Suggestions for first time traveler in Italy
 

A friend and I are going to Italy the last week in March. We plan to be gone 9-10 days, 2 of which being travel days from U.S. to Europe and back. We will visit her neice who lives in Vicenza. Among our hopes to see are: Venice, San Giamignano, Cinqueterre and possibly Florence. Is this doable? Any particilar place we should fly into? That order is not set in stone, but that is what I'm thinking for the time being. Is this attempting too much in 7-8 days? Any suggestions is appreciated.

You certaintly could do what you suggest but it would be very rushed.things to consider,you will have just traveled internationally perhaps not sleeping well<BR>then you have to get your bags and travel to your first destination,if you have arrived in the morning it will be late afternoon and you will be tired.Really only gives you one day in each place allowing for traveling time.Venice to florence to ct is alot of driving or time in a train. Personally I would limit trip to two towns or take more time off.

<BR><BR>It's certainly &quot;doable.&quot; The question for you is: do you place a greater value on seeing more places or on spending more time in fewer places?

I feel that the idea is that you don't really see anything if you do a short version of 21 cities in 22 days.I would rather stay home.

<BR><BR>While I personally would not travel that way anymore, Robert, I've done it in the past and actually found it a great way to find places I wanted to return to, to explore in more depth.

Well, as you must visit Vicenza (unless your frind's niece would like to meet you somewhere else), that can combine nicely with Venice. Also, it is possible to fly from some places in the US directly to Venice or the Venice area. San Gimingnano (sorry, my spelling is lousy) and Florence are a good combination in terms of distance and day trip considerations. If you are willing to drop Cinqueterre for this trip, seems you'd have a middle of the roader for your essentially one week with these destinations. Not slowtrav style, but not &quot;if this is Tuesday, it must be Rome&quot; whirlwind, either. How to plan/organize things further depends very much on your budget and your specific interests &amp; priorities. Most of all, plan on time to simply relax &amp; have fun!

It depends on how you travel but I definitely think it's doable. <BR>I flew into Milan a few years back and had the 10-day trip of my life and did that same itinerary except that I spent a couple of days on Lake Como as well. You could fly into Milan and take a train directly to Venice. Spend a few days in Venice. I would spend one with your friend's niece and then ask her to spend one with you in Venice. Head to Florence by train (2 1/2 hours--easy, convenient ride) on morning of day 4 spend day 5, 6 and 7 in Florence taking a day trip to San Giamignano one day, head to Cinque Terre by train (easy ride--maybe 3 1/2 hours) on day 7 and spend one night in Monteresso (one day will give you the feel for this area) which is low key and beautiful but very quiet and then head by train to Milan and spend a night there and then head out from Milan. <BR>Like I said it depends how you travel but we like to travel that way and exactly as another poster put it...you can see where you'd like to return. I absolutely LOVED my entire trip and although I'd do it all again, I know that I MUST return to Venice someday!

I think the advice to fly into Venice(if that's convenient for you) is good.<BR>Then, if your niece is willing I would lean on her for a few days. Vicenza is a lovely town. Think I'd save the CT for another trip and also San Gim. San G. seems to be over commercialized according to comments on this forum. I'd do Siena instead. (Much larger place, but infinitely more rewarding. Have been to both... even before SG became so &quot;touristy&quot;.)

With your time available I would skip the CT and do all the rest at a more relaxed pace. Fly into Milan and see the niece in Vicenza on the way to Venice or fly into Venice and have the niece meet you there. You are then positioned to go to Florence and SanG and back home without spending all of your time on trains.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. There is so much to consider! I have more questions! Do you know if it is better to buy train tickets in advance? Does anyone know how long by train it is from Vicenza to Venice?

I was thinking of flying in and out of Florence. Is CT closer to Milan or Florence? Do you know the travel distance and time it takes to get to Milan from CT? What about Milan to Venice or Vicenza by train?<BR>

I would like to respond to net ([email protected]). I don't think that's a real email address, I tried to write to you directly. My question is this, you say you flew into Milan? How long was the train to Venice from Milan? How long Cinqueterre to Milan by train? I want to spend least amount of time on trains (granted have to spend some time). I am trying to determine if better to fly in/out of Milan or Florence. Right NOw I'm leaning towards Florence. Any info is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

IOf your lst destination in italy before flying back home is Cinque terre, You shouldn't fly out nieter from Milano nor from Firenze. You best options are Pisa and Genova (Pisa is closer and it is the main airport in Tuscany, while Firenze is but one small airport with one and a half lane, the half lane being the nearby autostrada where once an airplane landed by mistake).