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France/Italy Itinerary Suggestions

Posted by on

Hello,
My friends and I are planning a trip for 13 nights to France and Italy for Fall or Spring in the next year or two. We plan to spend 14 days starting in Lyon, France and to make our way around Lake Geneva and ending at Sorrento in Italy. I would appreciate some feedback on the pacing of my trip. I would also like to hear any opinions for adjustments I should make to the cities we stay in.
Some of us have been to France before but we will all be first-time visitors to Italy. We will be using public transportation for everything, but I am trying to limit the transportation between destinations to 2-5 hour stints. All of us have an interest in authentic traditional food, historical sites, nature and exploring by walking around. We are not particularly into busy crowds, fashion, or art.

My current plan looks like this:
Day 1. Lyon: fly into Lyon
2. Lyon: visit botanical garden, Musée Lumière or Vienne Roman ruins
3. Lyon: day trip to Chambery or Annecy
4. Bagnols: travel to Chateau de Bagnols and pretend we are aristocrats
5. Lausanne: Travel to Lausanne, Switzerland
6. Milan: Train to Milan Italy, visit the Teatro alla Scala
7. Milan: Visit the Duomo, window shop around the city
8. Fiesole: travel to an agriturismo near Florence, tour the farm
9. Fiesole: day trip to Florence
10. Fiesole: relax around the pool, take a cooking class
11. Sorrento: travel to Sorrento, find good lemoncello and gelato
12. Sorrento: daytrip to Naples for pizza
13. Sorrento: daytrip to Amalfi coast
14. Fly out of Naples

If this plan has too much hotel hopping, should we skip Lausanne/ Lake Geneva by going through Turin instead and spend another night in Milan?

Posted by
5648 posts

Just a few initial thoughts-
You are trying to be in too many places. Changing areas takes a minimum of half a day, if all goes well; it's just not the actual train times, it is checking in/out, getting to /from the train station, getting lost, etc. Your itinerary has you arriving at a location, then day-tripping, without much time to actually enjoy and be in a place.
I doubt if you'll find much available in the way of lodging for fall, especially in the AC. Most travelers book 6-8 months in advance.
What's the budget like?
There's no reason to day trip to Naples if you're flying out of Naples. Moving about in the AC / Sorrento area is time-consuming and takes patience, as the infrastructure has been sadly neglected. It's not like moving about in northern Italy. Also, there's no shoulder season in the AC anymore, it's crowded from about April thru Fall.
Have you actually looked at flight prices? Rome may be better priced than Naples. The smaller airports can be more expensive than the larger ones.
I'd recommend a spring trip, but stay awayfrom the weeks before/after Easter, April 20, 2025.
Have fun planning and revising your itinerary. A trip to Europe with friends sounds great. Safe travels!

Posted by
5 posts

@Pat, thank you for the information about Easter! For a budget I am aiming for total 2000-3500 EUR per person but it is flexible. I still may consider flying out of Rome instead of Naples if it is cheap enough to make the extra distance worth it. I am looking to limit the travel on that last day before sitting so long on the plane.

Posted by
5 posts

@miuccia, In Fiesole I am looking at staying in Agriturismo Montereggi, which has a train station in walking distance so we should not have to rely on a taxi. The website offers cooking classes, but if we visit too out of season for that I will try to arrange one on our day trip to Florence. My aim for that stay is to decompress from all the sightseeing and moving around from the previous few days, so an agriturismo with tranquil atmosphere and casual activities should do the trick. I come from a farming background so I would enjoy seeing how things operate in Italy. I could consider changing the town from Fiesole for that portion of the trip if there are other options with better connections or views and less bustle. Do you have any in mind?

I appreciate the suggestions for eateries in Napoli and travel connections. They are very helpful! Water transport between the towns of Amalfi would let us see more of the coast.

I did look stumble upon a lemon grove tour in Sorrento online yesterday which looks fun:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g187782-d13553049-Sorrento_Farm_and_Food_Experience_including_Olive_Oil_Limoncello_Wine_tasting-Sorr.html

Posted by
1804 posts

You need to delve into the nuts and bolts. Annecy is lovely but a day trip with a group taking 4+ hours just for the travel is not a sensible use of time. Chambery at 3+ hrs. RT is also not worth it unless people are deep into the origins of the House of Savoy.

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