kvinny

My husband and I are traveling to Italy for the first time. A couple of questions.

Is Christmas/New Years a good time to travel in Italy? We would arrive the day after Christmas. Are the sites open? Are restaurants open? We can go earlier if we need to.

Is it reasonable to see Rome, Venice and Milan in 12 days or should we just stick to one area. We're planning on flying into Rome and out of Milan if it's not too expensive.

What is the best way to get from Rome to Venice, and then to Milan? By sleeper train?

We've traveled around Spain and France so we know how to travel light and are not afraid of a little adventure, but since it's our first trip to Italy we feel like we shoould see the major cities. Any suggestions?

Rex

I can't advise about wintertime travel. For myself, I can't envision the day we wouldn't want to be home with family at Christmas.

But the main reason to post a reply to you is to comment on the question

"Rome to Venice, and then to Milan? By sleeper train?"

the distances are not that great for any "sleepers" - - about 4 and a half hours, ROM-VCE and under two and a half, VCE-MIL.

Thoese three destinations are reasonable for 12 days, but I would recommend the variety of a smaller town for at least one or two days - - Trento would be a good example (about 90 minutes north of Verona), or Bergamo, about 75 minutes northeast of Milan, or Pavia, 45 minutes south of Milan.

Many travelers would recommend going INto Milan - - easy to ease into, and not as much to see there when you are recovering from air travel to Italy. Maybe end your trip with Rome.

Best wishes,

Rex

Dayle

Hi KV,

If this is your first trip, I wouldn't spend time in Milan. Suggest 4 days in Rome, 5 days Florence & Tuscan countryside & 3 days Venice.

Buon viaggio!

Janda

Hello,I am surely no expert having only been to Italy 2 times, but I will share what i know.. The first time we went it was for 2 weeks at the end of Sept.. We flew into Milan and out of Rome. I wish we would have done it the other way because I think Venice would have been good to see last as it is of a slower pace. We did not stay in Milan. We went right to the train staion and on to Venice. Our time was spent thus..
Venice .. 3 nights
Florence ..3 nights
Amalfi.. 5 nights
Rome.. 4 nights
it was a good pace and we were able to see quite a bit. We fell in love with Italy and decided to go back in 2001. We stayed 5 days at a farm stay on a working vineyard and winery outside of Piacenza. it is called the Castello de Luzzano. We drove into Milan and saw the Duomo and the Victor Emmanuel Galleria. Both were fabulous. The city is crowded but had a good feel to it. We decided that the next time we go to Italy we will stay in the city a few days.
Regarding the train. The trips are only a few hours. It is fast , clean , and user friendly.
I wish you a wonderful trip.
Janda

upping

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kvinny

Thanks for the input. We're pretty good about "hitting the ground running" when we arrive, which is why we wanted to fly into Rome first. I also heard it's nice to end the trip in Venice, which is the main reason we would fly to Rome first.

Has anyone been in Rome for New Year's Eve? Can you recommend where we can go?