Last Minute Trip to Italy - Please Help!
 

My husband is a workaholic but he's been getting tired and burnt out lately so last week I convinced him to take a week off on May 24 thru May 30th.
We live in Las Vegas so of course my first instinct was to take him to San Francisco or Sonoma or Cabo San Lucas. But my husband insisted on going to Italy so now I have to scramble to plan an itinerary and hotels, etc.
I think this trip we'll take it easy and not see every statue or museum ther is to be seen but we would like to visit The Vatican, maybe drive to Tuscany or take the train to Florence and Venice.
I know it's a stretch - almost impossible to plan on such short notice so what would be your abreviated version of a relaxing yet diverse trip to La Italia?
Thank-you

Is that 5 days actually in Italy?
If so, why bother. Take him to Vancouver or Montreal and tell him he is in Europe.

Five days in Italy is better than no days, and maybe if your husband thinks the trip is too short, he'll tear himself away from work to go back for a longer time.

The flights are long and will be taxing on you so I would spend the time in Rome, with maybe one day trip to Tuscany. You'll have plenty to keep you busy.

cw

I adore Italy. But wouldn't spend 16 hours (longer, from LV?) on a plane each way for only 5 days there. And if this were my first trip, it might well be my last.

If you're determined to do it. plan to spend your time in the city you fly into - most likely Rome. More traveling around will be too exhausting.

If you can fly into Pisa, spend the time there or in Florence. (Pisa is quite attractive and interesting outside the small area of the Leaning Tower, and that is actually quite beautiful, if crowded.) Perhaps you can find time to take a trip into the countryside. Spring in Tuscany should be quite a change from Vegas!

Another possibility I would check out is flying into Torino and spending the five days there. Marvelously stylish, fantastic food, absolutely unusual museums (movie, auto, egyptian plus art). And shopping. Did I mention the food?

Or fly in and out Venice. Take a day trip to Verona, another to Torcello.

If you want Rome, see if you can find a hotel in the Trastevere or the Jewish Quarter and just take it easy. A trip to the Forum as well as the Vatican, the other place to visit is the Pantheon, then rest and relax in piazzas.

I'm surprised no one suggested you just walk down the street to Bellagio. ;-)

If you want to "take it easy", do not haul him up to Venice. You don't have a lot of time.

If you leave on the 24th, you'll arrive in Rome on the 25th. If you return on the 30th, your vacation has just dropped to 5 days.

There is so very much to see in Rome, but if you insist on visiting another town, I suggest to leave early in the morning and visit Assisi and maybe Perugia as a day trip from Rome.

If that doesn't suit you, stay two nights in Rome and one or two in Florence then spend the last night in Rome. You don't want to be caught too far from the airport on the day of travel just in case there is a transportation strike. (It happens WAY more frequently-and without warning- in Italy than in the US)

Do keep in mind that travel to Florence will eat up a few hours. You need to get to the train station early to buy your tickets and find your train. The ride is around two hours and then you have to find your hotel in Florence. In other words it isn't relaxing to unpack for a day or two, pack up and head for the station, find your new destination and unpack for a day or two, etc.

If you want hubby to unwind, you'll need to slow down, have some wine, stroll the streets eat some delicious food, some gelato and chill. Much more fun than going to a train station every other day.

Buon viaggio!

I would not go to Italy for such a short time!

First off, remember it takes two days to get there with the time change and LONG flights. And there is jet lag. And on the last day you need to head to the airport.

So you barely have 4 days in Italy. If you're really determined... go for it. But pick one city, fly in and out of it. You don't have time to be taking trains around or driving thru the countryside, unfortunately.

Actually I believe it would be very easy to plan if you want to do it. Simply make a plane reservation and a hotel reservation for 4 nights... that's really all you need.

Perugia cannot be done as a "day trip" from Rome, and Assisi is further than Firenze.

Orvieto is one hour away on the train, but for 5 days, it is silly to do day trips at all from Rome.

NessunD: Check your map. Both Perugia and Assisi are half way (not a straight line) between Rome and Florence. For those who find it necessary to see another town, it's doable.

One of my trips in Italy, we left Rome early and stopped in Assisi. We saw the famous church (before the earthquake) then strolled around for a bit, proceeded on to Perugia. Strolled around, took in the views, got a pizza and headed to Florence. For me it was very enjoyable.

In this case, the man needs to relax. As I stated, I think there is plenty to keep them busy in Rome for the entire stay. It'll whet your appetite for a longer visit the next time.

Suze: Traveling from LAX has always meant a loss of one day for me not two. I don't know why it has taken you two days to get there unless you leave around midnight.

Pilates,

It's OK. I think we are being teased anyway.

But you should look at transportation connections between Roma and Assisi/Perugia compared with those to Firenze, and I think you'll find it takes longer -- not to mention the added time it takes to negotiate the hilltowns.

If I were you I'd fly into Milan, train to Lake Como, relax, visit some other towns in the area (if not too tiring) and train to Venice. Then fly out of Venice. If you only have 5 days on the ground I'd split them with 2 days in the Lakes area and 3 days in Venice. All of this will be much more relaxing than the larger cities, Rome or Florence. To just pop into Rome, see the Vatican and hit the road you will be pooped!

