Hi everyone,
My wife and I are planning our first trip to Italy in October and I would love to get some feedback from those of you who've been there before. What are the musts, are we trying to do too much, etc.

Here goes...

10/18 - fly into London
10/19 - day in London
10/20 - fly from London to Bari (wife has family in Trani we would like to meet)
10/21 - Bari/Trani (overnight train to Venice)
10/22 - Venice
10/23 - Venice
10/24 - Early train to Florence/Florence
10/25 - B&B outside Florence (already reserved La Limonaia after reading the reviews on here)
10/26 - B&B - wine tour
10/27 - Florence sights
10/28 - Florence sights
10/29 - Train to Rome and possible afternoon in Siena
10/30 - Rome
10/31 - Rome
11/1 - Rome
11/2 - Fly home

There you have it...a few things I'm wondering about:

1) We'll fly into Bari but the family is in Trani. Any idea the best way to get there?
2) Is Siena worth stopping and walking around if we only have an afternoon?
3) Any idea what the weather in Florence is like in late October? We were thinking about a romantic dinner in a vineyard, but would it be too cold?
4) Any other thoughts, opinions, ideas are much appreciated!

Thank you!

Wow! That's a real meet-and-greet in Trani! I'm imagining you standing at a train station while the family whips by and blows you kisses from a Vespa.

The first half of the itinerary seems like madness to me - a real shoe-in for never getting over jetlag (and I'm not even much bothered by it, but this would kill me). I'd eliminate London right off the bat. You have essentially one day there before you zoom off to Bari, way in the south, and then hop on an overnight train to Venice, by which time you'll be so dazed you won't even know what country you're in.

I'd fly to Bari, stay for 3 nights, then spend three days in Venice (regular train or overnight, whichever), lop a day off Florence, and whatever you do, bag London.

Actually, personally, with 15 days, I'd limit myself to 3 places, not 4, but if this is your first trip I'm guessing you're going to want to go the ambitious route.

Hi, saiver -

(Sorry if I'm reposting - I think I lost my reply earlier!)

It is easy to get from Bari to Trani (and vice versa). There is a bus from the Bari airport to the piazza in front of the train station, where there are frequent trains to Trani. The ride takes about 45 minutes. You can get the schedules on the trenitalia web-site.

When in Trani, do try to see its magnificent cathedral (duomo)!

Hope that helps.

Are you going to London just to get an inexpensive flight to Bari? It's just not worth it. Fly direct to Bari. You could spend one of your Florence days on a daytrip to Siena. Evenings and nights can get very chilly in late October. It gets dark fairly quickly. I don't think dining outdoors in a vineyard would be that comfortable.

I agree with (if you can) skipping London.
Once you get to Venice you have a nice schedule.It would be better if you could add the London stay to your time there.
Acouple observations:
A car for part of your Tuscan stay opens up a lot of options.
Do not expect to eat out at night unless the restaurant has heaters.
It gets dark early and even sunny days will have chilly evenings.
I'd probably skip Siena (you've tasted Florence for 3/4 days. If anything,I'd consider a smaller town like Orvieto as a stop.
Again, a car would open up your options.
Have a great time planning!

Florence is UNBELIEVABLE...probably the best city i have ever been to. Tuscany has so much to offer. There are so many small towns in this region that i could have just spent my entire trip i tuscany and been very satisfied. Sienna is well worth the visit, but so too is San Gimagnaino (sp?). You will not be disappointed with your three major cities: Rome, Florence and Venice. Although i offer one word of advice. DO NOT play the little "games" on the side streets in Venice. The are little clans ripping off tourists. When you see a group gathering around to watch a card game or some sort of magic game involving $, it is a rip off with the majority of the crowd being part of the clan. Please beware, we witnessed it first hand.

Hi Saiver. Hope you love Italy as well as I do, which is why I keep returning! Here's what I think - your itinerary & the itinerary of others depends on what each likes when traveling. For instance, I thought Siena was a waste of my precious travel time! Go figure - some folks love it. I loved Venice, Rome, Ostia Antica, Pompeii, Capri. Only wanted the art museum in Florence - no more time there. Obviously, my itinerary includes lots of history, not Tuscany scenery.

