scrb11

Library?

Guide books are at least two years old.

You can find websites including those of the official tourism office of most towns or provinces and start there.

Or Google something like Sicily x days itinerary or Sicily top attractions to get many ideas.

yorkshire

Heck yeah for libraries--some of us like to read sources other than guide books when travel planning--history, architecture, cookbooks all can come into play. A Blue Guide is going to offer cultural information that does not go out of date. I use the internet for hotel and restaurant info, but nothing like a real book I say!

Jean

Well, one could argue that guidebooks are stale by the time they're published, but guidebooks are still a great source for inspiration and general planning. Flipping through pages of a book still wins over scrolling through websites, but both media have value.

scrb11

I used to buy guidebooks. Thought I would save a few trees though.

Jean

That's why libraries were invented.

scrb11

They were invented to save trees?

Or reduce publishing of more books?

annw

mcsles I've not been farther south than Salerno, which we've been happy to visit, getting there by boat or taxi, and once I think bus.

We've driven the AC but prefer not having a car in the area and relying on this big air-conditioned blue busses, the ferry services, or the occasional taxi.

Someone up thread mentioned Turin; I would love to see more of Piedmont and have only seen it from a drive up to Lake Como from the south. Speaking of the lakes, a couple of places in Bellagio have self-catering apartments. LMK if you need lodging suggestions in the other areas I've mentioned, and enjoy researching your wonderful trip!

zebec

Mike&Laura, what a great chunk of time you have to play with!
Does your hometown have a Reference Library? Those tend to be much larger and more comprehensive than regular local branches, especially for those interested in travel research. Our city Toronto, for example, has a 6-storey Ref Library with one of the finest Travel sections we've ever seen anywhere. Part of that travel section is an exhaustive map room. So, one can experience one-stop research to later combine with the Interwank and sites such as this one, plus Lonely Planet, Rick Steves et al.

My point is that you could really forward your cause, your prep for this trip, by spending time in such a place.
Good luck.
I am done. the end.

TDudette

Checking back, I'm not certain my link came across correctly:

Turin, Spoleto, Bologna and Bellagio TR

Trying again. Oh, we made Pisa a base one time. I don't think I was posting on Fodor's then but we trained to many places from there. We'd been to Florence before but did a day trip to see a newly showing Botticelli exhibit.

Another trip we enjoyed was:

Perugia and Rome by train and bus

When we traveled, we bought a DK Eyewitness and kept it in the "reading room". We used post-its to pick out interesting spots then graduated to as many other guides as possible to expand our knowledge.

scrb11

I just summarize a lot of the practical information -- places to visit, restaurants, hotels, flight and train tickets, prices, etc. -- from different sources into a document.

Used to have a printout of about 10 pages. But now just save as PDF that I can open in iPhone or iPad.

mcsles

scrb11, I am sorry I missed your Netflix question. Stanley Tucci is doing a program I believe he plans to visit all 20 regions. We watched the first 5 episode I believe. One was Rome, Bologna area, Tuscany Sicily and Amalfi coast. We enjoyed the sights. Got the travel bug

scrb11

The Stanley Tucci show is on CNN, not Netflix.

mcsles

kybourbon

If you really plan to go south, consider Matera in Basilicata and perhaps parts of Puglia. On my way south, I stopped in Caserta to see the Royal Palace, then headed to Naples, Amalfi Coast (had already been several times) before heading on down to Matera and came back up the other coast. That trip was early Sept. and it was quite cool at night in Matera, but perhaps that's due to elevation?

You could head down the coast after Bologna and stop in Ravenna. Then on south on that coast before heading to Sicily. Come back up the other coast for your Amalfi visit (perhaps take the ferry from Palermo to Naples).

I find the buses much less crowded between Positano and Salerno than Positano and Sorrento so consider staying in one of the little towns between Salerno/Positano.

Although she can be a tad annoying, Nicki Positano's Youtube covers all the little towns and festivals around Positano (she lives in Positano). Her playlists aren't organized how I would so you will have to click each list to see if anything interests you. I know she has some on how to walk between some of the towns through tunnels and where the different staircases in Positano take you.

https://www.youtube.com/c/NickiPositano/videos

This list is mostly the towns around Positano.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...mFiHbeGVWsKu9U

mcsles

KyBourbon and others, thank you for your knowledge and comments. For the 3rd time now in my short Fodor's stint I have lost a submission. I posted our 8 week itinerary and it has not shown up. Moderator said to give it time. 5 days now so I am forwarding a document. Yuck
Planning next September 2022 Us flight to Milan

4 nights Milan with interest in side visit to Bergamo

Hire car

2 nights Lake Orta Hotel San Rocco

2 nights Lake Como Varenna Albergo Milano vs. Hotel du lac

4 nights Dolomites Ortesei, Hotel Grones side trip Bolzano…drop car in Verona?

2 nights Verona with side trips to Padua and Ferrara

2 nights Ravenna

3 nights Bologna side trip to Modena and Parma

2 nights Lucca with side trip to Pisa

Hire car to drive to Volterra and San Gimignano visit abbey and small towns

2 nights San Gimignano drop car after arrival to Perugia or keep if staying outside town
2 nights Perugia side trip to Assisi

2 or 3 nights Naples

2 or 3 nights Capri

2 nights Positano boat from Capri

3 nights Ravello side trip to Paestrum

Hire car in Salerno drive to Puglia, visit Trani on drive south

2 nights Ostuni or Alberello

2 nights Lecce with side trip to Otranto

2 nights Matera

Drive to Reggio di Calabria to drop car

Sicily

3 nights Taormina side trip Mt Etna?

