. Also, for the end of the trip, if you have an interest in Lake Como, depending on the time of your flight you could possibly stay there the night(or 2 or 3) before your flight.

If you decide on the CT region consider staying in Rapallo (or Santa Marguerite or Camogli) and doing day trips to the CT. Those other towns have much more do see/do and make a good base. The CT is an easy day trip. Also Portofino and Portovenere are good day trips. I spent five days in Rapallo and didn't get to all I wanted to (and it was a second trip) so you could easily spend a week there. You could go from Rome to Rapallo (or which ever town you choose) for 5 or 6 nights and then spend the last few in either Lake Como or Milan.

I'd take the Amalfi Coast any day over the Cinque Terre - so so many varied things to do from an Amalfi or Sorrento base. Capri, Ischia, Naples itself, Pompeii, Heracuelem (Ercolo), climbing Mt Vesuvius and of course the Amalfi Coast itself - even the great ruins at Paestum are an easy enough day trip.

Since so much of your decision making is being governed by the cost of airfare for two people, maybe if you said which airport you are coming from, and whether you are willing to change planes in Europe, maybe people here (or on a message board like Flyer Talk) could help find affordable tickets to where you really want to go instead of flying in and out of Milan. Your transportation south from Milan and back up to Milan is not going to be cost free X 2, so when looking at costs please don't forget to factor that in!

Have you checked into the cost of flights from your airport to Naples? To Florence? Given the very weird way that air tickets are priced, and the equally weird way the Itlalian train tracks are laid, you can sometimes fly into an airport you wouldn't have expected would be convenient, and it actually isn't hard at all once you are on the ground to get where you want to be.

A multi-city plane ticket can save you lots of time at no (or very little) higher price. I'd finish in Bologna and fly home from there. Great food, a long university history and historical Vatican animosity, more than 40 km of collonaded walkways, and a more relaxed atmosphere than some of the other big northern cities.

Wow, you guys are great!

PalenQ. I had a feeling that 3 nts in Orvieto might be a bit much. We went to Montepulciano on our first trip. Sienna and Pisa sounds better for this time around. I agree that the Amalfi coast sounds more appealing than CT, but if we end up flying into Milan I will save the Amalfi area for another time around.

Kybourbon. I'm still looking at flight options. I agree that time and ground travel costs have to be considered, not just airfare. We flew into Venice and out of Rome on our first trip and it worked out perfectly. I'm not seeing any good prices for Rome/Naples flights right now. And yes, Rome and the Amalfi coast were our first choice for this trip, but I'm trying to be flexible in my thinking as I hunt for airfare.

Yorkshire, I did see all the train options for getting from Milan to AC, but I don't know that I want to spend that much time on train travel.

Isabel, I will check out Rapello, Santa Marguerite and Camogli. Thanks for the tips.

Sandralist, we are about equidistant from Buffalo NY, Cleveland Oh and Pittsburgh PA. So flying out of any of those 3 airports works for us. Changing planes in Europe would be fine with us, as long as the travel day doesn't end up being too long. I've seen Turkish Air flights with 9+ layovers in Istanbul which would give us a travel day of over 24 hours. The prices are right but that's just too long of a day. I have seen some decent prices flying out of Cleveland on Aer lingus with layovers in Dublin, but not for Sept/Oct, at least not yet. I did look at prices into Naples and they were pretty much the same as into Rome, or open jaw Rome/Naples. I did not consider Florence. I'll check it out. I hadn't heard of flyertalk and am going to check that out too.

Southam, I'm certainly open to flying out of or in to Bologna. I'll put that on my list to check too.

You've all given me some great ideas and a lot of homework. I really appreciate it.

I meant the Italian Riviera as an alternative to the Amalfi coast, but I also agree that you should not give up on the AC just yet. But I often choose time over money, to the detriment of my bank account. Good luck!

Is it possible for you to fly in and out of Toroto? An Orbitz search for fictitious June 2015 dates turns up flight from Toronto to Napoli, return from Rome to Toronto for under $800

Bascially you fly out of Toronto at 6.30pm, switch in Paris for Naples

Coming back, you fly out of Rome to JFK, then onto Torono.

No long layovers for either flight.

Sorry -- ToronTo. But you probably guessed that's what I meant.

PS: I just tried the same search for late Sept/early Oct dates and came up with same prices and flight times, although some changes in carriers. Tix are about $750 for economy, flights from Toronto don't leave until after 6pm.

Yorkshire, I understand what you meant now. Liguria was a new place name for me. I'm looking more closely at that area.

Sandralist, yes, I looked at flying out of Toronto. It's a 4 hour drive for us, not counting possible delays at the border. It would entail overnight stays on each end. Those two facts make flying out of Toronto less attractive.

I've searched dozens of combinations of flights from our 3 nearby airports to various cities in Italy. I'm going to keep plugging away.

The Italian Riviera is nice but in no way compares with the dramatic coastline of the Amalfi Coast nor does its towns either IMO.