Italy: 10 day cruise or stay?
 

My husband and I are starting to plan a 10-day trip to Italy and possibly one other location (1-2 Greek Isles or southern France) in May 2010. Neither of us have ever been to the Mediterranean before and we'd like to see as much as possible, particularly in Italy. I've also always wanted to see the Greek Isles and I'm not sure when we'll be able to take another trip back to the area.
Here are the options we're considering: 1. stay a week in Italy and then do a 3-4 day cruise of the Greek Isles or 2. save Greece/France for another trip and just invest all of the time in Italy or 3. take a Mediterranean cruise that covers ports in France, Italy and the Greece? If you've been to these area before can you please advise on which option you think would be the best for first-timers? We are traveling with frequnt flier points so cost of flying is not an issue (but is the reason we are trying to plan so far in advance!). We also really want to have fun and relax a bit...so packing and unpacking too many times is not ideal. Thank you in advance for your help!

I would spend the 10 days in Italy. You really can't see much from a cruise ship as the ports aren't near the cities you probably would like to visit. Fly into Venice and out of Rome, stopping for a couple of days in Florence in route.

Ten days is only long enough to see just a little of Italy. You don't have time to add Greece. kybourbon's suggestion is the standard first-timer itinerary, although your interests might tend to Tuscany rather than Florence, or the Cinqueterra or the Amalfi Coast. Why do you want to go to Italy? Art? Architecture? Scenery? Food?

Hmmm...I guess if we had to list in order of interest I'd say: food (and wine), scenery, architecture, art. Would you reccommend renting a car or traveling by train? (what is the least stressful?)

Does your 10 days include travel to and from Italy? Do you have 10 hotel nights in Italy?

I would totally agree with Kybourbon -- do the 10 days in ONE country, Either Italy OR Greece.

Cruising on mega-ships is really about the shipboard experience ... if you enjoy that, take it as a sea voyage -- but do not think that you will "see" any greek isles in such a cruise. YOu get sometimes as short a time as 4 hours from docking to departure -- and with 1500+ peple getting off it can take an hour.... youget into the port, have a meal, take some snapshots and that is it. Such cruise do not maximize what you see. All you maximize is the list of ports you can check off. I am all in favor of cruises as a sea voyage.. just do not confuse them (at least typical cruises) with actual visits to a country.

HOWEVER There ARE rather different cruises, which come into smaller ports that don't accommodate the behemoth boats ... which stay a full day and allow you to dine ashore ... I have often seen these ships in islands such as Naxos or Sifnos. They usually accommodate 50 or at most 75 people or so, all of whom seem to be having a lovely, relaxed time. Of course (wouldn't you know it?) these cruises can be much more costly. However... they sometimes offer deep discounts if you time it right ... here are some samples:
http://www.ewaterways.com/cruise/greece/

http://www.varietycruises.com/variet...ineraryID=1897 -- their 2 ships HarmonyG and HarmonyV --- offer interesting 9 day cruises ... and when I googled them, I saw an MSNBC item about a a big savings on these 2 boats ... a good, unrushed 7 day cruise for about $1750 per person in 2009. Something to check into!

Here's the link to that story about savings on the Harmony ships
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29537623/

... and this business of you dont know when you'll be able to take another trip back to the area ....that all depends on your priorities, and circumstances. Is it health? business? children? cost? that makes it unlikely? It all depends on what matters .... I never got to Greece at all until my kids were grown -- went in 1999 ... have been back 7 times since! Of course, it's my one priority. If you go to Greece, Beware! YOu may fall in love with it!

Thanks everyone for your comments! I think we'll take your advice and stay in Italy the entire time. Now to figure out where to stay....

Hi Lew,

You only have 10 days and you want relaxation, not hectic hurrying about: either 10 days in one country or cruise.

Please note that a Med cruise is not the same as visiting Italy. Most of your time is spent among the passengers, not the locals. If your itinerary lists Florence and Rome, you dock in Livorno and Civitivecchia, respectively.

Enjoy your planning.

((I))

If art is lower on the list I'd skip Florence (it's lower on mine, and I've been to Italy four times without going to Florence). If scenery is high I'd go to the Cinqueterra or the Amalfi Coast - if you go to the AC you can include Pompeii, Herculaneum, Capri, maybe even Naples along with Rome.

The train (and a bus on the AC) will a lot less stress than driving.

I suggest 4 days in Venice and 6 in the countryside of southern Tuscany. Fly into Venice and out of either Florence or Rome. Stay in an apartment in Venice and an agriturismo in Tuscany.

Venice apartment- http://www.palazzofoscarini.com/pf/en/

Tuscany- http://www.fontebertusi.it/eng/

I have done both (2 Med cruises and 18 land trips to Italy) and highly recommend NOT doing a cruise as you will miss the most wonderful parts of each day, before and after the day trippers descend.

If your interests are really food and wine, then why choose a cruise where you will be limited to mass prepared, banquet quality food and over priced wine from a pedestrian list?

Truly, a cruise is a drive by at best and you will not be able to experience much of anything and certainly nothing off the beaten path.

