Hello-

First time to Italy and need assistance. I am working on our itinerary for a late Sept./October 2 week trip to Italy.

1 night in Munich (Oktoberfest)
3 nights in Rome..staying at the Hotel De Russie
3 nights in Florence..staying at the Hotel Savoy
2 nights in Venice (either staying at a B&B or San Clemente Palcace)
3 nights Geneo (staying with relatives)

We have 2 extra nights and we are not sure if we should go to Portofino, Lake Como or the country areas of Tuscancy such as Siena, etc. Can someone please advise? Thanks so much!

Depends on what your intrests are. Portofino is breathtaking. It may be easier to stay in Rapallo and take the boat (20 min) to Portofino. The Savoy in Florence is really nice. They renovated their entire lobby & restaurant/bar area. Just had coffee there two weeks ago. Very nice!

One more thought about Venice, both the Gritti Palace and the Danieli Palace are amazing hotels. They are both CIGA hotels and both are a stones throw from Pzza. San Marco. You must dine at a trattoria called Madonna. Any concierge can give you directions. We took a train up from Florence just for lunch!

The 2 extra days will be needed to move from one place to another. I woulòd also suggest considering cutting off something, beause you are really on a tight schedule. Personaly I would skip Venice or Florence and stay for AT LEAST 6 days in Rome. you can't actually se anything of the city in less than 6 days and for a thorough exploration of it, two weeks would not be enough.

How are you traveling from Munich to Rome...I assume by air? In terms of your two "additional" nights..it is hard to advise you, at least for me, since we do not know anything about your interests...and equally important..are you planning on spending those two nights BEFORE or AFTER staying with your relatives?

I'd skip Siena for a smaller Tuscan town like San Gimignano or Montepuliciano, but only if you have a car. I found 2 nights in Florence to be enough and 2 nights in VEnice not (could have used one more). Lake COmo was beautiful if you want a down day, not much to do other than relax and enjoy! NOt necessarily the easiest to get to though.

Add a night to Venice. Take one away from Florence unless you are heavily into the Renaissance.

Thank you so much for your help!

Here are some answers to your questions and some more information about my husband and I.

We are in our early thirties and want to experience a little bit of everything on our vacation...sightsee, relax, etc.

I think we are trying to accomplish a lot. But I am dying to go to Lake Como.

Is this too much?

1 night in Muich (layoever..going to Ocktoberfest)
3 nights in Rome
3 nights in Florence
2 nights in Venice
2 nights in Lake Como
3 nights in Geneo

Is that crazy! Should we go to Lake Como from Venice or from Geneo to Lake Como? Thanks so much!

What is your proposed city to city travel flow? How will you travel (car, train, plane)? I assume you are flying into Munich. Where are you flying out of? Need all that to help frame the suggestions. IMHO, you need more time
in Venice and Rome. Can you cut out one location?

We are flying in Rome from Munich on the 28th of Sept. and then out from Milan on the 12th of Oct.

Our flight leaves at 7:00 am from Milan which is making planning a little harder. I think we can leave Lake Como really early on the 12th and hire a taxi to take us to the airport. Do you think that would work?

I would stay 1 extra night in Genoa with your relatives and make a day outing down to Portofino (if that is where you had wanted to go) or at least another town along the Italian Riviera while you are in the region. Then add 1 night onto your Rome itinerary. There are so many things to see and do in and around Rome that 3 nights (IMO) is just not enough. For your extra Rome day, you could take the train out to Tivoli and see Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este, etc.

thank you so much for everyone's opinions!

here is what we decide on i think as of now:
Layover in Munich, Fly into Rome next day
3 nights in Rome
3 nights in Florence with a day trip to San G or Siena
2 nights in Venice
3 nights in Geneo
2 nights in Lake Como, Fly out of Milan

I know it is a lot but I think we can do it? We are going to go by train to all of the places? Any train suggestions? Thanks so much!

Staying at Lake Como for the last night and having to catch a 7 AM flight out of Milan might not be wise. Maybe somebody else on the forum will confirm or deny that fact. You might also look at going from Rome to Venice and then to Florence. Is the Venice to Genoa segment going to be an all day affair?

Here are are the train times that I found:

ROme to Florence- 1.5 hours
Florence to Venice- 3 hours
Venice to Genoa- 4.40 hours
Genoa to Lake Camo-2.5 hours

I did the Rome to Venice train ride and it was 7 hours.

As far as a 7 am flight out of Milan. we are planning to leave Lake Como at 4;45 am for the hour ride to Milan. Do you think that is doable? THanks everyone for your help!

We are training the entire trip rather than renting a car?

julei

It would be risky to stay in Como that last night. You need to be at the airport by 6:00 at the latest for an international check-in (usually it's two hours before the flight but I've never seen an Italian ticket agent at work before 6:00). If there is no traffic between Como (and I'm assuming Cernobbio here, not Bellagio)the drive to the airport is going to be between 30 and 45 minutes. If there is traffic, hard to believe so early in the morning, but it happens, then you are sunk. I've been caught in traffic on that Como/Milan highway for a couple of hours more times than I want to remember. There is a lot of truck traffic on that road and it can be a nightmare. Or not. In any event, it will be a costly cab ride, especially if you are leaving around 5 am.

Thank you! This is the type of feedback I am looking for. What would you do as far as the itinerary? Maybe not do Lake Como? Cheers! Thanks! Should we stay in Milan the night before we leave at 7am?

No trying to force an idea you have rejected, but there are several fast trains per day between Rome and Venice taking either 4.5 or 5 hrs. However, your current schedule looks good and the times you found from Venice to Genoa are not too long.

What about staying near the airport the last night? You could spend most of the day on Lake Como and then go to the hotel in the early evening? I think this was discussed several times previously on this forum.

If you are dying to see Lake Como (and it is lovely) I would skip Venice. It's too far out of your way given the other destinations of this trip. Add another night in Como and one in Milan.

I just took an 8 am flight out of Milan and spent the night before at the Hotel Cervo which is right at the airport & has a shuttle. It would not be my first choice again but I don't know of any other Malpensa hotel options. Our room was tiny and filled with mosquitos! they have a restaurant but I think it is closed Saturday & sunday. You should search on this forum and see if there are other ideas for hotels near the airport.

Okay...I decided to drop Lake Como. It was just way too much in two weeks!

I also looked at the advice from Dersa..thank you so much and I think this might be a better itinerary and more enjoyable. We are arriving into rome and departing out of Milan.

3 nights in Rome
2 nights in Venice
3 nights in Florence
4 nights in Genoa (we have relatives here that we will stay with and take a trip to Portofino, etc.(or we can add a night to Florence?)
1 night (hotel close to Malpensa airport)

Thanks everyone fgr your help!

Does this make sense? No, I am changing my hotel options too. Decided wanted smaller more boutique hotels like the J.K Place in Florence. Anyone have any ideas of recommendations in Rome of a great small hotel that is near the spanish steps?