Italy July 25-Aug 8 2008
 

We are planning a trip to Italy for our 15 year anniversary. Can someone recomment a great itinerary? We also want to see the alps, so perhaps a few days in Switzerland?
Thanks for the help.

Hi LD,

We are not a travel agency.

We haven't the vaguest idea of what would be a great itinerary for you.

If you give us a draft plan, we can help you improve it.

((I))

If you tell us what your interests are and what your budget is people can make recos.

Working blind is just a waste of our time.

3 days Venice
4 days Florence
6 days Lake District, drive up into the Alps during that time.

Congratulations on your upcoming 15th anniversary lexdave.

Yes, more information is needed.

How many nights will you have in Italy/Switzerland?

Have you purchased your airline tickets? If so which airport will you be arriving at and which aiport will you be departing from?

What places do you want to visit? If you do not know I would suggest that you get some travel books and review them. Your local library no doubt has them so you can check them out to get you started.

When do you plan on taking this anniversary trip?

How much per night do you have budgeted for your lodgings? What type of lodgings do you want, hotels, small inns, apartments?

What interest do you two have? The Alps but what else? Do you like large cities, small cities/towns, countryside, seaside, the lake area, museums and churches for art, cafes and taking time to people watch while sitting at an outdoor cafe, hiking, architectural interest, historical sites etc.

How do you plan on travelling? Will you be renting a car or are you thinking of travelling by train?

Anyway, do some research and when you have somewhat of an idea as to what would appeal to you and your wife post back with a tenative intinerary and you will find Fodorite's a wealth of information.

And enjoy researching your trip as that is part of the fun of taking a trip to an unknown area.

Milan, Venice, on to Switzerland?
Fly into Milan and out of Geneva?
Travel between places by train?

I apologize for not being clear. We plan to travel in August(my window is July 28 - Aug. 31)for about 2 weeks. I know the timing is not ideal, but this is the only month we can go.
I just want to focus on Italy right now as I'm thinking that it is better to do one country than rush through two.
Budget-wise we are hoping to spend less than $350.00/night, but we will consider anything up to $500.00 if it is really spectacular. We just want to avoid American chains hotels that are the same in every city. We would also happily consider romantic B&B's or renting a villas for part of the stay and making it a home base for day trips.
We plan on seeing the major museums of course, but we also want to see Italy like the locals - we love walking through quaint towns, mingling with the locals and wandering through quaint towns. The rough itinerary is sketched out below and can be reversed if necessary:
Amalfi Coast for 2 nights (Positano?)
Rome for 3 nights
Sienna 1 night, (or somewhere central where we could make daytrips to Siena, Pisa, Florence)
Florence 2 nights
Venice 3 nights
Lake district 3 nights

What are we missing or what should we skip? Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks for the help.

Just a quick observation, others will have more I'm sure:

You wrote "Sienna 1 night, (or somewhere central where we could make daytrips to Siena, Pisa, Florence)"

"Sienna" is Siena.

You can avoid one more packing and unpacking and moving house, by staying an additional night in Florence and doing two daytrips:

One to Siena (not Sienna), it is easily booked at the last minute, several operators have daily coaches that get met by a guide in Siena - which enhances your visit greatly. Some then take you back via a stop in San Gimignano, that adds a nice accent but makes for a longer day.

Also from Florence: A daytrip to Pisa - only an hour by train. But while you do that, you might as well first go to Lucca in the morning, then after lunch go back to Florence via Pisa, it is on the way, and Pisa (the leaning tower etc.) doesn't take very long.

Trains at www.ferroviedellostato.it

You will have a difficult time "mingling with the locals" in the major tourist towns you have mentioned. If you want to see what everyday life in Italy is like and make acquaintances with "the locals", go to an area such as Abruzzo, and rent a place, Sulmona is a great town, Roman ruins, great food and notable local wine, friendly people, beautiful mountain views, etc. Also, in end of July/Aug. it will be cooler than the hot cities of Tuscany & Lazio.

Your proposed itinerary is a lot of moving around for only two weeks. August is high season in both the Lake District and Amalfi Coast so you won't be getting any great hotel deals there and both will be VERY crowded. Since you want to see the mountains, I'd drop the Amalfi Coast on this trip (it's too far from your other stops for only a two day stay) and add those days to Tuscany. Pick one central place as the other poster said and make day trips to Florence and Siena. August is usually low season in Rome (despite being jammed with tourists) and you can get good hotel deals there. Same with Venice, although Venice in August should have it's own circle in Hades. If I were planning this trip, I would: fly into Rome, spend five nights (getting good use of low hotel rate) with a possible daytrip to Naples/Pompeii. Four nights Tuscany, four nights Lake District and fly home from Milan.

I suggest a max of 4 destinations in that time. Grinisa has a good plan but I think you have enough time to include Venice in your plan. I would do:
Rome--4
Tuscany--3
Venice--3
Lakes--3
Last nite near MXP