I'm traveling with my 22 year old daughter for 14 nights in Northern Italy, arriving Friday the 23rd and leaving Friday the 6th - flying in and out of Milan.
Our rough itinerary is:
Milan for 2 nights;
Lake Como area (stay: Verenna) for 2-3 nights;
Dolomites area (stay: Castelrotto or Bolzano) for 3 nights;
Visit Parma to experience the cheese and prosciutto;
Cinque Terre area 3-4 nights; (Vernazza?)
Visit or stay possibly Genoa and/or Portofino?;
Stay near airport in Milan for the final night.
We want to experience the local food, wine, and people - we love walking cities, hiking/nature, art, and learning about the history and culture.
Questions:
Is this a reasonable itinerary?
Is it better to go "clockwise" or "counterclockwise"
We are used to driving and have done so in Europe - so we know the driving can be a bit crazy there . .
Should we only travel on trains or should we rent a car for certain specific stretches or the whole thing?
How does it change the experience if we only do trains?
Would we lose the flexibility of stopping and exploring a local town or sight along the way if we only do trains?
If we are on trains, how do we do a little wine tasting on the "wine roads"?
If we drive, how do we do some wine tasting so we are not drinking and driving?
We are going to look for places to stay from Rick's Book. Our budget is Moderate to Pricier ($80 to $170) with the occasional Splurge over $170.00 If we can't get a room in one of Ricks's recommendations, where else do we look? is TripAdvisor or AirBnB a reliable place to look?
For Cinque Terra - can we "home base" in Vernazza and still explore all the small towns from there over 3-4 days?
Do we have time / should we try to fit in Portofino and/or Genoa? (we've heard it has the best food in the country)
Is Parma a stop within a day, or should we plan to spend the night near there for a whole day in town?
Is there any other place that is spectacular that is not far from our route that we are overlooking we should squeeze in?