viaggiatrice

My daughter and i are planning a trip to Europe right after her high school graduation. So we will be there the last two weeks in May and into June. She will be 18 at the time. For most of the time it will just be the two of us. My husband might be able to join us for about a week in the middle of the trip. We have up to a month to stay and she is thinking that she would like for the first 2 - 3 weeks of that to be in Italy. I've been to Europe twice - once when I was her age to Germany, Switzerland, Austria - and about 5 years ago with my husband to Italy. This is really *her* trip and she is making most of the decisions about where to go and what to see. However, we both feel that we need a little advice!!

In order of importance she wants to see: Tuscan hill towns, Rome, Cinque Terre, Venice, Florence. As far as travel order - we were thinking about flying into and starting in Rome and making our way north ending in Venice. She is quite mature for her age and will enjoy museums and art and history, but even more I think she is a "soak up the atmosphere" kind of girl. Shopping and food will be also be important.

We have researched by the way. We have both read travel books and looked extensively online...even so, we are struggling with finding a balance between seeing as much as we can without it being too much switching hotels, knowing how long to stay where, what to leave out, etc.

Oh and we plan to use trains to get from major city to major city as well as rent a car for the Tuscany portion of the trip.

So, got any itinerary suggestions for a mother daughter duo who have about 18ish days on the ground in Italy and who mostly get along and enjoy the same types of things?

Thanks!

viaggiatrice

And one more question - sorry. She has her heart set on hiking in Cinque Terre, but what is the situation with the trails? I've tried to google to find out the most current information, but not a lot of luck. Thought someone might have some knowledge. I know we are still several months out and the situation will change...but still...

firenzeforever

Hi,

I can tell you a little bit about my trip to Italy. I had 2 weeks and distributed the time approximately as follows: 5 days in Rome (including one day trip to Tivoli and half-day trip to Bracciano), 5 days in Florence (one day trip to Siena) and 3 days in Venice. I do recommend you to take a trip to Tivoli into consideration, it's close to Rome and there are a lot of things to see there, especially the fountain park of Villa D'este. Unfortunately I didn't have time to explore hill towns of Tuscany, but Florence and Tuscany are stunning, so I recommend you to stay longer there. I didn't have time for Cinque Terre, but I saw advertisement of one day tours there in my hotel, so in the worst case you can just take one of them. Italy is lovely. PS: If you plan to go to Vatican museum, make sure to buy ticket online beforehand not to lose time standing in the longest line.

bobthenavigator

What a great idea and a perfect time to go. Here is a sample itinerary that may work for you:

Arrive Roma---5 nites

Train to Florence---3 nites

Get car---to Tuscan base--4 nites

Drop car at La Spezia---to CT location[ maybe Monterosso]--3 nites

Train to Venice---last 4 nites---fly home

You may want to reverse the order if your flight connections are not good departing Venice. Have fun !

mamcalice

Many of the trails in Cinque Terre have been closed recently but those who have visited there this fall have been able to find trails that are open with the help of locals. Search this board for a recent CT trip report. It is best to check on the status of the trails closer to the time of your trip as things change quickly.

MRand

Viaggiatrice - we traveled to Italy a few years ago with our 17 year old daughter and younger sons. We went to many of the places you're describing and had a trip of a lifetime. Here's the link to our trip report to give you some additional ideas:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm

kybourbon

Start in Rome (4-5 nights), train to Orvieto and spend a night. Pick up your car as you leave Orvieto. If your daughter is interested in the Twilight books/movies, you could make your next stop Montepulciano (movie filmed there). You could visit other hill towns on the way to the CT. Drop the car there. Visit Florence and Venice after CT.

viaggiatrice

Firenzeforever - thanks for the recommendation, I'll look into Tivoli, that might be something we would be interested in. I think that we will do a tour to the Vatican so that will solve the problem of standing in the longest lines.

viaggiatrice

bobthenavigator - that sounds like a great itinerary for us. Do you have a suggestion for a Tuscan base? We are going to Germany after Venice so the airline connections aren't important. We will be flying home from Munich.

viaggiatrice

mamcalice - A trip report on here was the way I knew that many of the main trails were closed. We will wait until closer to time and check things out. Does anyone know of a website that tells about trail status?

viaggiatrice

MRand - your link doesn't work for me! I would love to read your trip report.

MRand

viaggiatrice - I topped it so hopefully you can now read it in this forum. It's titled:

"Family of 5 Italy Trip Report"

viaggiatrice

Kybourbon - Great suggestion to pick up the car in Orvieto. We will definitely do that. When I went with my husband we drove directly out of Rome from Termini. We survived, but barely. We also went to Montepulciano, in fact we stayed at a B and B just outside of the town, this was preTwilight. We loved it! It's definitely on my daughter's list! Got any suggestions for length of stay in each location?

viaggiatrice

MRand - thank you - on my way to look for it.

kybourbon

What else is on your daughter's list? I would visit the Montepulciano/Pienza/Montalcino area and then start heading north (Siena/San Gimignano/Volterra) towards CT.

If you stay in Montepulciano several days, you could also visit other nearby towns such as Cortona. It really just depends on which towns interest her.

You will have to work around opening hours of the car companies in the smaller towns (closed from 1-4 in the afternoons, closed after 1 Sat. and closed all day Sunday). You could also train from Rome to Chiusi and pick up the car if you don't want to visit Orvieto.

Another easy option is bus from Rome to Siena (Sena bus), stay a few days and pick up a car to visit hill towns around there.

bobthenavigator

The Val d' Orcia is my fav---look at San Quirico or Montepulciano. Click on my name for a trip report in south Tuscany as well.