Itinerary help wanted! Italy, how many days where?
 

I could really use the bright minds of the fordorites on this. The places we (me and DM) want to visit are Venice, Bologna and Florence. Maybe also (as day trips??) Sienna, Padua and maybe somewhere else.

We LOVE museums and great food/wine. We also very much enjoy sitting in a cafe checking out the footware of those walking by.

Thanks for the help!

Fly to Florence (or to Milan, and take the train to Florence, if the flight is too expensive or has a bad connection).

4 night in Florence. Museums and food galore. Take a day trip (or 1 overnight) to Sienna by bus.

2 or 3 nights in Bologna. Amazing food, some nice sites to to walk to. Leave early on the last day and go through Padua if you really want to, but I'd give it a miss.

3 nights in Venice. Atmosphere and museums galore. Food, a small letdown after Bologna, but you won't mind. Fly home from Venice.

Every one of these places will offer excellent footwear-watching opportunities. You will find the cafes on the main square near the Duomo. I assume DM is Dear Mother?

Well, I'm not sure how capxxx gives those recommendations, since you don't say how many nights you have to work with. How long is the trip?

Check your flight options into and out of Venice, Florence and Milan. Depending on where you live, it might be easier to fly into Venice rather than out of it.

I'm guessing from your post that you're unsure how much time you need for a trip that includes the cities you mentioned. Capxxx gives a 10-day itinerary. I like 14 days for 3-4 hotel destinations because you'll lose at least half a day every time you move to the next city/hotel, and the arrival day can be lost to jetlag for some people.

Hi Jean, Capxxx & Susan P,
This is DM ;) . We'll be in Paris and then on to Italy (we think, we've been more than a little undecided about where to go and thought seriously about Spain.)

We have 12 - 13 nights in Italy, 12 to 13 nights in Paris (we love Paris.)

We think: Venice, Florence, Bologna, and I'd like to see Assisi.

There's also Sienna. There's also Rome, but we were there for a week last year (as if that matters!)

I'm not seeing flights out of Florence--is there a reason for that? So we'd need backtrack, take the train or go on to Rome.

We would love advice, given the general state of indecision we've had (and we do have good excuses!)

Florence does not have direct flights to the US if that is what you were looking for. You'd have to connect through somewhere else in Europe. Delta has a direct flight to Pisa, an hour from Florence.

Sorry I wasn't clear - we'll be getting ourselves back to Paris as we're flying out of there. I don't see flights from Florence to Paris.

Right now we are thinking...
Venice (3 nights)
Bologna (3 nights)
Assisi (2 nights)
florence (5 nights)

Is three nights in Venice too many? One of them will be Mardis Gras, so that should keep us rather entertained. Is it better to do Assisi as day trips from florence? Also, is a day trip to Pisa from Florence easy and worth it?

I have flown on an Air France partner (CityJet?) between Florence and Paris a number of times.

<<Is three nights in Venice too many?>>
no

<<Is it better to do Assisi as day trips from florence>>
I think your schedule looks good as is. Assisi is about 2.5 hours each way by train from Florence, so it would be a longer daytrip. And then there a bus ride up to the town from the train station. Staying overnight in Assisi will give you a taste of Italian hill towns and a slower pace compared to the rest of your itinerary.

<<Also, is a day trip to Pisa from Florence easy>> yes, by train
<< and worth it?>>
Some would say yes, some would say no. With 5 nights planned in Florence, I think you have spare time for a half day to visit Pisa.

Bubblywine, I like the basic itinerary you're considering. I know it's a vacation, but try to catch early trains when you're changing cities. Otherwise, your transit day can easily drag on into the mid-afternoon, and a day is lost. If you arrived in Assisi fairly early, you could explore the town in the afternoon and evening and have the next day to make a day trip to Spello or Trevi or perhaps a winery along the Strada del Sagrantino. Look at www.deliciousitaly.com for some good info on visiting Umbria. Warning: Browsing this website may entice you to spend more time in Umbria than originally planned.