Kelly

Planning on travelling to Italy in September this year. How does this sound for an itinerary.<BR><BR>Arrive Rome<BR>Rome 4 nites (will include visit to Pompeii in there somewhere)<BR>up to Pisa for visit<BR>to Florence 3 nites<BR>up to Cinque Terre for visit<BR>to Genoa for 1 nite<BR>to San Remo visit<BR>on to Monaco 1 nite<BR>to Milan for visit<BR>to Verona 2 nites<BR>to Venice 3 nites<BR><BR>I will be travelling by train, and departing city is Venice. Any advice would be helpful.<BR><BR>Has anyone heard of the Venicecard? What is the cost, and is it worth it?<BR><BR>Cheers,<BR><BR>Kelly

dean

All i can say is hope you like train stations. In my opinion you are doing way too much. Florence is worth 3-4 days on its own. So is Rome. Venice takes a week. Thats all I would do if I were you. Id do Pisa as a day trip from Florence. Or take a few days for Cinque terre. BUt between checking in and out of your hotels, getting the the train station etc you will be on the run all the time. The best part about Italy is when you get into the rythym of Italian time.

elaine

Kelly<BR>Everyone has a different travel style but your itinerary is too ambitious for me, and as it did for dean it represents to me too many <BR>train stations and too much packing/unpacking. I also wonder if you realize that on any day you travel, even if it's only a two hour train ride (let alone longer) you lose most of that day for sightseeing. By the time you check out of your hotel, allow time at the station, travel, get to your next hotel, check in, etc at least half if not more of that day is gone. And that's assuming everything goes according to plan, no missed or cancelled trains.<BR>I went to Rome for six days thinking I'd do a daytrip to Pompeii. I never left Rome and didn't have time to do many things I'd planned on, and I am a dedicated sightseer. I love Venice best of all but disagree that it requires a week; for a first visit on a busy itinerary I think 3 or 4 days might do, but I'd definitely allow more time for Rome. Cinque Terre for a visit? As in a daytrip? The logistics alone<BR>will take more than a day.<BR>If I were in charge of your itinerary and knowing what I know, I'd reluctantly leave Rome and/or Florence out of this equation and stick to the north.

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Way too much. I would drop that entire San Remo and Monaco diversion and do the Ligurian coast right. You will like Siena more than Pisa--but as a day trip from Florence. In 14 nites you want no more than 5 destinations if you include the big 3. Good luck !

Kelly

Interesting responses so far. Everyone seems to think I am doing to much. Obviously not many Contiki travellers here. Leaving Rome out of the equation? Yikes!! That's like making a salami sandwhich hold the salami. I have done my fair share of travelling, and this will be my first venture on my own. I won't be staying in hotels 100% of the time. A mix of hostels, B&Bs, monasteries and a hotel here or there. We'll see. Just started planning. I do have a few days I can add on to certain places. <BR><BR>

Robyn France

Agree with the others--too much moving around. Also, I would suggest omitting Milan--it is out of the way and it is really just a business city, although it has some attractions. No real reason to detour there. Verona is wonderful--you could stay there for a few days and enjoy the lower portions of Lake Garda which are breathtakingly beautiful. I would definitely skip the Genoa--Monaco segment--out of the general plan and you wouldn't be having to pack and move as often.

Grasshopper

Kelly,<BR><BR>When you say "for a visit" does that mean you're stopping off? Sounds like a fun trip. Pisa is north of Florence and does make a good half day trip from Florence (one hour by train) or could be a stop on the way from Florence to Cinque Terre. My suggestion would be to stay in CT and pay Genoa a quick visit (or skip altogether). Monaco to Milan is a bit of a trek. And Verona for 2 nights might be a bit much (consider Garda?) unless you have a particular reason for going there. <BR><BR>I absolutely think Milan is worth a visit. The Duomo is incredibly beautiful. And when you are travelling in Italy by train you are travelling through Italy. So not a moment is wasted. It is all interesting.<BR><BR>Have a great time!

