preliminary tour of ITALY itinerary [14 days]
 

i am planning a 2 week trip to italy in september 2010, flying into rome and flying out of milan. this will be my first time visiting italy so i want to see as much as i can but still enjoy and experience each place as thoroughly as i can. my boyfriend and i are in our late 20s, major foodies and wine aficianados, very active, interested in a balanced trip of sightseeing/history and relaxation [coastal town/beach], i haven't purchased a guidebook yet, but know some of the cities that we would like to see: rome, amalfi coast/capri, tuscany [small towns and vineyards], florence, venice, and lake como. please let me know if this itinerary is feasible:

Sep 13 - JFK to rome
Sep 14 - day 1 - 8 AM arrival / try to have a relaxing / easy day in rome
Sep 15 - day 2 - rome
Sep 16 - day 3 - rome
Sep 17 - day 4 - rome
Sep 18 - day 5 - amalfi coast - positano/ravello
Sep 19 - day 6 - amalfi coast - positano/ravello
Sep 20 - day 7 - day trip to capri
Sep 21 - day 8 - amalfi coast - positano/ravello
Sep 22 - day 9 - tuscany - chianti / montepulciano / san gimignano
Sep 23 - day 10 - tuscany - chianti / montepulciano / san gimignano
Sep 24 - day 11 - tuscany - chianti / montepulciano / san gimignano
Sep 25 - day 12 - venice
Sep 26 - day 13 - venice
Sep 27 - day 14 - venice / train to milan, spend the night
Sep 28 - day 15 - fly out of milan - 10 AM

here are my biggest questions:
1. am I making a mistake by leaving out florence from our itinerary? or should I do at least a day while I am in tuscany?
2. which town in tuscany would be a good base to see the area? is a car necessary?
3. are there any other towns/areas that are more of a "must see" than the ones i listed as a first-timer in italy?

Any thoughts and/or suggestions would be appreciated! i haven't booked any hotels or train tickets yet so i am open to any and all ideas! :)

Only you can decide if you are making a mistake by omitting Florence from your itinerary. After 8 trips to Italy which have included all parts of the country, my favorite destination is Florence. In fact, we almost always include Florence in addition to the other destinations. We're going to Tuscany this fall and will spend at least a day in Florence. Get a guidebook to start your research.
I think your itinerary looks great for a brief 1st time overview but that is all you will get with the short times you are staying in each place. Along with a lot of travelling around.
Tuscany is much easier to see if you have a car. Why not stay in Florence and do a couple of day trips to Chianti, etc. Easier without a car.
Enjoy your planning and have a wonderful time.

thank you for your input mamcalice. i figured that i should stay in the countryside to get a little variation in pace/atmosphere since we are getting the city perspective in rome. do you think a day trip to florence is ok?

A day trip to Florence can actually work well, since the center of town is very walkable and not large and the train and bus stations are right in the center. It is discussed here often so do a search and you will find some good ideas. Key idea: if you hope to visit the Uffizi Museum or the Academia Gallery (David), make a reservation.

If you do visit Florence, the key is to buy all tickets on line before you go since you have limited amount of time. The line for David alone can be hours.

I think you have a good mix of city and country.

I can recommend apt's in Rome and Venice if you like..

yes please i need lodging recommendations! :)

i forgot to say that ideally, we would like to spend no more than $250 a night anywhere, which i know will be hard in venice and amalfi especially. i usually gravitate towards chic boutique hotels, but love charming, rustic, and romantic B&Bs. in addition, i always try to get a room with a nice view or balcony or a hotel with a roofdeck lounge area because after a long day of sightseeing, i'd like to have some wine and just sit out there and enjoy my surroundings.

i started to look at hotels/b&bs in venice and don't really mind if i don't stay along the grand canal. i would much prefer a hotel located on one of the smaller canals, but not too far from where the action is.

On whether to visit Florence or not, you can't do everything! If you really love Renaissance art, then you might want to squeeze it in. And it doesn't spend like you're spending a lot of time in big cities, just really Rome, and your last night in Milan.

I assume you've already gotten your tickets. Otherwise, I'd suggest flying out of Venice, so you don't have to travel to Milan for the flight out.

On our last trip to Venice, we stayed Casa Santa Maria Formosa, which we enjoyed very much, and had some Venetian character, and looks to be in your price range. It's in a great location very close to San Marco, but out of much of the tourist fray. It's on a small canal off the edge of Campo Santa Maria Formosa, a campo that I like a lot for the liveliness and what looks like a lot of locals hanging out there (in addition to tourists, of course). Rather than a roofdeck lounge area, or anything like that, we LOVE to go to nearby cafes to sit, relax and people-watch. Campo Santa Maria Formosa is good for that; there are several pleasant cafes there.

