Italy Itinerary
 

Hey guys, so i am seeking some more opinions/advice on Italy in March. I am going with my girlfriend and so far our itinerary looks like this - Rome 3 nights, Positano 3 nights, Florence 3 nights, Bologna 2 nights and finally Venice 3 nights. Obviously we wont be able to see everything in all of these places in 3-4 days but would we still enjoy them given the amount of time in each?

So far we havent booked or organised any tours or activities as we were thinking of leaving some of that until we got to the locations and after a bit of exploring if we wanted to then we would book a tour or something alike. Would this be a good idea given it might not be as busy this time of the year?
Some of the things we do want to do though are a wine tour or two (will most likely book this whilst in Florence), Colosseum (Rome) and aside from that we are open for some suggestions as neither of us have been to Italy before.

We are also looking to spend a bit more money on a hotel in Venice as it will be our last few nights for our holiday so if there is any good recommendations that would be appreciated as well.

Thanks,

Also one more question, would the Cinque Terre or Bologna be better in March? Currently debating which one to spend 2 nights in.

Three nights in a place gives you two full days and part of another. It will take usually about 1/2 day to depart your hotel, get to train, travel, get to next hotel. It will take 3/4 of a day to get from Positano to Florence. Arrival day may be jet lagged, so not heavy sightseeing.
This is what you realistically have, depending on times of travel.
Rome, 1/2 jet lagged day + 2 full days
Positano, 2 full days
Florence, 2 full days
Bologna, 1 & 1/2 days
Venice, 2 & 1/2 days
You may be lucky and have lovely mild weather, but it can also be cool and rainy. Take rain jackets and good umbrellas.
Positano has beautiful views, but also lots of steps. It is a Summer resort destination, so not my choice for March, when you can't sit out to eat in swim, but some people enjoy the off season. Do check ferry times. They may not be running yet. If you want to see Pompeii though, it is OK, at least not cooking hot as it is in Summer, but also not easy to get to from Positano. Better to stay in Sorrento for that.

The CT is really iffy that early. You can be rained out as we have been.

At this time of year, consider two or three bases and plan some day trips. If the weather turns out great, do them. If it doesn't, you are not stuck someplace.
Example: Rome. If you stayed 4 or 5 days in Rome and one day was sunny, you could hop a train to Naples or Ostia Antica or Orvieto. If it was cool and rainy, there are tons of things to do and see in Rome.
Florence, stay four days and plan on day trips by train or bus to Siena, Lucca, Pisa, or Bologna.
Same for Venice.

Bologna for me, the covered pavements make it a pretty pleasant place in the rain.
I think I'd try and book a wine tour before I left, have a look at the local town website and see what is about, I find you can get great deals from the local tours that advertise on the town website. Also the food in Bologna is especially good so you might want to add in a Balsamic V tour, or a Parma ham tour or even travel up to the north a bit add in an Amarone tour.

Positano, depends on the weather, you can get to three amazing Roman temples from here Day Trip to Paestum from the Amalfi Coast - The Amalfi Coast I think about 100km away but feasible.

Rome, don't book anything, unless you have a special restaurant to grab, but of course book a hotel. Everything else in March is pretty much walk up to.

Shoes, Italy is about walking and there are a lot of cobbles, so take broken in shoes and a foldable umbrella, mug up on the usual top 40 words Scuzi, Buongiorno, Grazie, Prego, Ciao (you pronounce all the letters) Come Stai you can find a bunch at the back of most travel books. You'll find it makes the day so much more easily.

Okay thanks!

So you recommend not doing Bologna and spending those two nights at another place?

I think we will most likely leave the CT for another time, it seems like it could be to wet and not enough open at the time of the year we are planning on going?

A wine tour in March sounds like a real downer to me. Just go to a local enoteca.

Cinque Terre also could be horrid that time of year unless you're lucky.

Nobody suggested not doing Bologna; quite the opposite.

Not sure why you double-posted. People gave you good suggestions on your first post.

Bilbo is right about the language (though it's scusi, not scuzi), but you have to know HOW to pronounce the letters - it's not intuitive.

Thought id give more information as we had decided on some other things.

So are you suggesting not to do Bolonga and split those 2 nights elsewhere on the trip?

We seem to be recommending going to Bologna.
Drop CT, I'd add all the time to Bologna for a base and maybe catch a train to one of the local "cities" so see some others. Bologna is a centre of a large web of train lines and trains are very easy to use. seat61.com gives good advice. Bologna is a vibrant student city well worth it for itself alone. Yep a wine store might well do well, but there are a bunch of tours around the countryside stopping at food/wine producers and one of those might take your fancy.

Thanks St C. Ciao.:-)