# Italy Itinerary Suggestions



## Ianneyan (Apr 16, 2019)

Hubby and I are leaving the kids at home and travelling to Italy in late September/early October for 13 nights.   Based on research using TUG and Rick Steve’s resources, here is an overview of our trip as of now (need to finalize so we can book airfare and accommodations):

2 nights Venice
2 nights in Cinque Terre
4-5 nights in Tuscany in our Hilton timeshare (hub for Siena, Florence, Pisa and immediate area)
2 nights in Sorrento
2-3 nights in Rome

For those of you who have been, does this itinerary look good?  Would you recommend that we spend 4 nights in Tuscany and 3 nights in Rome or 5 nights in Tuscany and 2 nights in Rome?  

As for transportation, how do you all recommend we get from location to location (e.g., from Venice to Cinque Terre)?  Thanks in advance for your help!


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## Conan (Apr 17, 2019)

HGVC Borgo alle Vigneto to Sorrento is about seven hours of driving, and the return from Sorrento to Rome is about four hours more.
Personally I would drop Sorrento and add those two nights to Rome.
Actually I would drop Cinque Terre too, and divide its two nights between Venice and Tuscany.


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## cgeidl (Apr 17, 2019)

I would definitely spend one night in Cinque Terre on a Sunday thru Thursday. Very crowded on weekend days with Italians seeing the real Italy. Would add the night to Rome. Seems like an excellent itinerary.




Ianneyan said:


> Hubby and I are leaving the kids at home and travelling to Italy in late September/early October for 13 nights.   Based on research using TUG and Rick Steve’s resources, here is an overview of our trip as of now (need to finalize so we can book airfare and accommodations):
> 
> 2 nights Venice
> 2 nights in Cinque Terre
> ...


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## mjm1 (Apr 17, 2019)

Ianneyan said:


> Hubby and I are leaving the kids at home and travelling to Italy in late September/early October for 13 nights.   Based on research using TUG and Rick Steve’s resources, here is an overview of our trip as of now (need to finalize so we can book airfare and accommodations):
> 
> 2 nights Venice
> 2 nights in Cinque Terre
> ...



Each of these places are worth visiting, but we would change it a bit. Like you, we live in the west, so it’s a longer travel day flying there. Depending on when your flight arrives you will have part of the first day to look around but jet lag will hit you. We would focus on Rome and north and plan another trip for Rome and south. Here is a suggestion although it really depends on what sites are most appealing to you.

3 nights- Venice
2 nights- Cinque Terre
5 nights- Tuscany
3 nights- Rome

We went to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast last August and combined it with another visit to Rome, and loved it. However, I wouldn’t combine it with seeing the northern part of the country given the number of days you have. It’s definitely worth a second trip, which could include day trips to Pompei and Paesteum (Greek and Roman ruins).

We took the train on each of our trips and found it very easy and safe to use. We were able to relax that way rather than drive. I am not familiar with where the timeshare is located, so you may want a car while you are there. 

This will be a fun trip no matter what you decide to do. We love traveling in Italy. Have a great time. 

Best regards.

Mike


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## Ianneyan (Apr 17, 2019)

mjm1 said:


> Each of these places are worth visiting, but we would change it a bit. Like you, we live in the west, so it’s a longer travel day flying there. Depending on when your flight arrives you will have part of the first day to look around but jet lag will hit you. We would focus on Rome and north and plan another trip for Rome and south. Here is a suggestion although it really depends on what sites are most appealing to you.
> 
> 3 nights- Venice
> 2 nights- Cinque Terre
> ...



Love the suggestions, friends!  I got similar suggestions in the HGVC forum.  I think that I am going to use the quoted itinerary (thanks!), but I may drop Venice to 2 nights and increase Rome to 4 based on one TUGgers rec. What do ya’ll think?  Time better spent in Rome versus Venice?


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## Passepartout (Apr 17, 2019)

Ianneyan said:


> Love the suggestions, friends!  I got similar suggestions in the HGVC forum.  I think that I am going to use the quoted itinerary (thanks!), but I may drop Venice to 2 nights and increase Rome to 4 based on one TUGgers rec. What do ya’ll think?  Time better spent in Rome versus Venice?


