TheBevitts

Hi. My husband and I (32 and 29yrs) are planning our 2nd trip to italy and wish to explore northern and central italy for ~5 weeks. We do have a wedding to go to in Otranto, 14th june. Thus our trip is split into 2 legs, before and after the wedding. (NB we have previously visited Florence, Rome, Amalfi Coast and Sicily)
Our essential places must include Italian lakes (one will do, better if two), Cinque Terre(CT), Venice and Tuscany. We are also open to include italian neighbours too (eg. swiss/Austria...). No flights are booked, we like open jaw.

Our tentative itinerary is as follows
Before the wedding (dates 30th may- ~13th june)
For ~8 days or so explore:
-Munich (2-3 days)
-Salzburg (2-3 days, include day trip to st gilgen or Hallstatt)
-Innsbruck, Zurich, Vaduz??? (1-2 days?)
-Lucerne(2 days)
-Enter Italy ~8th june
-Go to lake como, visit several villages (Bellaggio etc) (~4+ days)? Should we Include lake Maggiore? Should we swap with the CT at this stage for less tourists?

Wedding 12/13-15/16th june in Otranto (Puglia)
we don’t know much about Puglia (harder to find reviews for this area), but we plan to spend ~2-3 days around the wedding exploring? Is this worthwhile?

After the wedding (dates ~16th june-4th july) back to north/central italy:
-CT, ~4-5 days exploring area and may include Portofino, Santa Magherita etc
Pick up car for Tuscany,
-Tuscany (and surrounds) ~7 days , with accomm. split between 2 different places? spend days driving to Siena, san gimingiano, pienza (apparently there is a medieval festival towards end of june?) montepulciano, and not sure of the other 'must' visit villages. Orvieto.
We definitely wish to experience amazing food (cheese/ wine/produce/meats), wine, views and culture.
-Bologna/Modena/Verona for a 2-3day visit and drop off car
-Venice, 3-4 days.
-depart for home, (preferably via Milan)

WE would love any suggestions about our itinerary order and hints/tips about italian lakes (and if ok to do before the wedding via train or better after wedding with car?) and which places to include in the first 8 days. (NB It is harder for us to fly home (to australia) from Venice, but am worried if we leave the CT til the end there will be too many tourists? again- we love good food, wine/ natural beauty/ culture/arcitecture/ art etc. Also, although keen to drive around tuscany/central italy, we are a little put-off with driving the rest of the trip due to costs/ parking and restricted zones and passes required (like vingette/swis pass etc). We are budget concious, but also like value, good experiences and convenience (generally 3.5* style travellers)

All input will be appreciated

Thanks !

TheBevitts

also- any alternative suggestions of 'hidden gem' and 'often overlooked' places in the general vicinity are welcome. thanks.

zeppole

Many places in Puglia are hidden gems that are often overlooked. It is a rare treat to have a reason to go to that region, and much of the coastal region is far less crowded and unspoiled than le Cinque Terre, and it is less expensive. You should invest in researching it and the Gargano peninsula.

qwovadis

Congrats on your trip my wife and I go annually headed there in April. zermatt.ch amazing. Around the lakes we LOVE Stesa/Baveno/Isola Bella Grand Hotel Dino or Regina Palace. booking.com www.Bellagio.info Pearl of lake Como. Residence d'Ulivo or Hotel Florence. Sirmione.com pearl of Garda. Hotel Eden our fav there. venice-tourism.com bauervenezia.com our fav for a splurge. www.lucca.info in Tuscany Orvieto.info for Etruscan history Hotel Grand Italie there last May. Assisi.com old town and nead Umbrian towns out from there. Puglia dry nice beaches overall not as green or scenic for us.

We love beautiful lush green places with lots of architecture art history and great food. So mainly the north for us.
Happy Planning hopping regional trains works great for us.
seat61.com/italy

Good luck!

bobthenavigator

Wow--if you mean this year you will have a ton of homework to make this work. I envy you the time and opportunity, but you need to get hopping ASAP.

TheBevitts

Thanks so far for the speedy replies. Bob, Yes I do mean this year, we plan to book the major things in the next 3 weeks, and are hoping that june is early enough before tourist season to not cause too many problems. We are trying to finalise our itinerary first and are a little torn between which places in the first half of our itinerary, and also concerned we may not be doing things in the best order for ease of travelling.

Jean

How are you getting from wherever to Otranto?

It will take you most of a day to get there from anywhere in northern Italy. You're a bit fuzzy on when you must be in Otranto, but I calculate you have 11-12 days after your arrival day before you need to set off for Otranto. You mention 5 geographically separated destinations you're contemplating (Munich, Salzburg, Innsbruck/Zurich/Valduz, Lucerne and one of the Italian lakes) in those 11-12 days. If that's even physically possible, I don't think it would be very enjoyable. Personally, I'd skip Germany and Austria on this trip. Land in Zurich, head to Lucerne, then go somewhere in the Berner Oberland for a few days and then head to whichever Italian lake you choose.

It will take another day of traveling after the wedding to reach the first destination of your continued sightseeing. Since you are losing that day anyway, I would go all the way to Venice. Then Verona/Bologna/Modena (although I might drop one), Tuscany, CT and finally to Milan/Malpensa the night before your flight out. You would only need the car between Venice and the CT.

I wouldn't base the order of the second half on the fear of crowds; I would do what works best logistically. I don't think I'd pick two bases in Tuscany for what you mention, but it depends on how much you enjoy driving around and what you consider too much time in the car. Luckily, you will have long hours of daylight at that time.

TheBevitts

Hi Jean, thanks for your suggestions. The wedding is on the 14th so we will arrive there the 13th, return date depdends on sighseeing in puglia. IF we go lakes before wedding, there are multiple direct flights Milan to/from Brindisi and also BDS to Venice. (our wedding hosts will arrange transfers BDS to otranto).
Re before wedding, Our train and drive searches indicates that munich, salzburg, lucerne and como are relatively quick (less than 4 hrs) and easy travels with the possibility of stopping at either(not all) innsbruck/zurich/vaduz/elswhere? along the way. this seemed plausible, but in not being too familiar with that area of europe we are not sure if there is a better/more interesting combo of destinations we have overlooked.

Jean

Flying Milan-Brindisi and Brindisi-Venice with transfers to/from Otranto will save time, but the hours will still add up to huge chunks of two days.

The pre-wedding destinations are fairly close together, but you still lose half a day (or more) getting from place/hotel to place/hotel and would need to keep moving to cover your list. If you're willing to trim your list, although I like Zurich, I would skip it on this trip to give more time elsewhere like Lucerne or the Italian lake. I haven't been to Vaduz in decades, so I can't say whether it's worth a stop. All I remember is the castle.

Others here may have more suggestions. There is an endless list of interesting destinations. I would resist the temptation to string together a series of one- and two-night hotel stays.