Talk to me about Italy

[Deleted]

DH and I want to go to Italy for our 5 year anniversary. Since that is next May, I want to start planning. We'll do 10 kid free days, possibly 12 if I can get more time off. We've never been and are open to delaying the trip if it means better weather/less tourists, etc.

Please recommend an itinerary.

[Awkward]

There was a thread about Rome and Italy in general last week!
pandce.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=mm&thread=45871&page=1

I'm jealous, have fun!

[Deleted]

Thanks for the link! Rome is on the list. Any other cities? I'm thinking Florence and Venice. Some people seem to love Venice and others, not so much.

[mrshandy]

Florence is beautiful, but IMHO it is very touristy. I would break up your trip with a visit to a smaller town like Siena.

[Awkward]

Definitely see Florence. It was my favorite place in Italy. I've heard Venice is a tourist trap, but if you want to see it it can be done in one day. I'd add Siena to the list for a day trip. Skip Pisa.

[Deleted]

Is Venice just a one day thing? What about Pompeii as a day trip from Rome? Too much for our time frame?

What I would love to do is include Milan in our trip but we don't have enough time. Boo.

[Deleted]

Make sure you go to a vineyard in Tuscany for a wine/food tasting!!!

We only spent a day in Rome (did a cruise) and we spent most of the time at the Vatican. Def need a few days there.

We also loved Pompeii (this is a half day excursion) Drove along the Amalfi Coast. Great food and shopping in Sorrento. Beach and quaint shops in Positano. The leaning tower of Pisa was cool, but you don't need more than 2 hours there -and that included sitting at a cafe for gelato. lol.

Skip Naples proper, unless you want to go just for the pizza.

[Deleted]

We skipped Florence (stupid cruise gave us no time and we chose the wine tasting) and I do regret it- its on the list for next time.

We also did not go to Milan or Venice, but we will go next time.

[Deleted]

Aug 22, 2012 9:02:39 GMT -5 @choco said:

Is Venice just a one day thing? What about Pompeii as a day trip from Rome? Too much for our time frame?

What I would love to do is include Milan in our trip but we don't have enough time. Boo.

Pompeii is absolutely worth the trip.

[luvmagoldn]

Agree with Florence and Sienna as must see cities.

We really enjoyed the tour and tasting at Castello Banfi. The seven course meal with wine pairings was amazing. We are going back next fall for our 10th anniversary and want to spend at least one night at the winery.

www.castellobanfi.com/tour/winery_and_cellars.php

[gt7301b]

Venice is a bit touristy, but it is so much fun. I love Venice and hopefully it won't be so hot in May. I wouldn't delay the trip, Italy is HOT in June and July.

I think it was recommended in the Rome thread, but buy Rick Steves' Italy book. He gives great tips on how to get tickets to all the hot attractions. I would make sure you have tickets for everything before you leave. (The website for the Acadameia (David) sucks so I would just call and get a spot that way.)

I really want to visit Pompeii and would try and work it into the trip if I was going.

[Awkward]

I also want to recommend leaving plenty of unplanned, just strolling around time. I feel like the tour I took was jampacked with everything, which was great, but I wish we had taken more time to just sit in a cafe and watch the world go by. Or to explore little shops without worrying about what time you have to be where. Savor it.

[Deleted]

2 nights/ 2 days in Venice was enough for us. It's a neat city, but it's become a tourist trap and is rapidly losing its soul. It felt a bit like Disneyland.

I commented on the Rome post already. It's a bit out of the way, and I'm no certain if May is the right time of year, but Cinque Terra is awesome. We stayed in Vernazza at "La Maya" and highly recommend it.

[Deleted]

Thanks everyone! Our alternative timing is end of Sep/early Oct. I guess if we go in May the weather should be the same, right?

I wish we have more time, there's so much to see/do.

[gt7301b]

Aug 22, 2012 9:02:39 GMT -5 @choco said:

Is Venice just a one day thing? What about Pompeii as a day trip from Rome? Too much for our time frame?

What I would love to do is include Milan in our trip but we don't have enough time. Boo.

I'd do at least two nights. A day to see the sights and a half day to just walk around.

[dirtyred]

I think that Pompeii is a must-see. It was my favorite part of Italy

You could go down to Sorrento/Santangelo for a few days (near Capri) and hit Pompeii. See the giant Amalfi lemons! You can do Rome in 4-5 days, depending on how much you want to see and how many things you're willing to do in a day.

Florence is great for the art--David is there, as is Boticelli's Venus and some other great things. Although there was one area of the Uffizzi that I called "The hall of bad sculpture."

I would definitely try to get to another town in Tuscany if I were you.

[catsarecute]

I also thought Pompeii was awesome. And I loved Venice. We went in August and it was insanely crowded but it is so unique. We arrived on a Sunday and went strolling around in mid-afternoon and it was empty, which wasn't the case at all on Monday when it was filled with people. We got a tour of one of the glass blowing factories so that was neat.

We also went to Lake Como which was breathtaking. We took the slow boat to Bellagio and explored for a while. I loved it there.

[sm12]

We spent two weeks in Italy, in October 2010. I think that was a great time of year to go - there were still plenty of tourists (unfortunately), but not nearly as bad a summer. Weather was fantastic. I would think April/May would be pretty good, too.

Venice - I think it's worth a trip, and (IMO) you should spend at least one night there. It is much different at night, when the hordes of tours have left. We had a fantastic time wandering around the canals/streets at night. Lovely.

Cinque Terre- our favorite part. We stayed in Riomaggiore for 3 nights. Definitely worth a trip.