Kelly

and to think my travel agent wants to to visit 2 or 3 more places. She is Italian and knows the country. <BR><BR>I think for now I'll stick with my original itinerary. <BR><BR>Funny, I thought that I had been quite organized in how I planned the visit. The other Italian route I saw on this site was all over the place. Kinda like visiting Nova Scotia to BC, and then backtracking to Saskatchewan. <BR><BR>Does anyone have any positive responses, or does everyone agree I am taking in to much? Compared to the Contiki trips I have done this is pretty breezy. The Contiki tours only include 2 nites in Rome. I have 4 nites.

Kelly

thanks for the positive resonse Grasshopper! I figure that Monaco is so close, why not? I am young with lots of energy. No travelling with arch supports here. Backpacking as well.

Paule

Dear Kelly,<BR>I've been mulling over your itinerary and tend to agree with the others that you're trying to cover too much ground. But I think your itinerary is more manageable than not. The trip to San Remo and Monaco is really a waste of time; there's a LOT of travel time spent for not much time to visit. <BR><BR>Here are my suggestions:<BR>Rome-4 nights<BR>Florence - 3 nights (day trip to Siena, as someone suggested. Good way to see Tuscany region)<BR>Cinque Terre-2 nights. Really, a good idea to spend the time there so you can hike or train between the towns; a stopover there on the way someplace else is a waste of time.<BR>IF you want to see Pisa, make it the stopover from Florence on the way to the Cinque Terre.<BR><BR>Milan -1 night . I agree with Grasshopper that Milan is worth a stop. I'd skip staying in Genoa (you could stopover there if you really really wanted to between C.T. and Milan, but that's too hectic for me).<BR><BR>Then continue your plan of <BR>Verona - 2nights<BR>Venice - 3 nights.<BR><BR>I think this is a better balance between seeing as much as you can and getting to spend some time in places; you see most of the places you mentioned, but it's not quite as hectic as you originally mentioned. As an example, the time spent on the train between Monaco and Verona is about 6 hours-- and that doesn't include your stopover in Milan! <BR><BR>Hope this helps!

Lydia

We are spending the same number of days in Italy later this month, but our itinerary is as follows - five nights in Rome, 6 nights in Florence, 3 nights in Venice and 1 night in Milan on our way home. There seems to be plenty to see in the cities we are visiting, but then I prefer to stay in one place for a longer period than going to different places all the time, I find it takes a long time to check out of a hotel, travel to the next, check in, unpack or get settled, etc. This Italy trip is actually more split up than other European trips we've taken, where we've stayed in one place for two weeks at a time and done day trips from our base.

Michael

I wonder if this is more of a philosophical question than a mechanical question. It seems that there are many different types of travel. I do not want to simplify this too much but it seems that there are many people who want to see as much of the "sights" as possible in which case a Contiki type of tour is probably the most effecient way to accomplish this goal. Another way of traveling involves trying to experience many facets of a country /region/location and this takes much longer. This is especially true if you enjoy meeting local people and not just other tourists. I suspect most seasoned travelers and independant travelers fall into this latter group. It is therefore difficult for someone else to design your itinerary<BR>Now having said that I must say that I pretty much agree with most of what has been said here. It looks like you have about 14 nights in Italy. Remember that (depending on where you are coming from) it probably takes you a day to get to Italy and perhaps a second to get over the trip over. I also agree that a day of travel makes you lose a good 1/2 day of touring. I would probably do 5 nights in Rome as your first day will be short as an arrival day, 1 or 2 nights for Amalfi/Pompei if you wish, 3 to 5 nights in Florence with some short trips in Tuscany if you wish than 3or 4 nights in venice. I would leave the lake region, Milan, Genoa, Monaco etc for another trip.

kelly

thanks to all who replied. I have been mulling over my trip, and I think I have decided to leave out SanRemo and the Italian Riveria, although I REALLY wanted to see Monaco. I did not realize it would be about 6 hours on the train. Leave it for another trip. I have decided to stay in Cinque Terre, as I have heard good things, and probably do the hike in b/w. Paule, I think I am kinda going with your plan. Hit all the majors, but still lots of relax time. ciao

Daniel

In my opinion, after experiencing what others also called an "overly ambitious" itinerary and LOVING it, you should follow your heart. Only adjustment I'd make is to suggest renting a car instead of being saddled with train schedules. That way, you can see as much as you can absorb on you own time and skip those places that don't fit your fancy. Honestly, the freedom afforded by having one's own car is a treasure in itself, and we found it to be CHEAPER than train-juggling.