Italy itinerary in July
 

I am traveling to Italy in July with my boyfriend and another friend, we'll be spending 12 nights. We are all 50 years old (the reason for our trip!). First time in Italy for all of us. More interested in relaxation than museums. Your thoughts on our trip plans would be most welcome!
Flying in and out of Milan. Our thought was to go from Milan to Venice for a brief visit (day and a half). Have heard it is crowded and expensive but is one of those places you should "at least see once". Then to Tuscany for about 4 nights. We'd like to stay in an "agriturismo" type situation in a rural area. We then want to go to a beach for 3 to 4 days and are looking at the Amalfi Coast. Finally we are deciding on Cinque Terra as we head back north to Milan. Is it worth the trip or should we extend our Tuscany and beach days? Can Cinque Terra be appreciated in a couple of days? How much of the trip is doable by train? We are willing to rent a car but could forgo that for parts of the trip.

thanks so much, I appreciate the experience of other travelers!

I would drop Amalfi coast as it isn't beachy, it's built on cliffs but more importantly it is far from your other locations. It would make more sense to head to one of the lakes or cinque Terre although the latter doesn't really have beaches other than monterosso and it isn't a great beach.

If you are going to go to Venice I would allocate more time there so you can actually enjoy it. Yes it is filled with tourists in the main path from Saint marks to Rialto bridge. Visit that early in the morning then avoid it and head into other areas that are much less touristed!

It can mostly be done by train but a car would be required for rural tuscany if you want to stay at an agriturismo. We just stayed at Sant Antonio outside of montepulciano and we would highly recommend it! http://www.santantonio.it

Here is our trip report for Tuscany http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-new-years.cfm

And our pics http://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gir...7639164500734/

You've picked the hottest and busiest time of the year to go to Italy. If you've not made your flight reservations, you might consider flying into Venice and out of Milan.

We've been to Venice maybe 6-7 times, and we really regret waiting until our last trip to go to Florence and Rome. First visiting those cities puts the whole country into perspective, as you're visiting where modern western society came from.

If you're locked into flying into and out of Milan, I'd suggest you take the train to Venice, and take the train down to Florence. Spend at least a long weekend in Florence before going 20-30 miles south to an agriturismo around San Gimignano, Certaldo or outside Siena.

I would suggest you save Cinque Terre for another trip, as it's really, really busy in July.

If you have not made flight arrangements, fly into Venice, train to Florence and train to Rome. It's a place not to be missed.

If you want beach, Rimini is an hour from Bologna (two from Florence). It has miles of beach, and miles of parallel shops, restaurants, and discos. It is the quintessential Italian beach life experience.

If you want beach AND Venice, everybody rags on Lido di Venezia, but I've stayed there many times because it really is a pretty Italian beach resort, a lovely place to be and a refreshing break from tourist-intense Venice. It is very unlike Venice proper, and some may feel that you abandon the 'mystique' of Venice staying there, but personally, I can handle that. It's 15 gorgeous minutes on the vaporetto to San Marco, and the hotel prices are far better than in Venice.

Have you considered Lake Como (or one of the other lakes.)? Very easy to get to from Milan. Very relaxing. Gorgeous scenery. Temps will be cooler than in CT or Amalfi. Buon viaggio!