Tuscany- we stayed 3 nights in Voltera. We took a day trip to Sienna, and that was our favorite Tuscan town. If we go back to Tuscany, we'll stay in Sienna.
We did not make it to Florence (too much to do), but it's definitely on our list for a return visit.

Sorrento- beautiful. We took a day trip to Capri.

Rome - I loved Rome. So much history.

It may be cliche, but we bought Rick Steve's Italy guidebook, and pretty much followed it - and we were not disappointed.

[Susie]

We went last October and did:

Fly into Milan, head straight to the train station for Cinque Terre.
2 nights in Cinque Terre (Corniglia)
2 nights in Florence
1 night in Venice
3 nights in Siena
3 nights in Rome
Fly out of Rome

What I'd recommend of those, depends a lot on what your interests are. To be honest I got a little art museum'ed out by the time we finished Rome. There was so much to see in Florence and then again in Rome (especially the Vatican). And art museums aren't normally my bag. So that was kind of a stretch. I've learned that the kinds of things I enjoy (and don't enjoy) at home are the same kinds of things I enjoy (and don't enjoy) when I'm traveling.

I loved Cinque Terre. The outdoors, the water, the hiking...

Venice was really fun to see, but it was expensive, and I didn't feel the need to do more than one good solid day there.

I enjoyed Florence, but there were a lot of museums to pack in. Food was fantastic.

I really liked having Siena as a slow down at that point in the trip. I had great Tuscan food, relaxed, took day trips to hill towns (Montalcino, Montepulciano, etc.). One of my favorite parts.

Rome was not my favorite. I know a lot of people love it, and there's amazing stuff to be seen. But I felt very harassed there by pickpockets, vendors, etc. I think I was also just a bit worn out by then. I also got bored/hot/hungry at Palatine Hill where Calvin spent hours looking at every single thing.

In any event, my bottom line piece of advice is to research it (I like Rick Steves' books), and pick things because they interest you, not just because people (who may have different interests than you) say it's "great." There's so much to see in Italy, you've got to pick the stuff that interests you most!

[aspentosh]

I highly recommend seeing Pompeii and Florence. Rome will require a few days, IMO. I liked Venice for what it was, and I'd recommend going so you could see Murano as well.

Have fun!

[Deleted]

I'll check out Rick Steve's guide book, hopefully there is a Kindle edition. I am the planner and DH just goes with whatever is mapped out, but I have learned my lesson from previous trips. I love museums but he gets museum'd out quickly, so we need to hit a balance or else he will revolt half way through. Ha.

[gt7301b]

Aug 22, 2012 10:54:17 GMT -5 @choco said:

I'll check out Rick Steve's guide book, hopefully there is a Kindle edition. I am the planner and DH just goes with whatever is mapped out, but I have learned my lesson from previous trips. I love museums but he gets museum'd out quickly, so we need to hit a balance or else he will revolt half way through. Ha.

I actually like having the physical books. He provides a guided tour of all of the museums and I like to walk through with the physical book. I typically read the book out loud to DH life I am a tour guide. I'm not a fan of pulling out my electronics while in the middle of a big city, I feel like someone is more likely to steal them.

[phunluvin82]

Aug 22, 2012 9:14:48 GMT -5 @idaholakelady said:

2 nights/ 2 days in Venice was enough for us. It's a neat city, but it's become a tourist trap and is rapidly losing its soul. It felt a bit like Disneyland.

I commented on the Rome post already. It's a bit out of the way, and I'm no certain if May is the right time of year, but Cinque Terra is awesome. We stayed in Vernazza at "La Maya" and highly recommend it.

I agree with this! We did Venice, but 1-2 days was plenty. We LOVED Cinque Terre. HIGHLY recommend. We did 5 nights there. We also did a few days in the Lake region...mostly Lake Como, which was also awesome.

I have zero comments on southern Italy b/c I haven't been...but that is definitely on my bucket list!

[Deleted]

I would go in October instead of September - crowds will be lighter and it will be a little cooler. Our first trip to Italy was at the end of September and I was surprised just how warm it was. Then again, I don't like to travel when it's really warm out 80 or below is my ideal - unless I'm going to camp out on a beach somewhere.

I loved Venice, but we were there in early April and it was pretty quiet. We loved wandering around and getting lost. We had a great little hotel room with a view of the lagoon and St. Mark's Square that had the most amazing sunsets. 1-2 days is plenty unless you really want to visit Murano/Burano and even then 2.5 would suffice.

Florence and Tuscany are my favorites. Definitely do a wine tour in Chianti - we went on one last time and loved it. If you go to Greve, go to the La Cantine for wine tastings. It's a huge underground wine shop, you pay a fee and get a debit card and glass and can wander around the shop and taste whatever you would like - they have these automated pouring stations. It was pretty cool - at least until I hit the button too many times and depleted the balance of our card on a 3 euro a tasting wine...oops! We've done day trips to Siena (loved), San Gimignano (nice but tourisity and tiny) and Pisa - (tower and duomo are nice but I would skip it).

Rome overwhelmed me, too big and too busy. Although the cool thing about Rome is the whole city is almost an open air museum. The Vatican/Sistine Chapel were pretty amazing.

[ariel06]

I would do Rome, Siena, Florence, and Venice. I didn't love Naples.
My favorite place to stay in Florence was a block from the Duomo (which you should climb, it's an amazing view) which I loved. The other two times I was there we stayed much farther out and I didn't enjoy it nearly as much.
I feel like Venice is one of those cities you'll regret if you don't see. I