One week in Italy - suggestions?
 

Me and my wife and two teenage daughters will be spending one week, first part of July 2010, in Italy. I'm wanting to get some ideas of itinerary suggestions. We would like to see Rome, Venice and Tuscany, maybe Cirque Terre?? We will have a rental car. We would like to start the trip in Venice and go from there, ending the trip in the Tuscany area. I would like to hear any suggestions about how to do it, where to stay, what to skip and what not to miss. Thank you for any help you can give us.

Bob

Well assuming you have 7 full days in the ground (not counting the day you arrive or the day you leave) you can see the highlights of two (2) places, that is two cities or two areas (that is Tuscany or Cinque Terre. Trying to do 4 places in 7 days - once you take out the travel time - will give you 1 day in each of 4 places. This is no enough to actually see much of anything.

And traveling with 2 teen daughters you probably won;t be getting a lot of 6 am starts.

You should really cut back to 3 destinations and have the chance to see at least the basics (3 days - 4 nights in Rome is really the minimum to see much of anything) - never mind the chance to sit in a cafe in a pretty piazza having a drink and watching the world go by.

(What you are suggesting is the equivalent of seeing New York, Philadelphia, the Amish Country and Washington DC in 7 days. It can be done - but you will have seen practically nothing.)

I would sit down with a guide book and decide what you want to see in each city, then figure out how long it will take to actually do it. You can drive by the roman Forum in 5 minutes - but if you want to actually see/understand anything about it you need 3 hours anyway. You can whip through the Vatican Museums in an hour - if you elbow everyone else aside - but to see it in depth takes a couple of days. Three or 4 hours is a decent compromise.

That's too many places for a 7 day trip imo. I think it is probably possible, but you'd be spending a LOT of time in that rental car! I also, as above, would suggest choosing just two (2) places.

When you are travelling with teenagers, even 3 destinations is pushing it.

Rome + Florence (which is 90 minutes from Rome) or Rome + Venice (about 3 h or so by train) will be a full week, trust me!

Unless you are serious Renaissance art/ architecture fans, I wd take Venice over Florence, because Venice is like nothing else in this world.

How many nights will you have in Italy, Bob?

You want to see Venice so I would fly into Venice. The first day in Venice, getting from the San Marco airport to your hotel, checking in etc., will no doubt take half of your day.

I would spend three nights in Venice so that you have two full days to enjoy Venice.

Will you have than have three or four nights more in Italy?

You will lose a good part of the fourth day leaving Venice and going to your next destination. Not knowing what your interest are it is hard to recommend the next place. But you mentioned Rome. You can take a train from Venice to Rome in about 4 1/2 hours or less. No need for a car. You could than fly home from Rome (that is called an open jaw or multicity flight).

If you want to enjoy the countryside of Tuscany you could rent your car when leaving Venice and perhaps fly home from the Florence airport.

Personally I wouldn't plan on staying in more than two destinations with a weeks trip in Italy. You would lose so much time moving from spot to spot instead of enjoying your time there.

pick 2 places and ENJOY :)
Rome and Venice have my vote.

Hi there,

I would personally only recommend going to 2 or 3 cities at most. Seeing as you are starting in Venice, you could stay 2 days there before making your way to Florence. Florence is amazing to me and I think you should stay there for 3 days. From there you can make your way to the stunning Cinque Terre. You only need 2-3 nights here but can easily stay longer.

It also depends where you are flying out of but I think this would be the best route for you otherwise you can see the cinque terre before Florence.

I would skip Rome this time as you need more time there I think. So do that in another trip.

Hope you have a great time in Italy.

OHandrew

(Oh-Holidays)

I say choose one great city for the culture and then escape to a smaller town close-by for a more complete view on the Italian way of life. Perhaps Florence with a few days time in Cortona or one of the lovely villages nearby.

7 days in Italy, not including the day you arrive or leave, I don't know. Italy is a wonderful country to experience and there are so many different regions. The week could be spent in the Tuscany region, there you have Florence, Pisa, Siena, San Griggomo, spend a couple of days in Florence, (1) in Pisa, Siena and San Griggomo.

San Griggomo?