travelallovernow

I am flying my 71 year old mother to Italy in mid-may for a 10-11 day trip. She has never been to Italy & this has always been a dream of hers. I will be meeting her there and I have never been to Italy either, so I need your help!

1. Cities / Locations:
Venice & Rome are two musts, but I need help deciding a third location to see Italy in its "natural element". Which is the best option between Florence (&tuscany countryside), Cinque Terre, and Amalfi? My 71 yr old mother is an artist, but she would rather not spend her trip in museums. She does not drink, and she has minor back problems/tires more quickly than she used to.

2. Schedule:
She is flying into Venice and flying out of Rome. How does the schedule below look? She might be very tired day 1..

Days 1 - Arrive in Venice @ 1pm after 14 hour flight
2 - Venice
3 - Venice? 2nd city?
4 - 2nd city
5 - 2nd city
6 - 2nd city
7 - Rome
8 - Rome
9 - Rome
10 - Rome
11 - Fly out in AM

Thanks in advance! This is a HUGE deal for her and may be her only trip to Italy.

artsnletters

The Cinque Terre and the Amalfi Coast are as far away as you can get from Italy's "natural element" - I suggest not going to either of those if that's what you want.

Are you willing to drive? If so, three days in the Tuscan countryside would be heaven, and would give you three very different experiences of Italy.

HappyTrvlr

Yes, spend that time in Tuscany.

iris1745

Certainly Tuscany would be wonderful.

But now how to get there? By car from Venice with a mother with back problems. It's a good haul.

Consider spending 4 nights in Venice after a long flight of 14 hours. REST!!

Then for me, I would just do the train from Venice to Florence and stay two nights. It doesn't have to be about museums, just the surroundings of yesteryear.

And on to Rome and enjoy Rome.


.

KTtravel

While you are in Venice, I highly recommend taking a boat to Burano. Since your mother is artistic, I think she would enjoy the beautifully colored homes there. It is a small island and you can just walk around as much as her energy permits.

Sassafrass

Day 1, after such a long flight, and arriveing at 1:00 pm. by time you get to your hotel, it will be around 3:00 more or less. Your Mother will not just likely be tired. She will more likely be absolutely exhausted, so a walk and dinner is it.

Days 2 & 3, Venice
Spend at least two full days (three nights) in Venice. For an artist, it will feed your Mother's soul. There is so much to absorb, she need never go into any of the museums. If by day two, she actually wants something else, take a vaporetto to the little island of Burano.

Day 4, Travel to Florence. By time you check out of the hotel, get to the train station, train to Florence and get to the hotel there, it will be mid-late morning. 1/2 day of sightseeing. You could take a bus up to Fiesole or just walk around Florence, or go up to Piazza Michelangelo for the view of Florence.
Day 5, Florence. Forget museums if you must. Florence itself is lovely and interesting. Magnificent churches, history, Ponte Vecchio, markets.
Day 6, rent a car or hire a driver for a day tour of Tuscany or just take the train to visit another town.

Day 7, Travel to Rome. Allow travel time and getting to hotel in Rome. Arrive mid-late morning. Rest of day, Rome.
Days 8, 9, 10, Rome.
Day 11, fly home

If you are against Florence, you could pick a different place, but depends on your interests.

Forget the AC and CT.

Tuscany would be much easier and my first choice. Florence is a gorgeous city.

The AC would be doable, if you skip Florence/Tuscany, fly from Venice to Naples on day 4 and take a day from Rome. I might give the AC the most nights because getting there takes so much time and energy, but you could stay in Sorrento and do only 3 nights, giving a day and night back to Rome.
That could work
Venice 3 nights
The AC, 3 or 4 nights
Rome, 3 or 4 nights

stokebailey

I'd go with a smaller city, like maybe Padua or Siena, between Venice and Rome by train.

Dayle

I would vote for the car and Tuscan or Umbrian countryside. Just my opinion, but I really think if you want the countryside experience, you must stay in the countryside, not just do a day trip. Its just Not the same.

You will be able to see lots of great art in both Venice and Rome, as much as you want. Just popping into churches, you can see very famous works. No need to try and see every museum. Maybe just pick one that is your top priority.

Personally I love to mix my trips with a balance of cities and all they offer, plus the gorgeous countryside! In Italy both are just wonderful and you will get a good sample of the endless variety Italy offers if you visit Venice, countryside, and Rome.

frencharmoire

You're not clear about the nature of your mother's minor back problems or what her stamina is, but if the back problems include pain while negotiating stair-climbing and steep grades, you need to plan your itinerary carefully. Also, if Venice is a "must" but your mother doesn't have a lot of stamina, you are not going to see much of Venice if you don't plan on spending more days there.

