After months of planning, we only have 97 days to go before heading off on our first trip to Italy! My husband and I are in our early 30s and enjoy architecture, a bit of history, casual restaurants, drinking some wine, relaxing and taking lots of pictures. We like to spend a lot of time walking around on our own and experiencing the sites without being in museums or on tours the entire time. As a previous poster on this board said perfectly, “We want to balance sightseeing and relaxation so that we see some good stuff, but aren't so rushed that we can't get a feel for the places we visit.” That said, how does this look for a basic itinerary?

Fri. 9/16 – Arrive in Venice 8:20am. Take alilaguna to hotel, Casa Rezzonico in the Dorsoduro area. Drop bags and head out to explore city and St. Mark’s square. At some point while in Venice, take Secret Itinerary tour, climb the Campanile, take a gondola ride, and possibly visit Murano.

Sat. 9/17 – Venice.

Sun. 9/18 – Leave Venice for Cinque Terre via 8:44am train. Hope that the trains are somewhat on schedule so we make all connections to arrive in Manarola at 2:40pm. Check into Arpaiu B&B and explore area.

Mon. 9/19 – Hike the trails and enjoy the CT.

Tues. 9/20 – Leave Manarola in AM for La Spezia and pick up rental car. Head to Castellina in Chianti, stopping in Pisa for a bit (Husband really wants to see Leaning Tower). Check into Hotel Belvedere, then head to San Gimignano in late afternoon.

Wed. 9/21- Spend day driving around area. Perhaps visit Siena in afternoon. Thanks to Stu Dudley’s detailed driving itinerary, we plan to follow his recommendations for beautiful drives throughout the region, stopping wherever catches our interest.

Thurs. 9/22 – Leave in AM for Orvieto, taking our time along the way. Visit Siena if we haven’t already. Once in Orvieto in late afternoon, drop off rental car and check into Hotel Duomo. Explore town that evening.

Fri. 9/23 – Leave Orvieto on 11:28am train to Rome. Check into Nicolas Inn and spend afternoon exploring city.

Sat. 9/24 – Morning tour of Vatican with Through Eternity tours. Afternoon open for more exploring.

Sun. 9/25 – Tour Colosseum & Forum. Rest of day open.

Mon. 9/26 – 11am flight home.

We are not visiting Florence on this trip because we wanted to have some time to just drive through the countryside and enjoy the little towns. We plan to go back to Italy again and spend time in Florence when we will have the time to really appreciate it.

Any thoughts on this itinerary would be greatly appreciated!

I think your idea of mixing sightseeing with relaxation is great - but don;t se any time for relaxation on this trip. You are moving at warp speed here - 1.5 days Venice - 2 days Rome - moving hotel every night or two - this would be way to fast for us.

IMHO in so few days you need to concentrate on two places - either rome and Venice - or rome and Florence - and perhaps see Orvieto or something on the day you travel between the two.

This trip seems to leave no time for relaxation at all.

Ten days---4 destinations is just too much with your travel time. You know what needs to go--you are adding a full day of travel just getting to and from the CT. Your day on the 20th is totally naive. If you must see Pisa, then drive via San Gim. to Castellina--why backtrack 2 hours. I would drop the CT and add that time to Tuscany---getting your car in Florence. You did ask !

5 different hotels/cities in 10 days is not what I'd call a relaxing trip! It sounds extremely rushed. Do not underestimate the time it takes to check out of a hotel, get to the train station, take the train ride, check into your new hotel... there goes a 1/2 day each time. If you subtract your first and last day which is mostly taken in airport arrival & departure, you are basically allowing yourselves only *1* day in each place for sight-seeing.

Is this your first trip to Europe, or just to Italy? I ask because if you have traveled at this pace before and know you enjoy it, disregard my comments above.

I have to agree with nytraveler. I would cut out the CT and concentrate on Florence, the surrounding countryside and Rome. If you keep everything as it is, I would at least skip Orvieto and head right into Rome. Orvieto is very beautiful, but you will have seen much beauty by then, but you will have not seen the history and vibrant neighborhoods that Rome has to offer.

Please follow nytraveler's advice and do some serious editing.

At your ages, your traveling years are ahead of you and as you say, "We plan to go back to Italy again".

For this 10-day trip, I'd suggest that you confine yourselves to one geographical region, splitting the time between a city and the nearby countryside...say Venice-Dolomites and/or the Lakes.

As much as I enjoy a breakneck pace (and I get a little itchy to move along in the country), this is too fast. Give yourself two full days without packing/unpacking for most of your trip. I definitely think your time in Rome is one day short, at least, but I'm very partial to Rome. One more day somehwere else, too.

I liked the CT, but it is time-consuming to get there.

But if you really want to do it this way please have fun. Take good food on the train.