However, if you really must see the Vatican (I assume you mean St Peter's) then I'd just stay put in Rome. I wouldn't call Rome relaxing as there's so many sites to see. Maybe a day trip to Orvieto (which is my favorite) but you don't really get a "taste" of Tuscany/Umbria."

How is it 16 hours to Italy?

From SFO (which is only 1 hour flight from LV), it is 9 hours to Paris or London, and then another 2-3 hour flight from Paris or London to Florence or Pisa.

ND: OK, I'll bite. I went to trenitalia and found this sample itinerary:

Depart Rome 8:15 am. Arrive Assisi 2 hours and ten minutes later.

Depart Assisi at 1:20 pm. Arrive Perugia 23 minutes later.

Depart Perugia at 6:05. Arrive in Rome at 8:20 pm

OR

Depart Perugia at 5:50 pm and arrive Florence 2 hours later.

It is absolutely faster by a half an hour to go from Rome to Florence. The fast train goes from Rome to Florence in one hour and 36 minutes.

On the other hand, if one is bent on seeing other towns, the first itinerary is doable. I've done it and it was fun.

the flights + the plus the time change, i'm considering.

say ~12 hr. flying plus a time change of ~9 hrs. forward? it's a day.

Anything is possible if you don't eat, don't sleep and keep moving, moving, moving. Yuck.

If the original post is for real, I suggest picking one place (Rome, Venice, Florence or wherever) for the five days. Just enjoy your stay in extravagent, low-speed leisure.

absolutely agree with Nancy. Easy to fly into Milan which is just one hour train ride to Lake Como. Hotels may be hard to come by on such short notice. Try Venere.com for hotels - also check TripAdvisor for comments on certain hotels - the Palace and Como did not get the best reviews. We are staying in a little hotel up the hill from Como - called Ristorante Hotel Fraschetta - inexpensive and what a view of the lake! You can do Venice in 2 days and not knock yourself out - try to stay close to the Piazza San Marco - we did and it was a great hub of activity and close walking distance to the Ponte Vecchio - you can also take a boat excursion to two islands - Murano and Burano - glass and lace shops respectively.

I like the post that said take him to Montreal and tell him he's in Europe. Or take him to the Bellagio or Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, keep him there all week, lead him in and out blindfolded.

Alternatively:

Fly into Milan, get thee to the real Bellagio on Lake Como. Stay at Villa Serbelloni and compare to the LV Bellagio hotel, for which Villa S. was the model.
Fly or take the train to Rome, see the Vatican, fly out of Rome.

OR, fly into Genoa, stay in Portofino of Cinque Terre for the week.

OR, fly into Naples (via Rome?), take a Boat to Capri and park there for the week.

OR, fly into Pisa (since Florence airport closed) and Stay in the Chiani region at a villa for the week.

Is this a troll? If not, seriously, you've got to be kidding! If your husband is "getting tired and burnt out lately" I would think he would be EXHAUSTED AND A WRECK after this trip!

If he "insists" on Italy, you insist on more time.

Since pininas has not responded...I question if this is a troll? Rome, Florence, Tuscany and Venice in 5 days...come on???

From Vegas, a quick trip to Cabo in this timeframe makes sense.

She still have made any comments after two days of suggestions so I think its a lark.

Hi P,
I would consider using a great tour company and sitting back with the relaxed approach. We used a great company at Bevnenutolimos.com
Your husband might enjoy the extra pampering of not having to think and having someone take you both around. They have a great website and are really fast in responding with quotes etc. Enjoy.

Dear Friends:
Thank you so much for your responses. I am sorry I did not answer earlier I've been disconnected.
(home-maker with a busted computer and little time to go to the library for internet access)
I agree that the trip is long and exhausting but being in Italy just seems like such a reward.
We realize that there is no way we are making it in May but middle of June might work for us.
I've got 250K miles with AA that will go to this trip so that takes care of the airfare. The hard part will be the jet lag!
Thank you again for all your helpfull answers.

Have you checked with AA about your miles yet? Not wanting to be a party-pooper, but we have always had to book trips to Italy with AA almost a year in advance. I would start with the airline.

Pininas, I would see into where I could get flights, then work from there. If you have only a few days, then pick one location and stay there, however tempting it might be to want to see everything.

Rome, Venice or Florence would all be very rewarding. If you like it, you can always start planning your next trip to see the other places.

I agree about doing some homework about flight availability. I'd fly roundtrip to wherever you can use your miles. Stay in 1 place and maybe do a day trip.

Well, I am basically paying full fare for the tickets. Regular filghts to europe are 60K miles but I'll have to pay 100K miles per person. But that's fine, If I don't use them now, I'll never used them.
But here's the good news, thanks to your comments, hubby agreed to go for 10 days (8 days in Italy, 2 days of travel) and agreed to move it to July 15th so I can plan it better.
I think I'll follow your advice and just stay in Rome, but I sure would love to see Venice and Florence!

I think that if you now have 8 days on the ground, you could see both Rome and Florence; the Eurostar gets you to Florence from Rome in one and a half hours, easy and scenic trip. Save Venice for another trip