Hi,

I'm working on my itinerary to Italy for an 18-day trip, flying in to Venice and out of Milan. So far, my plan is as follows (note that I booked my flight this way to use airline miles--unfortunately, couldn't fly out of Naples):

Day 1: Depart Home

2: Arrive Venice

3: Venice

4: Venice

5: Travel to Bologna

6: Bologna

7: Travel to Florence

8: Florence

9: Travel to Cinque Terre

10: CT

11: Travel to Rome

12: Rome

13: Rome

14: Travel to Naples

15: Naples/Pompei/Vesuvius

16: Naples/more ruins outside city

17: Travel to Milan

18: Fly Home
h
I'm wondering if it would be better to spend two days and only one night in Bologna instead of two nights. I can catch an afternoon train to Florence that would allow me to spend almost two full days in Bologna. Is it worth a two day visit?

Someone suggested that two nights in Cique Terre may be more than enough; others say it takes to days to fully appreciate it. I think it might be nice to spend two nights there for relaxation and a slower pace than the cities. I would like to walk the trail in full.

Someone suggested that I am shortchanging Florence. Someone else, Rome. I have been to Italy before but it was over twenty years ago (traveled there as a teenager). Someone also said too much time in Venice. I am traveling alone and do not intend to ride gondolas or have lengthy romantic dinners, etc. I do remember being completely fascinated by this city, however.

My concern is making sure I arrive in Milan to make my flight. Perhaps better to stay two nights in Milan than one in order to have a buffer, as my flight on the 18th is fairly early. Two years ago I had a very close shave traveling from Tangier to Madrid in the course of one day to catch a flight the following day! Won't be trying that again : )

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Your instinct to be in Milan at least the night before your flight is a good one, so stick with that. The fact that you are flying in to Venice and out of Milan, ie both in the northern part of the country, means that you might want to rearrange your route a little to minimise backtracking and long sections.

So, with that in mind, perhaps you could consider:
Venice - 3 nights (have as long as YOU want here, sounds like you really enjoy this city so don't cut it short
Bologna - the train ride from Venice is short, so most of a day and a night would be fine
Naples - you'll need 2 full days, 1 for Pompeii/Vesuvius and 1 for Naples itself.
Rome - 3 nights Rome will give you 2 and a bit days, will that be enough for what you want to see?
Florence - again, how much time you spend here will depend on what you want to see, but 2 full days would be a good start
CT - depends on the time of year this trip is happening (you don't mention this). It's a beautiful part of the country, as are many other places, but you need to give it around 2 full days to be able to visit the villages, or at least more than one of them, and the weather can be fickle in Autumn/Fall whilst Winter might not give you the best of the area. Maybe consider leaving it out this time around if you can't spare the time or the season is wrong.
Milan - the train from Florence (the Eurostar Italia) takes just under 2hrs, but if you're coming from CT then it will take around 3hrs (on the InterCity from La Spezia). A day here is fine if you want to visit the Duomo, Galleria V Emanuele and walk past La Scala, and book ahead if you want to see The Last Supper. But I would stay in Milan the night before your flight.

People have widely varying preferences about Italy. Some people will claim you should spend 18 days in Rome and Florence alone. You are really packing a lot in - I should know, I did a very similar itinerary a few years ago, covering almost all of those places in almost the same order (I flew into Rome, train immediately to Venice, then flew home out of Rome, but otherwise very similar to your plan.)

Some people don't care for Venice because they find it too crowded, like "Disneyland" - which indeed it is around Rialto and San Marco during the day/early evening, where you are literally walking through crowds. But Venice is magical at night and in the morning and away from those busy areas. It's the only Italian city I've visited on two different trips, a very unique city. But you HAVE to stay on the island and not in Mestre or something (cheaper), otherwise you'll miss the magic of Venice in the morning/at night when the tour groups have gone home.

The food in Bologna was AMAZING but I found a night there satisfactory. Compared to the other cities on your list, there aren't a lot of unique sites. But a stop just for the food alone is worth it; you could even make it a long day trip and have at least one meal there as an (easy) stop before Venice and Florence off the train. (Bologna hotels tend to be overpriced because of trade shows, not tourism.)

I'm not a museum person, my three nights in Florence were more than enough (I did day trips and only one museum). One day trip was to Siena, which was a highlight of my trip - highly recommend a day trip there if at all possible (I would even take the day from Bologna if you can at least stop in Bologna for a meal and a quick walk around the city for a few hours). At least add a night to Florence so you can day trip to Siena (by bus not train probably).

