Johnny21

1st time travel to Italy for 2 of us. 11 or 12 days..Would like to use a tour like Rick Steves...I'd like to see Rome , Venice , Florence, Cinque Terre, (I know that's spelled wrong) and Lake Como Is that way too much...Plus I can't find a tour that handles that...any suggestions

vjpblovesitaly

You spelled it correctly. Why do you feel you need a tour? I think that is too much for 11 or 12 days.

Jean

Yep, too much. If you could fly into Venice or Rome and fly out of the other, you could see Florence in between the two. If the Cinque Terre and /or Lake Como are a high priority, you'd have to drop one or two of the Big Three.

mamcalice

Agreed that you are trying to do too much. It took us 4 or 5 trips to Italy to cover all of that ground. If you have 12 days on the ground, see Rome, Florence and Venice. That is a great trip for the first visit to Italy. No need to go on a tour, it is easy to do yourself and the public transit between cities is great. Fly into Venice and out of Rome. Venice is a good place to get over jet lag- very serene.

CaliGurl

Hi Johnny21,

I am in the begging stages of planning our October 2015 trip to Italy Also. We are there for 10 days and are visiting Rome then Florence. Florence will be our home base for two day trips, one day in Sienna and one day in Cinque Terre. This means we do not see much of Florence, but we are willing to do that on this trip. You do not need to go on a tour, you can do day trips with tour companies if you wish, and each town will have a walking tour you can take or you can download walking tours and do them yourself.

I suggest that you purchase a good guide book (or two) on each town you want to visit, start planning the sites you want to see, figure out travel times and the way you want to travel between each site (Train, Bus, Plane?) and then you can start to fill in each day and see what you REALLY have time for.

neckervd

A somewhat decent visit of Rome needs at least 4 (full, NOT jetlag) days. Count at least 2 days each for Florence and Venice.
But the real gems are rather around these 3 overtouristy cities: Chiusi, Tarquinia, Orvieto, Perugia, Siena,Lucca, Ravenna, Mantova, Sirmione, etc.
Lake Como and 5Terre might not be the best idea for October. This October, there was rain most of the time, with serious inondations and earth slides (trails closed) in the wider 5Terre area.

vincenzo32951

I echo the warning about Como and CT in October, especially late October.

Much of Italy is very nice at that time of year, but not so much in those two spots.

CaliGurl

Neckervd and Vincenzo..thanks for the heads up on CT in October, now I am thinking late September/Early October. We are also spending an additional 5 days in Paris, which will come at the end of the trip.

PalenQ

We are also spending an additional 5 days in Paris, which will come at the end of the trip.>

There is for the time being at least still an overnight train rolling between Venice, Milan and Paris - if you want to experience an overnight train check www.thello.com for fares which if booked way in advance can be as low as 59 euros or so p.p. (shared couchette compartment) or more for a private compartment - just something to think about - saves times even over flying and saves money on a night in a hotel. For lots about what to expect on an overnight train check: www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com or www.ricksteves.com - all with lots of practical info on trains in general, it is easy to book trains online and just have to show up and board - in case you decide to go on your own and eschew a tour (not saying to do that - each has its merits).

CaliGurl

PalenQ-Thanks for all that information, very helpful!