6 Days in Italy for a first timer!

An early happy birthday, Allison! Time in Italy is one of the best gifts I can think of!

A couple of questions?
Where will you be flying from?

How are you counting your time for this trip? For instance, how many nights will you have on the ground in Italy? Reason is, if you really have just 6 nights/5 FULL sightseeing days to work with, you may not want to spend time moving locations that much. You'll also want to be staying close to your airport of departure the night before you wing it home.

Yep, you already know you won't be 'living like a local' - you don't want to be spending your time cooking, cleaning, marketing, washing clothes, etc, right? - and I get it that art isn't your thing but how do you imagine you and your DH spending your time? After all, one can't, say, EAT all day (Well I could but it sure wouldn't do my waistline any favors!) and I'm sure you don't want to just sit when you've spent the $ to get there. What sorts of activities do you normally enjoy when you travel?

What's your preference for getting around? Travelers are often not wild about driving their first time in a foreign country, and there are places where a car is more hinderance than help. Then again, there are locations where they're a plus, if planning more rural than urban exploration. Traveling with your own wheels will involve some homework; you're going to want to understand differences in road signs, what a ZTL is, etc. Each driver will also need to get an International Driver's Permit (it's just a document; no test required.) No wrong answer depending on what you're comfortable with and where you'll be going. I will add that rail travel in Italy is great and often quite inexpensive. :O)

If you are an art lover, then Florence with its wonderful museums or Rome with the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel are amazing.

You won't be there very long and unless you spent the language, you will be a tourist.

Forget being by the water, the beaches in northern Italy are nothing to brag about.

Hi there,

Great questions! I don't speak the language and I definitely won't be doing any laundry while I am there. :) I suppose when I said "living like an Italian" I meant slowing down, savoring the food and the scenery and being mindful and easygoing rather than rushing from place to place and site to site.

We will have 5 days on the ground. Flying in from London.

Thanks so much!

Ah, great, London --- so no jet lag!

Here's what I would do if I had 5 nights in Italy, given your interests and wanting a taste of Italy.

Venice.

Fly into and out of Venice, or into Venice and out of Verona. Yes, there will be lots of crowds swarming the most popular places (Juliet's fake balcony, the Rialto bridge, etc.) but with advice from this forum you can stay far from where the crowds are. There is no place on earth like Venice. Maybe a night or two in Verona, if you like that idea.

Siena.

Fly into Rome and either take a Flixbus to Siena or take a train to Florence and then another train to Siena. Again, a busy town but with avoidable crowds and many interesting things to see and do.

Orvieto.

Fly into and out of Rome and take the train to Orvieto. Quick and easy, actually your quickest and easiest option. Great food and town that is remarkably unspoiled by its deserved popularity. Perhaps you could arrange a tour in order to do something outside of Orvieto one day, like a wine tour.

Tarquinia.

Fly in and out of Rome and take the fast train to Tarquinia, then a taxi up to the old town. Etruscan tombs, wonderful hill town. The tourists in October will be Italian and European tourists. I could be wrong, but I think it's possible to get to the shore from Tarquinia.

Camogli.

Fly into and out of Milan, take the train to Genoa and then another train to Camogli. This will get you your seaside location! Also some hiking if you enjoy that, a ferry to other places on the Ligurian coast, and some of my favorite food in all of Italy. You can day trip into Genoa (which my husband and I love but it is not popular with tourists) or take the coastal train to other places. One of my favorite things to do in Genoa was a tour of hillside basil greenhouses --- I can give more details if that sounds interesting to you.

With such a short trip I’d choose 1 location that has a good day trip or 2

My choice would be Venice because it is so unique
You can easily get away from the throngs of tourists by just wandering the back canals

1 day take vaporetto to Murano and Burano
1 day trip to Padova, Vicenza, Bassano del Grappa or Verona -all a quick train ride away

With that time, choose one place. Siena is smaller than Florence and not a bad choice. You could do a bus trip to San Gimignano and of course Florence. You are a tourist who doesn't speak English -- you can have a tourist experience but you aren't going to be hanging with locals or living like one. An apartment gets you closest so you can shop bakeries and markets.

With so little time I'd choose an apartment on the edge of Florence and plan a day trip to Siena and enjoy the beauty, the gelato and the restaurants of Florence.

In addition to the places mentioned I think Lucca could be a good fit. Lucca is a small town within the walls and is easily reachable by train and will provide the opportunity for "the Italian life" albeit in a slightly more upscale way. You can certainly get by with English in there and Pisa and Florence are both easy train trips for variety.

I think it provides way you're asking for with the exception of the water. The beach is a short train ride away but that is not the same as staying in a coastal town. For that I would agree with the suggestion of the Ligurian coast or maybe the southern side of La Spezia bay - San Terezano, the more resorty Lerici and Tellaro. These areas will be a mix of locals and tourists coming to the sea but they are mostly Italians staying at the ocean.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

Venice is a most unique place. No car traffic, lots of waterfront things to see, easy to take a couple of day trips. If you think it will be too crowded, Verona is less crowded and you can still do day trips to several places.

Oof, so many good ideas! That's the problem with Italy; travelers are spoiled for choice!

Given your preference for water, I'd probably go with Venice too. As above, parts (not ALL) of it will be very busy but it's a great place for the sort of unplanned wanderings you sound as if you enjoy. A chunk of the crowd will also leave in the late afternoon/evening. As well - and as mentioned - you'll have the islands + some easy day-trips to some lovely places available by rail if you want to blow town for a bit without changing accommodation. Oh, or you could, as suggested, spend 3 in Venice and 2 inland in Verona.

I'm going to agree with Kathy. I think Venice might be the spot for you, but it will take a little planning to avoid staying in the heart of town.

