sbailey

My wife and I were planning the following:
17 days late Sept -early Oct
Venice 3 days
? 2 days
On to
Cinque Terra 2 days
Florence 4 days
? for 3 days
Rome for 3 days.
After reading about the crowds at CT I am wondering if CT is a good choice?
What about the 2 days upon leaving Venice?
What about the 3 days after leaving Florence?

LoveItaly

Hi sbailey, a better description, if you don't mind a suggestion, is how many nights in each place. For example, when you say Venice 3 days are you referring to arriving day 1, staying day 2 and leaving day 3? If so you will lose a good portion of day 1 arriving and a good portion of day 3 departing. But if you say that you will plan on 3 nights in Venice as you can see that makes quite a difference.

Do keep in mind the time it takes to change hotels each place plus the travel time.

Will you be travelling by car or by train?

Also, when you say 17 days does that include the time you fly from your home airport (I will assume that you live in the US but perhaps not) and the time to fly back home?

Also, can you give some ideas as to what your two interest are and what you hope to see in Italy. Are you into history, museums, art, food, wine, people watching and getting a taste of the day to day culture etc? Do you both like mainly large cities, smaller places or do you like the countryside,, the seaside, lakes, mountains etc. or a combination. In otherwords, what is drawing you to Italy?

Answers to these questions will help people suggest some ideas. Best wishes to you.

medhead

I just got back from a trip that included three nights in the Portofino/Cinque Terre area. I hope to write up a little report soon, but my summary on Cinque Terre is that I found it profoundly overrated. Even the train ride down to Riomaggiore was kind of a bummer -- hoards and hoards of loud tourists from other countries, mostly America, who basically obliterated any sense that I was even in Italy at all. The "lover's lane" walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola (supposedly the most beautiful part of the hike) was sort of moderately scenic, not any more impressive than what one would see on many other coastlines around the world. Furthermore, the place was so absolutely covered with graffiti that it made me kind of sad.

I couldn't complete the hike because the trail between Manarola and Corniglia was closed (and there was no notice of this until I arrived at Manarola and found some tiny paper signs, by the way). I did see more of the land and the towns from the boat between Manarola and Vernazza. That was quite nice. But to me the really interesting thing about Cinque Terre is its inhabitants, living in their towns that cling to the hillsides with their little narrow stairway streets. It was interesting to contemplate the way of life that evolved among the people who have lived there for so long. Unfortunately I don't think I got much of a taste for the local existence, however, because the towns that I visited, anyway (Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Vernazza) have kind of turned into low-budget resorts without the usually associated amenities. Tijuana-on-the-hillside. The locals man the little shops that line the streets, selling tacky plastic trinkets that say "Cinque Terre" on them. The shopkeepers and restaurant staff that I spoke with were either glazed over and indifferent, or frankly hostile to tourists. Most of the tourists didn't seem to mind, as they didn't seem very interested in talking to the locals anyway -- either they buried their heads in their Rick Steves books, checking off destinations, or they were college students whose only goal was being able to drink in public without being carded.

We stayed in Santa Margherita Ligure, in order to enable trips to both Cinque Terre and the Portofino park, and had a far, far better time in Portofino. The little town is lovely, though admittedly there's very little to do there, other than sit on the harbor and enjoy a drink while gazing at the yachts. Unless you want to do some serious ultra-high-end shopping. The surrounding area is beautiful. San Fruttuoso was enjoyable. The park was wonderful for hiking (I admit that the Cinque Terre has lots of trails that might be nice too, I didn't check).

I would recommend spending no more than half a day or so in Cinque Terre. If I were to return to the area, I would definitely skip it entirely, but I suppose you could feel obliged to visit at least once, as I did. As for SML, Portofino, etc., I enjoyed them a lot, but you'd want to go there only if you're looking for some natural beauty and some walking in the mountains and along the coast, I think. It would be a very different experience from the major cities that you also listed.

MerryTravel

sbailey, you might find the following thread about the CT helpful:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34640241

I agree with medhead that the "romantic" section of the trail isn't all that special. My husband and I found the trails between Monterosso and Vernazza, and Vernazza and Corniglia to be the most scenic, but also the most difficult (such is life!). As mentioned in the thread I linked to, the CT towns get crowded in the day, but they quiet down quite a bit at night and are quite nice. We have zero regrets about spending three nights and two days there, but we mainly went for the hike.

motor_city_girl

Definatley leave CT in! We stayed there for 2 1/2 days in April and loved it. Hotel Villa Steno in Monterosso was lovely...get a room with a view. Eat at Gambero Rosso in Vernazza. One of the best meals of our trip.

medhead

Agreed - my visit to CT was a fairly limited one, so rely more on the opinions of those who spent more time there. I did, however, leave Vernazza on the last train, which was at something like 10:50 PM. If anything, I thought the town only got more obnoxious by that time, as the American college students got louder and more obnoxious.

I had dinner at Gambero Rosso that night. I had been very excited about that meal, moreso than for any other meal in my Italy trip. It was a really bad meal. After a seafood salad that was sort of mediocre and unremarkable, the rest of the meal was bad. I mean really bad. The service was awful, too. The place was a lame seaside tourist trap, nothing more. I was a little stunned by this, particularly after the uniformly excellent reviews on this board and some food boards, and after Restaurant magazine listed Gambero Rosso on its recent list of the world's best restaurant. I've been to a number of those restaurants, and the list is admittedly very, very misguided. But still, I was expecting much better from Gambero Rosso.

ira

Hi s,

I suggest the Amalfi coast instead of the CT,

Fly into Venice (3 nights), train to Florence (3 nights), train to rome (5 nights), train to the Amalfi Coast (5 nights), fly home from Naples.

Daytrip to Orvieto from Rome
Daytrip to Siena from Florence
Visit Pompeii and/or Paestum from the AC.

ssachida

I like Ira's itinerary. You could use the 5 amlfi nights for amalfi or tuscany or split between CT and tuscany. Definitely spend the 5 nights in Rome. My personal choice would be:
venice 4 nights (including day of arrival)
florence 4 nights (with a day trip or 2 to southern tuscany/ chianti)
lucca 1 night
cinque terre 2 nights
rome 6 nights (including daytrip to pompeii or herculaeum)

sbailey

Thanks for everyones help and suggestions. The reason that there are 2 nights between Venice and CT was tghat I originally planned on 4 nights in CT. The outdoors and hiking is something I do appreciate. So I may just re-book Florence earlier.

motor_city_girl

medhead, sorry your time in CT wasn't enjoyable and VERY surprised you didn't enjoy Gambero Rosso. We were there in April and did not have bad crowds. Our meal at GR was lunch, and we had GREAT service and wonderful food. The steamed mussels and fish ravioli were out of this world.

I supposed, like any place, timing is everything and what you order makes or breaks the meal.

sbailey, if you like hiking keep CT in. Also in our experience, the towns quiet down after about 6 PM. We sat in several cafes and on our terrace and all we heard was the sound of the waves.