I'm taking my wife to Italy for her birthday. Below is our tentative itenerary. Please share your thoughts on where I should spend more time, less time, etc. Where should I stay (less than $100 per night)? We're up for just about anything -- we love history and architecture. We don't feel like we've got to hit all the tourist spots. We just want to absorb the ambience of Italy. We want something romantic, picturesque and educational. Don't care about shopping or nightlife.<BR><BR>Day 1: Land at Milan airport (after 14 hours of travel), take train to Cinque Terre (possibly Manarola).<BR>8<BR>Day 2: Hike around Cinque Terre<BR><BR>Day 3: Train to Florence. Don't know where to stay yet.<BR><BR>Day 4: More Florence.<BR><BR>Day 5: Train to Bologna, Modena or Parma. These three cities are on the way back to Milan. Does one really stand out as a must-see?<BR><BR>Day 6: Goof off in the morning, then at night take the train back to a hotel near Malpensa Airport (this message board seems to recommend either the Hotel Cervo or the Hotel Oleggio).<BR><BR>Day 7: Catch our 7 a.m. flight back home.

First, why are you flying into Milan? I ask only because you don't plan to spend much time there and it's a good distance from where you want to go.<BR>Next, any particular reason why you picked Cinque Terre? As beautiful as it is, that's a long way to go for just one night!<BR>Third, as much as I love Bologna, I'd skip it and stay the extra day in Florence (or perhaps Cinque Terre). You'll only be in Italy for 6 days, so why not make it a little less hectic!<BR>Finally, I'm a little confused: When would you get to Milan, Day 5 or Day 6?

We chose Milan because it was about $300 cheaper than Rome. We got 2 round-trip tix from ATL for $750 (that includes taxes, etc.).<BR>We want to go to CT just because it looks so beautiful and we've heard good things about it.<BR>We wouldn't really go to Milan at all, but we want to stay very close to Malpensa airport on Day 6 because we fly back home at 7 a.m. the next day.<BR>I hear what you're saying about how the vacation could get too hectic, but we don't mind long train trips because that's a good way to see the countryside. At least I think so ...<BR>

When are you going? That influences whether to spend more time in CT or Florence. Definitely too much moving around for such a short trip. Since it's your wife's bday, does she know about the trip or is it a surprise? If she knows, what are her preferences for how much time to spend and where to spend it?<BR><BR>CT is very picturesque but so are the lakes. Have you been to Italy yet? If not, how about Venice (unless you're going in high season) then Lake Como (then you end up only an hour or so from Malpensa and you could do 3/4 nights Venice, 2/3 Bellagio or elsewhere). Just a thought.<BR><BR>Anyway, per your current schedule, I'd stay 2 nights in CT and 4 in Florence with just the last night in Milan.<BR><BR>Sounds like an extraordinarily romantic gift. Have fun &amp; happy birthday to your wife!

Heather's made a very good point about Lake Como. It's a beautiful spot to visit and is much, much closer to Milan and Malpensa Airport than Cinque Terre.

We're going the last week of March.<BR>It'll be my second trip to Italy. I went once 20 years ago. My wife has never been. <BR>Could we keep our schedule very open (i.e. not make any hotel reservations) and just hop from CT to Florence to somewhere else whenever we felt like it? Or should we have a more firm itenerary?<BR><BR>Thanks for your input. I love this message board.

WardFromATL: you say that you think that the train trips will be agood way to see the countryside, but actually you will not see much of the countryside all along your main train trip from milano di Genova and all the way down to Cinque Terre. This is a pretty long and tiring trip (some 2 hours and a half to Genova, another hour and a half to La Spezia and some more minutes on a third train to Manarola or any other Cinque Terre village, which might sum up to 5-6 hours, including the time you will need to swap trains). I would cut Cinque terre off such a long trip, not because they are not nice (although they have become really overcrowded, IMHO) but because Cinque Terre is really not easy to get to; as an alternative I would still get there, but stay in Cineuq terre at least 2-3 nights, spend the remaining time in Florence except the last night in Milano. Also, getting from Cinque Terre to Florence is not htat easy (although pretty shorter): you would have to takea train back to La Spezia, than another train from La Spezia to Viareggio, and finally a third train to Florence. I think approximately 3-4 hours.<BR>Going back to country sights from train, prrobably your best option to se a really gorgeous countryside is on the stretch from Viareggio to Firenze, yet if you stay a bit longer in Firenze and skip Cinque Terre you might still enjoy this trip by daytripping to Pisa and Lucca, which is an easy daytrip from Florence. THe railwuay line from Florence to Bologna is 70% dug through the mountains, so that for the most time you will only see the walls of the tunnels. From Bologna to Milano the line os enterely overground, across Pianura Padana, which looks pretty gorgeous to me, but only because that's where I am from: basically it is only wide horizons and farms that are huge if compared to whtat you can see anywhere else in Italy, but probably would look tiny to those who have seen the Midwest ^_^. Most people think it is a boring sight and, although I love this area with all my heart, I must say that I can understand why.

I forgot: the rain trip from Milano to La Spezia takes place in a very crowded area of Italy, not much countryside to be seen from Milano to Genova, since the train crosses towns and small cities and even the less built upon areas are still dotted with houses, while the Genova-La Spezia trip is nice, but all you will get will be glimpses of the sea, since there are a lot of tunnels.

How about this. Day 1 Land in Milan, train to C Terre. I'ts under 4 hours so not too awful! You'll have most of the afternoon and evening to relax. Check out Edi's room in Riomaggiore.<BR>Day 2 C Terre relax, hike, overnight. Day 3 Pisa/Lucca, overnight Lucca. Day 4 early to Florence, overnight. Day 5 Florence (option to day trip into Chianti maybe?). Day 6. a.m Florence, mid day train to Milan, evening explore the Duomo, stay in city-short cab to Milan Central station, early bus to Malpensa.

I just read that you are going in March. I'd think you could play it more by ear and go as you see fit at that time of year. I am going in late June so have gotten into super planner mode to get the hotels I want in the towns I want to see! Have a wonderful time!

I love Bologna, I'm living here as an exchange student and studying at the university. The city is amazing for its beautiful porticos, and its medival-yet-alive modern state. Plus a quality of food that can't be had anywhere else.