Visitors to Venice tend to concentrate on St. Mark's Square and the immediate vicinity. Look into staying in Cannaregio in the north of Venice. You could explore this less crowded area during the day and wait until the day trippers leave to visit the more touristy parts of Venice.

Whatever you decide, 6 days is barely enough time for one location, so don't move, which is a huge time suck. On our last trip to Italy, we spent the entire 10 days in an agriturismo in the heart of Chianti. From there we took day trips, not traveling more than 45 minutes from home base. It was heavenly to not move around. That's in contrast to a choir tour we took last December where we visited Vienna, Ljubljana and Salzburg in 14 days. It seemed just as soon as we got settled we had to pack up and move again, burning up a day to get from one place to another.

I love Venice but would have to agree that it is not where I would recommend to someone who says that would rather go somewhere small rather than a big city. I am thinking that someone with those preferences would not want to navigate the crowds in Venice.

It ain't near the water, but more for logistics than anything else...I'd pick Orvieto.

Fly into Rome, stay a night (if you want) then take a train about 90 minutes to the Umbrian hilltown. Has history back to the 2nd Century A.D., and an absolutely fabulous Duomo, but there is a rabbit-warren of cobblestoned pathways with cute shops and also--especially for how small Orvieto is--a bevy of great restaurants. Tremendous overlook to the Umbrian valley as well.

You don't have time to do coastal and inland. If you gave me 5 nights on the ground, I'd arrive in Rome, stay by Campo de' Fiori, wake up early and hit the market. Then get over to Termini station, train to Orvieto to spend the next 3 nights, but come back early on that last full day and spend it again in Rome. You don't want to totally miss my favorite city on the planet. And flying in from London gives you even more time in the Eternal City. You'll want to come back, trust me.

Enjoy your planning!

Allison-

As you can see there are many of us who love Venice and don’t feel guilty about visiting. You shouldn’t either if that’s where you choose to go. I see from one of your older posts that you have considered Venice or Lake Como on a previous trip- obviously you didn’t go since this is now your first trip to Italy.
Lots of Venice haters as well- those are usually folks that only stay a night or 2. Venice needs time.

The problem with recommendations for places like Camogli (for example) are that you can’t fly in to Camogli- so you’ll spend your first day in Italy just traveling more to get there- 3-4 hours by train with at least 1 change? With only 5 days on the ground I would want to GET to where I will spend my 5 days as quickly as possible. Another problem is that you can’t fly home from Camogli either- you would have to spend your final night in or near your departure city whether that is Milan or Pisa or Genoa. All good places to visit and if you are OK with splitting up your 6? nights- that’s fine too.

We’re here to help you get to where you want to go and to share what we know about those places and share tips, transit info, hotel and restaurant recommendations etc.

October is still high tourist season so most everywhere will be crowded. It’s just the way it is now.

Have you considered any of the lakes for your water fix? Stresa on Lake Maggiore is nice and not touristy. Super easy to get to from MXP.
Varenna on Lake Como will be packed and accomodations for October might be hard to find.

We loved Santa Margherita Liguria. Mostly Italian tourists/vacationers. Very good restaurants, sweet little town, ferry access to lots of places.
Some really nice upscale hotels there with terraces w/view etc. But- will require extra travel after your flight and a night spent in your departure city.

Orvieto is lovely. I could easily spend 5 days there and never even venture outside the walls.

Lucca is a good suggestion- easy to get to- good for day trips. Walking or biking the walls with the locals. Relaxing but not near the water. Fly in to Pisa or Florence

Another is Bologna- not as touristy as most cities in Italy. Fly in/out of Bologna- easy tram into center. Yes it’s a larger city. Known as the foodie capital for good reason, day trips to Ravenna- fabulous mosaics, Parma, Modena, Ferrara, etc. Added bonus are the porticoes- if it’s raining it is very easy to be out and about and stay dry!

Salerno- actually on the Amalfi Coast as opposed to Sorrento- not touristy at all. A real town, great restaurants, inexpensive lodging, a sandy beach and lovely waterfront with great views. The evening passegiatta in Salerno is one of the most charming and delightful we have ever experienced. Short train ride to the Greek temples in Paestum. Ferry to AC towns, direct train to Naples and Rome.
Best part is access to AC but no crowds.
Fly in/out of Naples and do check on that new Salerno airport.

Just skimming responses above you can see that choosing just 1 location is most recommended. That would help you feel like you are “living like a local” rather than packing up and moving every 2 days or so. You don’t have to stay in an apartment if you don’t want to. It’s your birthday- why would you want to cook?

Anyway- do come back soon and let us know what you are thinking?

Check out your flight options as well.

I’m going to throw out a different idea since you said you’re not interested in art and would like a portion of your time to be coastal and also in-land.
Instead of the main top destinations - Venice, Florence, or Rome, look up the Puglia region. You could fly into Bari and take the train to gorgeous Polignano a Mare. A few days there and possibly down to Lecce (or into the trulli area with biking) would be a wonderful birthday celebration!

Here’s some details, just to give you an idea if this area is anything you’re wanting to do. Also, there’s a lot of ebike routes in the Locorotondo area if that activity interests you. (Stop reading the trip report after I leave Palermo because it gets sad…)

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/my-1-month-independent-trip-to-southern-italy-tribute-to-my-husband

I second Orvieto.

Just did first trip in April landed in Rome and visited Florence, Venice and Orvieto.

Venice is definitely unique and a beautiful but Orvieto was fewer tourists and actually many were Italian. We were there 3 days and spent one day at Civita D Bangnoregio by e bike -- geographically it's easiest to pair with Rome or Florence. Unfortunately these are not "coastal" suggestions though....