travela

Hi, I was wondering if I could have thoughts on this intinerary (whether we are staying at certain cities long enough, if there is too much training etc). It will be myself, my wife and our baby who will be 18 months at the time of travel.

April 20th: Arrive in Venice
April 20th-23rd: Stay in Bassano Del Grappa (Day trips to neighboring towns and Venice)
April 24th: Train to Bari
April 25th: Bari
April 26th: Bari (10PM Ferry to Dubrovnik)
April 27th-May 1st (Dubrovnik for 4 nights) Day trips from here to Bosnia and Montenegro and Korcula Island.
May 2-5: Split (Day trip to Hvar)
May 5: Ferry from Split arrives in Ancona Italy. Train to Bologna
May 5-6: One night in Bologna
May 6-7: Train to Milan and one night in Milan
May 7-10: Stay in Bellagio on Lake Como for 3 nights. Ferry trips to surrounding towns
May 11: Fly Home

The only reason we are in Bari and Bassano so long is because we have family there and free accomodation. Bassano will be a base and Bari is a point of transit for Dubrovnik.

Personal opinions would be great. We aren't big into museums, mostly will be interested in beautiful scenery, architecture, urban planning and food.

Aramis

Apart from the fact that it will take you;

-9 hours to get to Bari from BdG,

-your day trip to Korcula is close to 3 hours each way from Dubrovnik, and

-the Split to Bologna leg will take more than 9 hours (even allowing just 1 hour connection between the ferry arrival and train departure). If you take another overnight ferry it is 11 hours just to get to Ancona then 3.5 more to connect to the train and get to Bologna.

You might want to look into flying to Bari from Venice (from 44 Euros and 1:15 flying time ) Flying from Split back to Milan would also seem to be a great time saver but it looks to be around 135 Euros and up.

rialtogrl

Why backtrack to Milan? Spend the Italy part in Italy, take the ferry to Croatia, and fly home from Croatia. Go to the lakes and Milan from Bassano del Grappa, make your way south to Bari with a stop in Bologna.

A day trip from Split to Hvar is better reversed (stay in Hvar to visit Split) because the fast passenger ferry leaves Hvar Town in the morning and returns in the late afternoon. You can take the car ferry to Stari Grad, but it is two hours each way (not sure if you are bringing a car or not...)

vincenzo32951

I didn't understand the backtracking either.

travela

we have to backtrack as flights are all out of venice since bassano is our home base. wish I had done flights from Croatia but to late to change it.

bobthenavigator

The travel is too much and too complicated with a baby.
Why not stay in Italy? Save the Croatia trip for another time when you have 2 weeks and can fly there.

rialtogrl

I agree with Bob that it would be better to stay in Italy, but if you are flying in and out of Venice you could visit northern Croatia for a few days, or Slovenia. Istria is not terribly far from Venice, you could get there by train/bus or bus or ferry. But you could find plenty to do in Italy and save Croatia for another day.