3 nights Catania

3 nights Siracusa stay on Ortigia hire car

3 nights Ragusa side Modica, Scillies and Noto

2 nights Agrigento

2 nights Trapani visit Erice Segesta

4 nights Palermo side trip to Moreale maybe Cefalu

Palermo to Rome ?

4 nights Rome side trip to Caserta
I have briefly looked at each area and starred potential lodging in these locations . I would appreciate it if you could recommend a favorite place of lodging or a favorite meal. I realize many of you have spent weeks in some of these areas. I am attempting to visit these spots with the idea that I can see the beauty and then perhaps return for a longer stay. We enjoy a combination of museums, art and the pure beauty of a walk through a pretty town. We have a rule, no 1 night stays and we enjoy a private bathroom. Looking forward to this beautiful trip and your opinions.

SusanP

That's a lot of two-night and three-night stays! And you have a day trip, or sometimes two, from those places. You don't seem to be considering the travel time, plus time checking out of one hotel and into another, getting settled. Two nights only gives you a day, maybe a day and a half at the most in each place, certainly not time for all those day trips, unless you don't care about any time to see the towns you're staying in. And I think all that moving around will get old fast. Not trying to be negative, but you might want to consider all these factors.

Leely2

I travel fast and this is too much running around for me. I think you can consolidate. For example, why Catania between Taormina and Siracusa? I'd add a night to Siracusa, a night to Ragusa and use that extra night somewhere else.

Btw, I can recommend Palazzo del Sale on Ortigia in Siracusa. Charming and more like a small hotel than a B & B. We stayed in Modica (at the wonderful Casa Talìa) so no help with Ragusa.

In Ortisei I stayed at your hotel choice, Hotel Grones. Lovely family-run hotel, wonderful food, setting and people.

Anyway, I can see consolidating other places too. Why stay in Positano and Ravello? Why not stay a night longer in each Verona and Bologna and see Ravenna as a day trip? Just examples. Maybe I missed something earlier upthread.

Oh, recently in Rome I have enjoyed stays at Hotel Nerva and Donna Camilla Savelli. I like to stay a little out of the center these days.

In Naples, we loved the Fodorite-recommended Hotel Piazza Bellini, a calm respite right in the thick of funky, buzzing Naples.

In Bologna, I have stayed a couple times at the wonderful Hotel Corona d'Oro.

Stayed at the vaguely old-fashioned Hotel Parsifal in Ravello. Worth it to book a room with view/terrace. Nice people, breakfast just okay. Less expensive than many other options in Ravello.

Jean

I'm not a fan of so many short stays and the absence of any unscheduled time for unexpected discoveries or to provide flexibility when faced with less-than-ideal weather. When I see an itinerary like this, I always wonder when the travelers plan to do laundry because you will need to address this a few times over such a long trip. You can pay to have a hotel do it (make sure the service is offered) or you'll have to spend some time looking for laundromats or doing it yourself.

Unless you've been to Rome before, four nights (3 days) isn't very much time for all there is to see. I wouldn't spend a day from Rome visiting Caserta. I definitely would spend more time in Rome than in Milan. I like Milan, but Rome is one of my favorite cities in the world.

Renting and returning cars takes more time and careful planning than you might think. There are often lines both renting and returning. In many locations, offices are not open Sundays, not open Saturday afternoons, and they're closed for a few hours in the middle of the day. You'd have to make some dummy reservations to see if there would be a charge for renting/returning the cars in different locations (this was becoming more common pre-pandemic) and to get a general sense of the overall cost of your plan of multiple rentals versus one or two longer rentals.

janisj

This may come across as 'tough love' but let's look at what this itinerary would actually look like:

• Arrive in Milan after an overnight flight. Room probably not available for check in til mid afternoon. 4 nights / 3 days, likely jet lag, potential day trip to Bergamo
• Lake Orta 2 nights/1.5 days
• Lake Como 2 nights/1.5 days
• Ortesei, Hotel Grones 5 hour drive. 4 nights/3 days. Day trip to Bolzano
• Verona 3 hour drive. 2 nights/ 1 day so no time for two day trips, or even one day trip. Padua or Ferrara
• Ravenna 2 nights/1 day
• Bologna 3 nights / 2 days (so IMO not enough time for side trip) Modena and Parma
• Lucca 2 nights / 1 day with side trip to Pisa

. . . And I'm already exhausted after less than 1/3 of your itinerary.

If I counted correctly you have 25 destinations, not counting all the side trips, in 65 nights and countless hours of driving and trains. That is 2+ months of being on the go almost every single day. In the first 20 days you will have already checked in/out of eight hotels. Sorry to say but if it was me after about the 7th or 8th stop I wouldn't have a clue where I was

You have a luxurious amount of time but to me the plan feels like a forced march. Do you really have to cover so much territory? I'd consider a few 4-5-6 night stops with a few 2-nighters in between and actually have time for scenic walks, long leisurely dinners, museums, getting to know a town a little bit?

zebec

Hi Mike & Laura,
I agree with Janis, Jean & Leely: that's an awful lot of stops. Not for nothing is Italy a nerve center for the 'Slow Travel' movement. Believe me, I too get the urge to see numerous sights, but you might enjoy the whole trip more if you're not too burnt-out by the second half.

Great choice to start in Lago di Orta. You'll be able to relax and shake off jetlag there. Wedding parties will almost certainly be evident.
Personally, I'd prioritize Gallipoli as a daytrip over Otranto.

If you stay @Albergo Milano in Varenna, please say Hi for us and tell them that I am still alive. As the pen-pal exchange finally ended between the Albergo owner's daughter's class and mine, somehow there was a miscommunication and we gathered that the Italian teacher thought that I had died!

We have some wonderful apartment rentals to suggest in Trani, Matera, Rome, Cefalu plus Palermo. Happy to advise.
cheers
I am done. the end