It works for me either way. I could spend easily a week in either place. Or just about anywhere else in Italy. Rome has more museums, neighborhoods to explore, restaurants to try, gelato shops to taste. Venice is just one big self-contained museum. If you want to go out to Murano or Burano, or spend a lot of time around the old historic naval fortress area, 2 nights might leave you wishing for more. My very favorite activity in Venice: wandering aimlessly. getting lost. Well, you can't really get lost- there are directional signs on buildings at intersections and of course, it's a small island and just 3 bridges to cross the Grand Canal.

Enjoy! It will be memorable.

Jim


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## mjm1 (Apr 17, 2019)

Ianneyan said:


> Love the suggestions, friends!  I got similar suggestions in the HGVC forum.  I think that I am going to use the quoted itinerary (thanks!), but I may drop Venice to 2 nights and increase Rome to 4 based on one TUGgers rec. What do ya’ll think?  Time better spent in Rome versus Venice?



What time does your flight arrive in Venice? Can you both sleep while on the flight there? If you cut it to 2 nights in Venice then you will only have the remainder of the day that you arrive plus one other day. With jet lag and all, that may be a difficult transition. I think either way you go, you will wish you had more time in each location. There is so much to see. But if you treat this as a highlight trip and just make sure you see specific things, you can always return. Since you mentioned seeing Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast earlier, I would suggest you plan another trip to Rome and add Sorrento etc to that trip. That way you can see more things in Rome that you don't see during this current trip. That's what we did. We even added three nights in Athens and are very glad we did.

Best regards.

Mike


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## Ianneyan (Apr 19, 2019)

mjm1 said:


> What time does your flight arrive in Venice? Can you both sleep while on the flight there? If you cut it to 2 nights in Venice then you will only have the remainder of the day that you arrive plus one other day. With jet lag and all, that may be a difficult transition. I think either way you go, you will wish you had more time in each location. There is so much to see. But if you treat this as a highlight trip and just make sure you see specific things, you can always return. Since you mentioned seeing Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast earlier, I would suggest you plan another trip to Rome and add Sorrento etc to that trip. That way you can see more things in Rome that you don't see during this current trip. That's what we did. We even added three nights in Athens and are very glad we did.
> 
> Best regards.
> 
> Mike


We will be arriving Venice at 2:40 p.m.  We can sleep, but with the time differences, I am not sure how well.  To prepare for this, we are staying 3 nights in Venice and keeping the itinerary to the last one I listed.  As of now, we are keeping Rome to 3 days knowing that we won’t nearly see everything, but we will enjoy what we can fit in.  Since I am sure that this trip will leave us wanting more, we will most likely return in the future, albeit the distant future, to explore the south and Rome further.  Thanks for the great input, TUG friends!  I have booked our flights and accommodations are good to go!  Now, to plan the nitty, gritty details!


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## mjm1 (Apr 19, 2019)

Sounds like a great plan. Have fun planning the details.

If you want a hotel close to the train station for ease of your exit from Venice, we stayed at Hotel Abbazia and made arrangements through booking.com. It is also just off the Grand Canal. Nice smaller hotel with a great breakfast included. It’s a long walk to the Rialto bridge and St Marks Square, but we enjoyed walking through the winding walkways to get to those attractions.

Best regards.

Mike


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## Glynda (Apr 22, 2019)

Ianneyan said:


> ...I have booked our flights and accommodations are good to go!  Now, to plan the nitty, gritty details!



One nitty-gritty that we will do again every time we return to Venice is to book a walking tour with Luisella Romeo. She is a registered tour guide and is just outstanding! Contact her at:  l.romeo@seevenice.it


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## elaine (Apr 23, 2019)

If your getting to Venice at 2:40, stay up and go to bed at 8pm. You’ll wake up super early and refreshed. 
We try to sleep for 2-3 hours if we get to hotel by 11am. After noon, it’s best to push through the day and go to bed early.


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## jme (Apr 28, 2019)

Ianneyan said:


> Hubby and I are leaving the kids at home and travelling to Italy in late September/early October for 13 nights.   Based on research using TUG and Rick Steve’s resources, here is an overview of our trip as of now (need to finalize so we can book airfare and accommodations):
> 
> 2 nights Venice
> 2 nights in Cinque Terre
> ...