If your mother's back problems include difficulty carrying luggage, then renting a car and doing a driving tour of Tuscany might be optimal. But you should get details from here about what experience of Italy has been her big dream. There is nothing unnatural or un-Italian about the going to the Italian Riviera. If the idea is that it is "touristy" while the Tuscan wine country is not "touristy", that is not true. Millions of tourists pour into the wine country of Tuscany every year, and it's towns are just as packed and touristy as le Cinque Terre. In fact, it is easier to find towns on the Italian Riviera near le Cinque Terre that are beautiful, traditional & unchanged by tourists than it is to find them in the most popular areas of Tuscany.

With perhaps only 10 days, with somone of limited stamina, you need to craft a trip that works for your mother. Nothing is undoable, but the more precise she can be about what memories she most wants to take home with her -- sea views? Venetian alleyways? glories of Rome? wine country landscapes? relaxation, no stress, the Italian way of life? -- the easier it will be to deliver.

Can she make some priorities?

irishface

I agree about taking the vaporetto out to Burano! In fact it was the first thing I thought of when you mentioned Venice. Burano is easily walkable and utterly charming--IMHO.

gail

Go Venice to Florence by train. We took a 1-day bus trip through part of Tuscany with lunch at organic farm/winery. Stopped in a few other towns. Booked through Viator - there is still a tour on their pages that sounds similar. Walking was manageable - or one could walk more on stops if they wanted. Cons - its a bus. Pros - walking is more limited since bus drops you off right at stops. Lunch was excellent. This might work for her - and the scenery from the bus was fantastic.

Walking on uneven surfaces, cobblestones, etc can be even more tiring than she is used to - not a deal breaker, just keep that in mind.

bilboburgler

she is an artist, does she want to see stuff to paint, paint or see artists work?

If she wants to paint then wow is there a lot to see.

If she wants to see pictures then Florence is a must.

If she wants to see Tuscany beyond Florence/Siena/Lucca then get a train close to what she wants to see, then hire a car. At least on a train she can stand up and walk about and you can book her first class all the way so lots of space, big seats etc

Loads of walled cities around Padova/Verona/Ferrara etc area, if she likes the off medievel city and all on the train, city centre to city centre.

frencharmoire

An additional thought about Italy in its "natural element, just as overall information about Italy:

There are some areas of Italy that are still absolutely dominated by nature, because the natural geography is so challenging for human settlement, it just hasn't happened to any large degree. Flat places like Florence or Pienza in Tuscany are easy places to build man-made wonders, and to develop the kind of robust commercial life and farming (like wine) that makes people rich and therefore able to subsidize fabulous artworks and public works.

Many Americans who can afford travel live in a coastal area of the US where it is easy to get to impressive coastal scenery. Spending time and money to go to a spectacular coastal area of Italy doesn't interest them. They want to see Italian monuments & artworks.

It is fair to interpret "wanting to see Italy in its natural element" as meaning "not wanting to be around tourists", but Tuscany is not only filled with tourists, even when you go to the countryside, manmade activity has totally conquered most of the landscape with wine growing, for hundreds of years. It is part of what makes Tuscany so striking. Plus there are monuments, artworks & shopping, so the wine country is for many many people exactly their dream of Italy.

I remember some years ago reading a book by Fred Plotkin, the noted lover of all-things-Italy, who began his chapter of the region of Liguria (where le CInque Terre is) by writing (paraphrasing from memory) that "Liguria is often what people have in mind when they imagine Italy -- the colorful palazzi perched above the intensely blue sea, the bouganvilla, the sunshine, the olive oil ... -- etc. It is nature and love of nature above all that draws many people to Italy, and the colorful Italian Riviera makes many many people very happy when they incude it in their trip.

There is nothing unnatural about loving Tuscany, or preferring to have Italy all to oneself rather than share it with loads of tourists tramping around villages and beaches. Much of coastal Italy is too difficult for people with back problems and much of it simply bores some travelers.

But I worry people who for their own reasons don't wish to travel to the coastal areas of Italy are presenting it to other people as some kind of inevitable disappointment, or not what they should be looking for. Just like in Venice, there are many ways to avoid the crowds, avoid the hills or stairs with a little research, and the Italian seaside is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, even if it is merely one of the most beautiful places in Italy.

MyBeautifulBalloon

Hi,

Go to Bologna, which is on the way from Venice to Rome.

For me, it was one of the most genuine, interesting, and beautiful cities I have ever visited in all of Italy.

From Bologna, you can take a day trip to Ravenna, which we also found fascinating.

WoinParis

Hi
Good info above.
I understand seeing Italy in Natural element as somewhere non touristy rather than referring to nature...
Mybe I'm wrong.
Anyway if you want a city not too touristy, on top of Bologna mentioned I'd got to Torino. One of my favourite cities in Italy. 'Real' and not swarmed by tourists.
Mvg.

ira

I go with Sass,

>Forget the AC and CT.