28 night Italy and Croatia Itinerary

Posted by CK (Oregon) on 08/10/24 03:57 AM

I am re-posting this because my original post disappeared after I tried to edit it for clarity.

Which of these two 28 night itineraries would you recommend or how would you modify them? The trip will likely be mid June-mid July, 2026, 2 adults and one 10 year old boy. We love architecture, food, history, medieval villages and hill top towns, islands and beautiful coastal locations, mountains and hiking. Just returned from a month in Italy and Switzerland (Venice, Ortisei, Florence, Ligurian coast, Locarno, Murren, Thun.) It was beyond fabulous. I owe immense gratitude to this forum for all your helpful guidance.
Miucca, I did receive your reply to my original post even though I can't seem to find my post now. (Thank you!!) I will attempt to copy and paste it from my email notification onto this thread below.

Option 1 (Rome, Umbria, Le Marche plus Croatia):
Rome (5 nights). Train to Orvieto. Orvieto (1 night); rent car and drive to Spello. Spello (4 nights): Explore villages of Umbria, Frasassi Caves. Drive to Urbino vs Sirolo. Urbino vs Sirolo (5 nights): Explore Le Marche. Drive to Ancona and drop rental car there. Overnight ferry from Ancona to Split (1 night.) Split (2 nights.) Organized day tour to Plitvice Nat. Park from Split. Ferry to Hvar. Hvar (3 nights). Ferry to Korcula. Korcula (3 nights). Ferry to Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik (4 nights)--could day trip to Montenegro or Mostar. Fly home from Dubrovnik.

Option 2: (Rome, Umbria, Venice, Istria and Croatia)
Rome (6 nights). Possible day trips: Orvieto, Ostia Antica. Train to Perugia. Perugia (4 nights.) Day trips to Assisi, Spello. Train to Venice. Venice (3 nights.) Ferry to Rovinj, Croatia. Rovinj (3 nights.) Rent car, explore hill towns, drive to Plitvice Nat.Park
Plitvice Nat. Park. (1 night). (Visit park late afternoon and early the next morning.) Drive to Split. Drop rental car in Split.
Split (1 night.) Ferry to Hvar. Hvar (3 nights). Ferry to Korcula. Korcula (3 nights.) Ferry to Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik (4 nights.) Could day trip to Montenegro or Mostar. Fly home from Dubrovnik.

Posted by CK OP

Oregon

08/10/24 03:59 AM

20 posts

From Miucca:
I can't comment at all on the Croatia leg of your trip but with a child the age of yours, I would basically pick option 2 with some tweaks.

I would rent a car out of Rome and make Perugia a day trip rather than a base. Consider staying at an agriturismo with a restaurant or Bevagna.

I would try very hard to see Ravenna on your way to Venice, but it might be hard for you withiout spending a night. To do it as a mid-day stop, you would need to leave Umbria early, confine yourself to seeing just the mosaics in Ravenna + simple lunch, and then face the 2-hour plus drive to Venice, taking time to return the car. In many ways it is better to arrive in Venice in the evening, and daylight hours are long in June, but you still might prefer to give Ravenna a night -- but then you need to borrow it from some other destination.

Regarding Option 1, I would not pick Spello as a base (too steep, pick Bevagna or an agriturismo with a restaurant). In June, I would pick the Piano Grande as a sightseeing nature WOW instead of the Frassasi caves. En route from Bevagna eat lunch in Norcia, go to the Piano Grande, then make a gelato stop in Ascoli Piceno on the way back to Bevagna or your agriturismo. Full day! Only do it if you have clear weather the whole way.

Rather than Urbino, I think I might pick Sant' Angelo in Vado or Urbania for a base. Urbino is just so steep. Truth is it is very hard to do "base" touring of le Marche. The roads over those mountains are one twisty turn after another, and they only run east-west, not north south, so you can't see both "halves" in the same trip if you are there less than a week or 10 days.

Sirolo is pretty and if you want a beach break go for it, but you will find it difficult to use it as a base and you should probably avoid it if that part of your trip would put your there on a weekend (traffic will slow you down).