Planning our third trip to Italy for Aug/Sept 2012 for 25 days. I've come up with the following itinerary...please critique & give opinions. Hope to fly open jaw into Venice & out of Rome (using miles). Been to Venice, Rome and CT before but want to visit again. For this trip our main focus will be photography & simply walking around, taking in the sights, etc. We will of course visit a few churches & museums along the way. Thanks in advance for your honest feedback. Do you think we're moving around too much in 25 days? I plan to have a rental car when we leave Venice for use in the Dolomites & around Lake Garda. Day 1: Arrive in Venice - probably won't do any major sightseeing Day 2: Venice - focus on sights around St. Mark's Square (climb Campanile & San Giorgio Maggiore Bell Tower, visit St. Mark's Basilica, etc.) Day 3: Venice - Rialto Markets in am, Grand Canal Cruise, Jewish Ghetto, etc. Day 4: Venice - visit Murano & Burano Day 5: Venice - walk around all the districts & just take pictures Day 6: Pick up rental car & drive to Dolomites (not sure which town to base in...any ideas?) Day 7: Dolomites Day 8: Dolomites Day 9: Drive to Lake Garda (again, not sure which town to base in...would love ideas)
Day 10: Lake Garda Day 11: Lake Garda Continued below...
Posted by
OP
Alta Loma, CA, USA
1446 posts
Here's the rest of my itinerary (couldn't fit it all above): Day 12: Drive to Genoa or La Spezia & drop off rental car & then proceed to CT (planning to stay in Vernazza or Monterosso) Day 13: CT – hike between towns & just walk around Day 14: CT – hike between towns & just walk around Day 15: CT - Day trip to Portovenere Day 16: CT - Day trip to Portofino & Camogli Day 17: Take train to Sorrento (this will eat up most of the day). Overnight in Sorrento. Day 18: Sorrento - Day trip to Pompeii & Archaeological Museum in Naples) Day 19: Sorrento - day trip to Capri Day 20: Positano (not sure if I'll split up our hotel stay between Sorrento & Positano or just stay in Sorrento the whole time) Assuming we move to Positano, we will just spend the day in Positano Day 21: Positano - Day trip along Amalfi Coast either by bus or with driver to visit Ravello, Amalfi & hopefully Paestum Day 22: Train to Rome. Overnight in Rome Day 23: Rome
Day 24: Rome Day 25: Depart Rome
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11362 posts
I like it Sheron. I am a fool for Rome, but I don't know how you'd steal more time for her. Your stays look balanced, the pace I like. Although I am not familiar with Lake Garda, perhaps ohters will comment: Is 3 nights too long? Not sure what one does there.... We've thought about staying longer in the CT "next time" and seeing more of Liguria, so I like that part a lot, too.
Posted by
OP
Alta Loma, CA, USA
1446 posts
Thanks Laurel. Have you been to the Amalfi Coast? If so, where did you stay? I know Sorrento is more practical but for some reason I'm drawn to Positano for how picturesque it is. Would it be too cumbersome to stay in Sorrento for 2 days & then move to Positano for 3 days? I'm trying to minimize changing hotels a lot but for some reason I want to stay in Positano for at least a few nights. Any thoughts?
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11362 posts
We'll be in Sorrento for the first time this year. I decided on a 6 night stay in Sorrento, usign train and bus to go to the various sights: Pompeii, Naples, Ercolano, Positano, Amalfi. But our focus is history and hiking, above all.
Posted by
Atlanta, Ga
211 posts
Looks great. We like Tuscany rural areas better than CT but this looks like a lot of fun and spending a good amount of time in each place so you can get the feel of each place rather running from place to place. We have found on several trips to Amalfi coast to find Positano great. I would try to get to Ravello if possible. More interesting than town of Amalfi.
Have fun.