My wife and I are traveling to Italy April 1 through April 10. We fly into Venice and out of Rome. The only plan we have is to stay in Portofino for a day or two sometime around April 2, 3, 4, or 5. Does anyone have any recommendations on an itinerary? Also, any fantastic restaurants or hotels/lodging recommendations would be appreciated.

We were in Italy in 2005 for the first two weeks of April but did the reverse.

Flew into Rome (3.5 days), day trip to Orvieto (1 day) on the way to Florence (2.5 days), CT (3 days), Venice (3.5 days). No where near enough time in Rome!

In Rome we stayed at Residenza Cellini...best hotel of the stay! In Florence Residenza de Pucci...large and clean with a good location. In CT we sayed at Hotel Villa Steno in Monterosso...great views and service! In Venice La Calcina...wonderful views.

Restaurants - Rome we loved Il Gabriella, Orvieto we loved I Sette Consoli and CT we loved Gambero Rosso. There was a lot of food being loved!

Enjoy!

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Rome - Hotel Splendide Royal; adjacent to Borghese Gardens, off Via Veneto, short walk to Spanish Steps (15 minutes).

Rome - restaurant "Matricianella" - do web search. Great local dishes, nice atmosphere (not stuffy).

You will waste a ton of time getting to and from Portofino--I would skip it.
Spend 4 days each in the biggies and and stop in Siena or Orvieto in transit.

Hi K,

Is there a particular need to go to Portofino?

With only 8-9 nights, I'd stick with Venice and Rome or Venice and Florence, and one or two daytrips.

Hi KLS, also consider that Easter this year falls on April 8th. There will be a HUGE influx of people in and around Rome on that weekend. Just a heads up!