We were there this past early October with another couple, did our own itinerary, awesome...
GREAT time to go, congratulations on that. We had perfect sunny weather, around 68 degrees high, cool evenings, no rain at all.
Every day was idyllic & pristine....everything looked like those pictures on a calendar.

We had, in this order:  (flew into and out of Rome, traveled within Italy city to city by train, beautiful)
3 nights in *Rome*..perfect, wouldn't change..loved Rome. Marriott Autograph Hotel Palazzo Naiadi,
................2 blocks & walkable from Roma Termini (the train station).
.................https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x132f614752aef0cb:0x6c52bef2cbef5d9c!2m22!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i20!16m16!1b1!2m2!1m1!1e1!2m2!1m1!1e3!2m2!1m1!1e5!2m2!1m1!1e4!2m2!1m1!1e6!3m1!7e115!4shttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipOo4viK94nK66NTOYA0H7BOtkBdhePpSzbmPcr-=w569-h320-k-no!5spalazzo naiadi - Google Search!15sCAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipOo4viK94nK66NTOYA0H7BOtkBdhePpSzbmPcr-&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj28KLJk_PhAhVtdt8KHSsTAuIQoiowC3oECAwQBg
2 nights in *Monterosso*, absolutely best town in Cinque Terre, no contest, loved it, wouldn't change. Airbnb 2BR apartment, great.
.............One evening must dine at Ristorante Miky (Rick Steves dined there on his show, friends of owners...we met them)
...........http://www.ristorantemiky.it/
4 nights in *Florence*....took day trip through Tuscany (Siena, San Gimignano, & Monteriggioni)....perfect, wouldn't change.
................Airbnb large 2BR ("The Terrace in the Heart of Florence"...amazing, absolutely the best spot in middle of city, large private terrace.)
.................https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/23580792?guests=1&adults=1

1 night back in *Rome*....(arranged train trip to Rome to arrive early so we could enjoy another day)....an airport hotel for convenience.

We decided to skip Venice...(might do "next time" as day trip, but would NEVER sacrifice even one glorious Florence day for Venice).
......would consider a short train trip to Venice as a Day Trip...met another couple who did that and they "saw all the wanted to see" there.

We also decided NOT to take long train trips north to south to east to west etc etc in order to make it more relaxing
(not seeing "too many towns" in one vacation)
and not so hectic and run-together as many try to do (for you, Monterosso farthest north > Sorrento/Positano in south).
And mostly because of the wasted and tedious travel time, essentially takes a full day for some moves, unless you're flying.....
Train travel takes a lot more time than one might imagine.

On purpose we did a circle-----
Rome> Monterosso (our longest trip @ 3.5 hrs, but we were rested and it was fun) > Florence > Rome....remaining short trips as we circled back to Rome!!!  Next time, we'll absolutely do Positano and Amalfi Coast, along with Sicily & maybe Capri, keeping it regional!!!!!
Longer stays in each place (like our 4 nights in Florence) make it gorgeous, fun, AND a real relaxing vacation.
We did so much more walking around and experiencing the things that the locals do....dinners on street-side cafes (most of our dinners were outdoors), and lots of lingering.
Shopping in the leather shops, and yes we did load up on the leather....amazing prices for the world's best. Museums without rushing!
Third trip some day???    to north....Milan, Lake Como, then maybe over to Monaco/Monte Carlo, etc.

Enjoy...whatever you do in Italy will be over-the-top amazing. (Always get a local house wine....great and less expensive.)


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## Rjbeach2003 (May 25, 2019)

Our last trip to Italy was spent entirely in Tuscany, except for a day trip to Cinque Terre.  We hiked from Monterosso to next town south.  A workout but well worth it.  

We stayed 4 nights in Lucca, 3 near Pienza and 3 in Florence, before heading to Milan for flight home.  We will be back in October to Siena, Pienza and the Amalfi Coast.  As you can tell we don't seek out the cities.  Although at some point we will probably do so.  Tuscany is the largest of the Italian areas, diverse and beautiful.  

My strongest advice is to not try to do too much.  Stop and smell the roses.


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