I will be traveling to Italy for the first time at the end of August / beginning of September with my 11-year old son. In total, we will be in Italy for 9 full days (plus two travel days so trip is eleven days total).
We will spend three and a half days in Rome at the beginning of the trip (Days 0-3). I am very keen to visit Vatican City and the Vatican Museums, so I am happy to start the trip in Rome. Then, we have to travel to Lake Como for a special event where we are staying with friends at the villa they are renting in Bellagio (Days 4-6).
My question is, following our time in Lake Como, where do you think we should go (to spend Days 7-9)?
- I doubt that I will want to stay in Lake Como. We probably could not stay at my friend's villa but we could get our own hotel or AirBnB in the area (though I would probably need to book soon because it is peak season).
- I am leaning towards visiting Florence and the areas around, and then flying back to NYC via Rome FCO.
- OR heading back to Rome for more sightseeing before flying back via FCO. (I am sure there will be much left to see; I do tend to like cities, especially museums and historical sites; my son loved Paris so much when we visited that we cancelled our plans to visit rural Burgundy while we were there.)
- All that being said, my travel philosophy is "You can always go back" so I generally do not like to cram a lot into one itinerary. And in fact, I already have plans to return to Italy in 2019 though it will be for work.
Either way, it feels weird to backtrack, but the timing of the trip in general and the Lake Como visit specifically cannot be changed.
Airline tickets from NYC to Italy are fairly expensive this time of year, and so it is most economical for us to fly roundtrip via Rome; or to fly into Rome, and out of Zurich (even with the added costs of cross- or inter-country rail tickets plus an airport hotel if needed). There are hourly trains from Lake Como area to Zurich (per our hosts who are actually based in Zurich). Unfortunately, it is not very economical for us to fly out of Milan (or Venice or Florence).
Look forward to hearing everyone's feedback. Grazie!