A week in Italy, what to see beyond Rome/Venice/Florence

Go south! Naples, Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Pompeii. Beautiful scenery, great food, lots of history.

Bologna is known as a great food city. It's also a rail hub, so convenient for a lot of side trips, including some that are food-related (Parma and Modena come to mind). My favorite daytrip is to Ravenna. It's a lovely small city with 6 or 7 unbelievably gorgeous mosaic sites. Several people here have really enjoyed Ferrara.

If you want to tilt in favor of outdoorsy activities, you could consider the Dolomites. Once you get up into the mountains you're pretty much assured of moderate temperatures (no guarantees in the rest of Italy at that time of year). It's a beautiful area and close enough to Verona-Padua-Vicenza that you could fit in some or all of those cities. The disadvantage of the Dolomites is that the travel time from Dublin and back home will be a bit longer. I'm not sure I'd want to subject myself to that for a one-week stay. Possible flight gateways include Milan, Bergamo, Innsbruck and Munich. Probably only Milan and Munich would be practical for the return home.

Bologna too- as noted earlier the rail connections are great. Parma, Modena, Ferrara for food in particular and both Ravenna and Padova for art (also checks many other boxes).Its also possible to day trip to Florence or even Venice for a longer day. Bologna itself has great food, markets, sights.

Besides southern Italy and it's historical significance, I've found more charming and interesting places in N.Italy.

Lucca is a charming renaissance walled city that I've found to be a nicer place to stay than Florence, food from the area I liked more than Florence and the weather was more agreeable. Florence may have more glitz but Lucca I thought had more character.

If you're more of a shopper or, enjoy indulging in some fashion shopping, consider Forte de Marmi. Along the Tuscan coast, north of Pisa but, South of Cinque Terre and a short train ride from Lucca, Forte de Marmi is the Santa Barbara of Italy. Well to do, Italians and other Europeans come here for their vacations, Wednesday is the Ladies Market where Italian fashion houses sell their excess and overages at a marked down rate. My g/f picked up some designer purse, she said normal price it would've been four digits, she said it was a deal...ok. The other girls picked up scarves, handbags, gloves and shoes. The guys, we just hung-out on the beach and drank spritz's at the cafe.

I spent some time in Bologna last year and I really enjoyed it. Being a foodie it was right up my ally but, there was more hang-out places due to the university vibe.

Ravenna should be at the top of second tier places to visit in Italy. The mosaics are impressive and a national treasure.

Ferrara is another walled city, just north of Bologna, like Lucca, it has a lot of character.

Further north, in the Dolomites is Cortina, a fantastic alpine village that is more Austrian/German in culture but, has that Italian vibe. In the winter it's a big ski vacation spot but in the Summer it's a great spot to get away from all the tourist hot spots and see a part of Italy that most American's don't consider. You can hire a guide and they'll take you on the variety of vie ferrate routes. The bigger city of Bolzano is another location to consider if you're looking for a bit more civilization, it's population is just over 100K so, big as far as mountain towns go. Still, it's apart of the Tyrol, which is nearly a separate country compared to the rest of Italy.

How much do you want to change locations? How much variety do you want? The Dolomites is mostly for the hiking and scenery and with a week you could spend 2-3 nights in Verona (one of my personal favorites) and day trip to Padua.

Or 3-4 nights in Bologna (day trips galore, including ancient Byzantine churches and mosaics in Ravenna), then 1-2 nights in Assisi and 2 nights in Orvieto. Not too fast-paced, and if you don't have morning flight out, you can get to Rome FCO by train.

As a devoted parent of teenagers, who have been to Europe on vacation trips 5-6. times, I advise you to think of activities that you cannot do when you have your child with you. Even with good travelers, I knew there was no way that my kids were going to walk through a German castle looking at tapestries------as an alternative, we visited a castle in ruins and they were able to run around a bit and pretend they were knights. Now is the time to go on that hike that might not be suitable for children, or go to the opera that might not be endurable, or that wine tasting at a vineyard. Go to Lucca (or your choice) and sleep late or hike early, walk around on your own schedule, and go to teeny tiny quiet restaurants with no children's menu.

If you have a toddler you have years ahead of you when you'll need to tweak your preferences to what is suitable and doable with children. Travel with Family is incredibly enriching however, this special trip, go do things that you will not be able to do easily when you return with a child.

Enjoy every minute!

As you know from past travels, "...about a week..." really isn't that long after deducting travel time to get to and leave from the first destination. I would plan to spend the available time in only two places at the most as you want to enjoy and not spend all your time running hither and yon. Since it appears you've not been there, I'd suggest the Amalfi Coast.

Since it is impossible to see everything in either Venice or Rome no matter how much time you have - I have been trying to for over a decade and realize my task is impossible - - if I were you I would either return to Rome or Venice and do some in depth digging.

There is so much more to see after you get past the obligatory first couple of dozen places in each.

I would rent a place in Tuscany and spend the week enjoying a charming hill town base and driving to gardens, abbeys and towns in the Val d'Orcia. We have done this twice for a week (35 year ago and 15 years ago) and once for two weeks (5 years ago) and we are sad that it won't be possible to do again as my husband can no longer see to drive and I don't want to take it on for the whole week at my age. It is heavenly. And if you choose an apartment in a hill town with parking, you will have the option of walking out in the evening to dinner which is nice since the drink/drive laws in Italy are very strict.

Thank you all so much for the wonderful advice. I wish there was a way to tag you all to say thanks. Here's a few more thoughts/additional details

SuzieeQQ, that is exactly what we are thinking. We know we will travel more with our son later on, so this is our time to travel and do things that aren't kid friendly. There are so many places we want to see but I keep reminding myself "assume you will return" like RS says.

Nigel, that thought has certainly crossed our minds. I loved Rome and spending over a week there sounds appealing, especially since could slow down and not feel the need to see all the big sites again. I'd love to explore more of the neighborhoods and take a few day trips. Also, lesson learned and I'd get a place with AC this time.

From Dublin there are direct flights into Bologna and Pisa, so many of the cities suggested above would be easy to get to. We are flying out of London (tickets booked) so we will just take a budget flight back to London. We have 8 nights to work with (not including an overnight in London).

Again, thank you all so much and I'll surely update this post with what we decide on.

You don't have to stay in Bologna to get to the airport there. For instance, I stayed in Ferrara (lovely place) and took the airport shuttle bus from the historic center. The bus stop was a 2-minute walk from my centrally located hotel. I believe there's shuttle service from Florence too.