In Rome, we've stayed at Residenza Canali ai Coronari several times. Not luxurious, but very welcoming, helpful staff, and great location near Piazza Navona. The rooms on the top floor have their own terraces. When we stayed in one, we found we didn't use it, preferring to sit in Piazza Navona or near the Pantheon, but if you want your own space, it might be a good choice.

thank you for your hotel recommendations, lexma90! i will definitely look into them. and as for the tickets... i just changed my departure city from milan to venice. it was only $23 more for the actual flight, but then the stupid company charged me $50 each ticket to make the change. :( but i guess it could be a lot worse and it's worth it to save the hassle of traveling to milan for 3+ hours. right?!

David is my favorite piece of art anywhere - don't miss him! I think day-tripping into Florence would be fine. We spent a couple of nights there, but actually enjoyed our stay in the countryside more. And agree that a car is very nice to have in Tuscany.

OP -- Car is really necessary if you want to get around Tuscany. I would skip San G -- I thought it was touristy/gimcracky for the most part. Try Siena & Orvieto -- maybe pick up rental car in Orvieto after taking train up from Amalfi Coast and return it in Florence where you can catch train to Venice. For Venice, I loved the Accademia area. Everything in Venice is within walking distance. Enjoy!

I would pick up a car in Orvieto or Chiusi and stay somewhere in southern Tuscany, especially if you are into wine. I prefer the Brunello's and Nobile's to Chianti so you might want to consider Montalcino or Montepulciano. Do you want to stay in a small hill town so you don't have to drive after dinner or stay in the countryside?

You can leave Florence for your next trip and combine with Cinque Terre.

Your itinerary looks doable and you do need a guide book.

We spent 5 weeks in Italy in 2004 in many of the areas you're thinking of visiting. In Rome we had a very nice boutique type hotel on the Aventine Hill (Hotel Aventino)...3 buildings and many different types of rooms...in a residential neighbourhood. We walked everywhere from there to all the main attractions/piazzas including the Vatican (45 min walk).

We also spent a week on the Amalfi coast using Praiano (across the bay from Positano) as our base. If I were to do it again I would stay in Sorrento and do a day trip to Positano and the Amalfi coast. From Sorrento, Capri is just a boat ride away & you're a short train ride to Pompeii.

In Tuscany we rented a lovely 1 br villa (with kitchen) about 20km south of Florence (Le Villa Torri). A car is necessary if you stay in the country side so you can tour the towns in the area. The ones you mention are very accessible as well as Florence (we bused into Florence to avoid driving there) and Pisa is 1 hour away, as is Lucca, a very interesting town.
In Venice you walk everywhere and spend your time in piazza's...people watching and pretending you're not lost. Love the place....we stayed at a very reasonable B & B called Bernardi Semenzato just off the Grand Canal. Not fancy quite reasonable and decent.

Hope you enjoy your trip as much as we did. Qestions..just fire away and I'll try to help.

mg

based on the feedback so far (much appreciated btw, as all of you have been very helpful!), we will pick up a rental car in orvieto after our train ride up from amalfi. spending our last day in the tuscan region in florence makes sense to me since we will probably drop off the car there. in florence, we will make time to see david and the rest of academia gallery and then walk around a bit before we take the train to venice. does that sound good?

has anyone ever picked up a car in orvieto and dropped off in florence?

lake_como_expert: originally when i booked the open jaw flight from JFK to rome and milan to JFK, my intention was to spend one night in lake como between venice and milan. however, i think that is a bit too ambitious and trying to see way too much. hopefully i made the right decision to change the departure city today from milan to venice for only $73 more [original flight was $770 non-stop].

city,

I think you are making great choices, allowing enough time in each location to see many sights but also to relax if you like.

Your Florence one-day plan sounds good. Just be careful to avoid the ZTL (Limited Traffic Zone under camera surveillance) in the center of town where only locals can drive or you will receive a big fine months later by mail. Some avoid avoid the ZTL and other difficult traffic issues in Florence by returning their car at the Florence airport.

I've returned a car in Florence and it was a challenge...even when I knew where I was going. One way narrow streets downtown and busy.

althom1122: which hotel / town did you stay in tuscany?

suzchicago: noted on san gimignano. thats a little disappointing because the pictures i saw were amazing. where did you stay in tuscany and in venice?

kybourbon: i have decided to get rent a car so we don't mind having to drive around. ideally i would like to stay in the countryside but also have the option of going to a nearby small town village where there are good restaurants, shops, and cafes. etc. does montalcino and/or montepulciano fit that description?

mgwest: thanks so much for all of your recommendations... i will look into all of them. :) i will also be picking up my fodors guidebook this weekend so i will probably have more questions for you after i read it and get much more into the planning details. sorrento does sound like a better base to see capri/positano/ravello. i am thinking it might also be much cheaper than staying in positano?

ellenem: omg awesome tip on ZTL... i will try to arrange a drop off at the airport! and thank you for the vote of confidence! :) it can be quite overwhelming planning a trip like this with SO many choices and wanting to see and do everything! hehe.

Glad to help.

ZTL exists all over italy in many city and town centers. here's a link to the Slow Travel site that describes it and has images.

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/drivin...s_speeding.htm