If you are a foodie, then Emilia Romagna and Tuscany are the best choices IMO. The standard big three (Venice, Florence, Rome) would work for you if what you want is the popular first timer itinerary. And there is nothing wrong with that.:)

You will need to decide if you are willing to rent a car or prefer to travel by train. Travel "open jaw" into one city and out of another.

With ten days I personally would enjoy Tuscany and Rome with 1 or 2 of day trips from both if you choose Florence as a base. IMO, if you stay in the Tuscan countryside you really need to have a car.

Your decision needs to be based on what you really want to experience about Italy.

Since you've always wanted to see the Greek Isles and aren't very sure that you'll ever have another chance to do so in the future, I hope that you won't regret spending all of your time in Italy. I'm a firm believer in taking trips that you've always dreamed about while you have still have the health and money to enjoy them. If you pick 1 city in Italy and 1 island in Greece, then 10 days is enough to get a taste of each country.

I'm curious what the general opinion is on staying somewhere central (Tuscany) and visit Rome, Venice on day trips? We'd prefer not to have to pack/unpack multiple times as I already mentioned so this seems like a good option. How long does it take to get to Rome and Venice by train from Tuscany region? And where would you reccommend staying in Tuscany? We'd prefer country over staying in Florence I think. Thanks!

YOu can't have it both ways ... if you avoid packing/moving, and you only have 10 days, you limit yourself. Rome and Venice ARE NOT DAY TRIPS. Your choices are these
(1) You see 3/4 Major Italian towns or cities, and move every other night.
(2)Stay in one place and see 2-3 smaller towns within 30 miles.
(3) Take a much longer trip (3 weeks) and spend 4 days or so in Tuscany area, Florence, Venice and Rome.

No matter how many ways you ask us, you can turn a 10-day trip into an in-depth experience, with no packing/moving.

That should be you CANNOT turn a 10-day trip ...etc

Daytrips from Tuscany to Venice and Rome would waste far more time than packing and unpacking. It is not something I would ever do personally. Long, exhausting days only to share these cities with hordes of other daytrippers, missing the best they have to offer.

I haved not had the experiences with Italy that others have had. However, I loved it and want to go back one of these days.

My favorite city was Venice. I had a few hours to explore Burano and would like to have a whole day there. Also would have liked to explore the other islands in the lagoon as well as back streets of Venice proper. Early one morning my sister and I went down for breakfast (7 am) by the Grand Canal and watched the big cruise ships pull in. Within a few hours the place was crawling with cruisers following tour guides. We had had a quiet time enjoying the early mist and watching the city come alive. Our room looked over one of the small canals and we had watched the gondolas bringing supplies to restaurants, taking trash away and generally doing the business of a city. There are lots of reports here which outline a week of adventures in Venice. If you spent 5 or 6 days here, you might begin to scratch the surface of all that Venice has to offer.

Then pick up a rental car and explore some countryside. We went up to Bolzano and Castelrotto (Kastelruthe) which is in the Dolomites. This area used to be part of Austria, so the people are bilingual and the architecture and food will remind you of Austria. By May 1, the cable cars are running up into hiking areas of the mountains. We had some wonderful meals and the scenery is fantastic. In Bolzano the museum of archeology has Oetzi the ice man and have done a good job of displaying all that they learned from this discovery. There are also displays which show the human development of the area. On the way to the Dolomites you might make a stop in Verona. Lots to see and you won't see it all, but a pleasant city.

Or you might go from Venice south to Umbria and visit the hill towns.

Or spend the remainder of your time in the Cinque Terre. We spent time ( one week)there hiking the trails, taking the ferry, sampling the goodies, enjoying the scenery, and relaxing. (This was the first stop of our trip and my brother-in-law really needed some down time after a stressful tax season at work.) While in the CT we didn't need a car. Took a day trip by train to Pisa and another to Lucca. We did rent a car for a day trip to San Gimignano. One of my best memories is the last evening when we went up to a restaurant above Vernazza and watched the sun set as we ate, a feast for the eyes and the palate. Also in the CT was the first time I ever ate fresh anchovies, absolutely no likeness to the canned things some people put on pizza here. They were grilled and delicious. While we spent a week and don't regret a minute of all that time, you could spend less time and still have a great stay.

> lewissh3 on Jun 30, 09 at 09:31 PM <

You can check train schedules at www.trenitalia.com.

It is not a horrible idea, but the main hub is Florence. If you stay in a small town, you will be adding about 3 hr pd to each trip you take.

Additionally, if you try to do Rome and Venice as a daytrip, you are more likely to end up dislikiing those cities than enjoying yourself.

We used Florence as a hub for 11 nights. Details at
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...2&tid=34451044

((I))

A good maxim is "less is more". Don't try and do too much but you can add to an Italian experience by using a uniquely Italian form of accommodation. Try staying in a monastery or convent in the countryside or the cities. They are different and very Italian. Have a look at www.monasterystays.com to see what they look like. good, safe and well located especially in Rome,Florence and Venice. As you've got tie check it out.