Additionally, I love London & would never go to Europe without spending couple of days there. But, with limited time, another may choose to skip London & fly direct to Italy.

So, my opinion is - when deciding on your itinerary, be sure to know "what type" of trip & things to do & see are right for you.

Not had a problem with jet lag so who knows, maybe you won't either. Here's what I do - arrive early a.m.; leave bags at hotel; go out & about; nap for 1-2 hours in afternoon; go back out; go to bed about 9-10 pm. Next day I'm right as ever. Doesn't work for everyone.

Once you decide, let us know & you will get lots of suggestions on things to do!

Julie

Wear a money belt/neck pouch.
Make copies of your tkts/passports/credit cards etc.
Whatch out for the "gypsies"!

I agree that you're doing an awful lot, but Siena is pretty fabulous. I've always thought that the beauty of Rome is that it's just so wonderful that you don't have to try at all to en enjoy it - if you don't see the Trevi you'll see another fountain and it will be the best, so it's relaxing.

Thank you all for all of the comments!

Here's a little feedback...

We're flying into London to make the most of our frequent flier miles on AA since we didn't have enough to go straight to Italy from St. Louis. Plus, London has inexpensive flights directly to Bari on British Airlines which is what we're planning on taking. Grinisa, I know you mentioned flying straight to Bari, but we wanted to simply limit the number of connections we'd have to make and coming from St. Louis, almost everything involves multiple connections.

So, that's how we wound up with the stop in London. To fight jet lag a bit, we're leaving STL at 6:30am and getting into London at about 10:45 pm. So by the time we get out of the airport and to our hotel, we'll be ready to go to bed anyway and get up to a new day. We'll probably do a few things in London and catch a play that evening and fly out the next day.

That's some background, now on to Italy. Sounds like there are varying opinions on Siena. I guess the question is - Is it worth stopping there or putting the extra time into Venice, Florence or Rome?

While we're seeing a bunch of different cities, I think we're going to try and limit the number of things we cram into each day so there is some relaxing time too.

How hard is it to rent a car in Florence? It might be nice to rent one to get to our B&B.

Thanks for all the insights so far!

Not a big fan of London myself and have been there 4 x. With the current exchange rate, it holds even less appeal. For that much moenye, I would choose Italy absolutely.

Sienna is an easy bus ride from Florence. For me, a daytrip is sufficient and I prefer to base in Florence and daytrip. Different strokes as always.

Cramming too much into a trip is a common problem. IMO, the highlights of Venice and Florence are found in the off the beaten path wanderings. I generally plan for one main "event" in a day leaving noon and later open for adventures.

Are you interested in Roman ruins, such as Pompeii? If so, I would give the Siena day to Ostia Antica. It is an easy & cheap (few Euros), less than 30 minute train ride from Rome. When we were there, there were only about 20 other people onsite - so nice to almost have the place to ourselves. Also, unlike Pompeii, there is not any restriction on the ruins - can climb on & under them. It was absolutely awesome! We even pulled some vines away & found a partially ecavated underground tomb! (nice cafeteria onsite, restrooms, plenty of shade for a rest)

Then, if you like this sort of stuff, an easy, yet very inclusive tour of Rome is on the #110 double decker tourist bus - hop on & off as choose. Only 12 Euros per person, including headsets for city/sites narrative. Entire tour loop takes 2 hours, but hop on/off could take a day. We liked the city orientation it gave. We rode the entire 2 hr. route & then did the hop on/off. Others on this board have said it never comes, headsets don't work, etc. We did not have any problems.

After our fall 2006 trip, on the Italy board, I posted a review & a separate & very thorough explanation of how to use the Rome bus system - which we found very confusing until we figured it out. We had no problems on the buses, even the pickpocket express, & it sure was a cheap way to get around Rome. If interested, you can probably find it by searching the topic or my name.

I suggest that once you get your itinerary set, start new posts for specific cities & even others for specific sites/how to's.

We love Rome, as you can probably tell.

Julie