First trip to Italy itinerary

I have never been to Slovenia. With regards to the Italy portion of the the trip, I think the itinerary is doable if you are okay just getting a sampling of the cities. And you didn't mention what time if year you are going. If you go during the peak months, you will have even less time at the sites because of crowds. But it sounds like you are wanting to see a mix of things and not necessarily one city in depth. If that is the case, I think you can appreciate a short visit in both Venice and Florence. With Florence, don't forget our first day may be a wash with travel time/ jet lag. But enjoy your girls trip!

You had better check with the rental car company to ensure that you can rent in Italy and drive to Slovenia. Also, even if you can, it will be much more expensive to rent in Italy and return the car in Slovenia. You may want to take a train to Slovenia and rent the car there.

carole,

First of all, when is this trip taking place? Given the locations you want to visit, I'd suggest a slightly different order.

Would something like this work.....

• Depart U.S.
• Arrive Milan / MXP, travel directly to Lago di Como. The small town of Varenna is the usual favourite with many here. It's about an hour north of Milan so not a difficult trip. That would be a great place to recover from jet lag for a few days.
• Train to Florence
• Train to Venice
• Train to Gorizia (about 1.5 hours). I've never tried, but you should be able to just take a Taxi from the station across the border to Nova Gorica, as the two locations are somewhat part of the same city. Rent a car in Nova Gorica and then continue on your journey. Drop the car when you arrive in Ljubljana. This should help to avoid the huge drop-off charge that you may have to pay if renting a car in Italy. I haven't checked, but each driver may require an International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with the home D.L.

Is there any way you could add a few days to your trip? For your first visit to Italy, you won't have much time to really enjoy the sights, especially with only one night in Venice.

Your profile doesn't show your home location. Are you flying from the west coast or east coast of the U.S.?

Good luck with your planning!

Thank you so much for the feedback. We are planning to only rent the car in Slovenia. I have considered the train to the border and getting the car once we get over. I think we will need an international driver's license. We are traveling at the end of June. I'm a teacher and its the only time I can go. We are flying from Chicago. I wish we could spend more time, but I think we will have to settle on a quicker trip with hopes to come back another time!

I think we will need an international driver's license.

Each driver will require an IDP - International Driving Permit. They are available in the US only at AAA. Anything calling itself International Driver's license, often on the internet, is a scam and illegal.

You haven't completed your profile (by the way - including your last name in your username is a bad idea) so we can't tell if you are from north or south of the border. If from north of the border IDPs are available at CAA.

Be sure to take in 2 passport sized photos or they can take them, for a bit more money.

Based upon what you've posted, the trip is doable - but I think trying to "see" even a bit of Florence, Venice and Lake Como in 5 nights is crazy - you will spend more time in transit than you will "seeing" those cities - remember, each change of location is going to eat up 1/2 to 3/4 of a day. With only 5 days I'd pick one or 2 cities at most - for example you could base yourself in Florence and do some day trips from there - to Siena, Lucca, Pisa, etc., etc. Again, depending upon the time of year some areas will be more appealing than others which may help in your decision making - i.e. Lake Como in January may not be as enjoyable as it would be in late spring.

We did Slovenia Sep/2013 precisely Lake Bled (stayed at the Josef Mulej farm which was a great experience), the Julian Alps and Lujbjana. Driving in Slovenia is great and if you rent a diesel car it will be absolutely inexpensive. Followed are esteemed RS and he was on target all the time.

Your itinerary is covering a lot of territory in a very short time.

You'd do best to fly into Milan if you're set on Lake Como. The lakes area is an hour north of Milan.
Then take the train to Florence for a minimum of 3 days.
Venice is a relatively short train ride from Florence, and its worth 3 days' time.

Have you checked on the costs of a rental car from Florence to Ljubljana? Drop off charges may eat you alive. You might look for Plan B if the rental costs/drop off fees are too much. You can fly out of their airport, however.

If you really want to see Florence, Venice and Slovenia, you might consider flying into Venice and saving Lake Como for the next trip. You'll get plenty of incredibly beautiful scenery driving.

I would skip Milan and Como and spend more time in Venice. Two nights in Florence is fine. Haven't been to Slovenia.