Sher, I thought my trip this coming September was pushing it but yours looks really exhausting. Best to take the advice offered above and tone it down. I'm going for the 1st time and we have 3 weeks. We're doing 4 nights in Rome, 2 in Naples, 2 in Positano, 3 in Sardegna, 4 in Florence and 3 in Siena. For you math wizzes, extra nights in Rome, our home base, between cities. 100 days and counting.

Honestly, I dont' think your trip is so bad. My only suggestion is to cut out the stop in Orvieto and keep the extra day in Castellina in Chianti. That will give you an extra day in the Tuscan region without having to pack up and pick up. Drop the rental car in Orvieto on the day you go to Rome, and stay a couple of hours before boarding the train.

I think you've got a good range of experiences; if you drop Orvieto, it's busy but manageable. The question is: do you want several "tastes" or do you want longer periods of savoring the experience?


I agree that it's great to go at a leisurely pace, but I think that you will be able to do that. My recommendation for the Tuscany region is to lower the expectations of "hitting the sights" and enjoy the drive around the region, stopping and enjoying the towns at a relaxed pace .

Well, it's not a relaxing pace for sure by my definition. But everyone has a different definition of what is and isn't relaxing.

Orvieto does not need an overnight stay. We spend the day there between Florence and Rome and that was perfect. Just keep in mind that with all the traveling, you will lose time and be tired! We did a similar trip in April (reverse order) for two weeks and that was pushing it.

Hi
with barely two days in Venice, especially if you will be jet lagged, I'd not include the Secret Itinerary.
If you want to see the Doge's Palace, rent the audio guide, go at your own pace, anyhere from 60-120 minutes.
I'd also skip Murano unless you have a particular reason for going there. It's not that far, but will end up taking 3 hours minimally, and with such a short stay in Venice I would skip it. If you want to buy some glass, there are lots of shops in Venice proper. Instead of Murano, add in the Jewish Ghetto, or the Frari church, or strolling in Dorsoduro, and
the long vaporetto ride down the Grand Canal from the train station to San Marco.
I've never thought the view from the Campanile all that compelling, just rooftops. If you want a great view, take the 5 minute boat ride to the Campanile of San Giorgio Maggiore and you'll have a view of Venice's lagoon water front.

I agree with the others about your having too many destinations on the trip. Cinque Terre is out of your way, and you're not going to be there for very long.

Thanks everyone for your good advice. When I look at my plans as an outsider and not an overeager first-time Italy traveler, the CT really is out of the way. Also, the idea of taking out the night in Orvieto just might work. My original thought was that we could just head south from the Chianti area and stopover in Orvieto rather than driving straight from Chianti to Rome. If I stayed another night in Castellina, left in the morning of the 23rd and headed to Rome, how long should I plan that it would take me - assuming that I didn't stop at all on the way? (I know myself well enough to know that I WILL stop along the way, but I'm just trying to get a rough idea here!) Thanks again!

Your itinerary, while busy, is doable. But I'm with some of the others who encourage efficiency by, for example, just spending a couple of hours in Orvieto on the way to Rome. Orvieto is cute, but I don't think it's worth an overnight. I disagree about cutting Cinque Terre. It was a highlight for me. It's beautiful - and very different from anything else on your trip. If you like to hike, I suspect you'll love it. Agree with suggestion to cut the Secret Itinerary and also Murano. Hoarde as much of your limited Venice time for strolling the streets and soaking up Venice itself. The 20th is, as others have mentioned, a bit much - I don't think you'll be able to fit it all in. It usually takes longer than you think to get into a town and get parked than you think it will. Siena is definitely worth a visit. Personally, I'd spend the night there. But whatever you do, I'm sure you'll have a great trip!

Sher - I concur with all the other posters about the aggressiveness of your trip. When I read your description of your travel style, it sounds very much like mine and my husbands. We walk for hours, prefer scenery over too many museums, and love to relax at the cafes and observe the local life.

In terms of Orvieto, the drive from the chianti area to rome is about two hours or so. You could definitely stop at Orvieto on the way. We did this last year. Walked around Orvieto for a few hours and then headed onward. IMO, more time in Chianti/Tuscany is better than Orvieto anyways. The whole area needs to be soaked up slowly and to rush through would less rewarding.

If you end up doing Venice, Tuscany, Rome (with maybe a stop in Orvieto on the way)you will have a lovely trip.

If you click on my name, you can read my trip report from last year - we had more time than you but we did manage Tuscany, CT, and Amalfi Coast. It worked out perfectly for us. I think since you are seeing Venice, you will probably have to cut out CT.

We plan to go back next year and see Venice along with Salzburg in Austria and maybe the lake district of Italy. Still figuring that out.

The reality is that no matter what you end up doing, you will love these places. So, slow it down a bit and soak it in and have a wonderful trip.