I had three nights in the Cinque Terre. This was another highlight of my trip. The towns are adorable, but the hiking between towns is the real reason to visit - another unique experience, with breathtaking views and scenery. However, expect tons of American tourists on the trains especially in season. Some of the hikes are moderate to difficult, so know that ahead of time; just make sure you are in shape for that. I could have hiked the five towns in a day (many people do) but because I had more time hiked Vernazza to Monterosso the first day and did the other four the next day - and it was still a long 2nd day. With two nights, you can at least have a full day just to hike and relax at the end of the day, or arrive early and split it up as I did. Two nights is plenty, my third gave me a day to relax.

I trained all the way to Naples after the CT and at least you are just going to Rome but that is still a fairly long day of training.

I loved the Roman Forum and ruins - not to be missed. Otherwise, I didn't fall in love with the city like I did previously with, say, Paris - but others have the exact opposite impression or love both cities and say you should spend a week in Rome. Again - tastes vary. Three nights would have been enough for me.

I stayed in Sorrento to see Pompeii and did Naples as a day trip only - but I didn't care for Sorrento and wished I'd stayed in Naples instead, because I enjoyed my visit there. Another "everyone has a preference" thing. I think you are doing the right thing there.

Otherwise, I think your itinerary is fine.

For later consideration maybe - but, if you'll excuse the 'cut and paste', some stuff for the southern stages of your trip...

Rome - for what's-on information and other useful stuff, see the handy monthly magazine given away in hotels etc, called "Un Ospite a Roma - A guest in Rome".
They've a website from where you can download a copy in PDF format: start here, and click on the picture of its cover, over to the right of the screen:
http://www.unospitearoma.it

....

The Naples tourism people recently relaunched their similar 'Qui Napoli' magazine. I've never yet seen a paper copy, however a PDF version is available on...
http://www.inaples.it/public/quinapoli/quinapoli.pdf

For more about the towns and villages around Vesuvius, there's an interesting leaflet of 100 or so pages, "Discovering Vesuvius", to be downloaded from....

http://www.costadelvesuvio.com/brocure.pdf

(It was created in January 2009, so do cross- and doublecheck specific details, and watch out for outdated references... such as to “Vesuviana Mobilità", the former operators of buses to Mount Vesuvius, and to old route numbers once used by the Metro del Mare!)

It's also available from:
http://discoveringvesuvius.com/brocure.pdf
..............

For Vesvius from either Naples or Pompei, see..
http://www.unicocampania.it/index.ph...action=vesuvio

But anticipate some changes on the Pompei route once their autumn schedule kicks in, on October 1st!

.......

For museums and archaelogical sites etc, there's the Campania Artecard. Over the years its range of options has grown and grown, so you'll have to find which one of several might best fit your needs...
http://www.campaniartecard.it/

Rome has something similar, but with a fixed 3 day validity, the RomaPass:
http://www.romapass.it/p.aspx?l=en&tid=2

.....

Lastly, there's discussion of visiting Boscoreale, Oplontis etc here...
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop...-i421-k3723054

Peter

I would drop Bologna and add that time to the CT and Rome. Look at flying from Naples to Milan.

I agree that I might rework the schedule slightly to make some of your travel times between places shorter. Also eliminates one change of hotel. You might choose to add the days gained from Bologna to Florence or CT, depending on your interest in each area.

Day 1: Depart Home
Day 2: Arrive Venice
Day 3: Venice
Day 4: Venice
Day 5: Early train to Bologna; check bags at station; spend day in Bologna; have a great lunch; early evening train to Rome
Day 6: Rome
Day 7: Rome
Day 8: Rome
Day 9: Travel to Naples
Day 10: Naples/Pompei/Vesuvius
Day 11: Naples/more ruins outside city
Day 12: Travel to Florence
Day 13: Florence
Day 14: Florence
Day 15: Travel to Cinque Terre
Day 16: CT
Day 17: Travel to Milan
Day 18: Fly Home

Good plan from Ellen !

2 days plus your arrival day will not be too much time in Venice. Some people think Venice is only the Grand Canal at Piazza San Marco--we spent 5 full days in Venice on our first trip there and didn't have time for many of the major, well-known sights, let alone some of the lesser publicized treasures.