How can I do Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan and Cinque Terre in 12 days?

My suggestion is to fly into Venice or Milan then out of Rome. If you want to save a little on flying, then fly roundtrip Rome then take the high speed train from Rome to Venice and work your way down. The high speed train has great discounts if you book like 10 days or more in advance. My suggestion: 2 days Venice, 2 days Milan, 2-3 days Cinque Terre, 2-3 days Florence, 4 days Rome (and maybe a day trip from Rome?).

Skip Milan, unless you are a fashionista. Fly into Rome (3 nights), then travel by train to Florence (3 nights), Cinque Terre (2 or 3 nights), and leave out of Venice (3 nights). Tweak this to your liking.

Don't waste your time in Milan

I did a similar trip but in 14 days. We flew into and out of Rome. THe day we arrived in Rome we took the train to Milan. We added Milan after we book our trip. I wanted to see the Last Supper. We arrived in Milan at around 4 pm. Walked around the city. The next day to a half day tour. Saw the Last Supper ect. Left for Venice at around 2 or so. If you are not going to see the Last Supper I would leave Milan out. We were there less than 24 hours gland I went but will not go back. The order of our cities was Milan, Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre and Rome.

I agree with Dennis, but would stay in Milan only one night. Go from there to the CT, then Florence, then Rome. Florence is big on art and museums; 2 nights would probably satisfy if you just want to walk around.

Remember that 2 nights in a city is actually only one full day. Getting to the train, traveling, then finding your hotel in the next town eats up a good part of a day. So I'd agree with the others and recommend that you skip Milan, adding those days to Venice and CinqueTerra. You'll want to pack light and dress in layers. Most of the people on this board travel with just a carry-on size suitcase or backpack. Do a search and you'll find lots of tips for the types of clothes to bring. You can do laundry in your room or find a laundromat half-way through your trip; that's an adventure in itself! Have fun - you're going to have a great time.

I agree with Scott, except that I'd only do 2 nights in CT and put another day on one of the big 3 (probably Rome). My first trip to Italy I did 4 nights Venice, 5, florence, and 5 Rome. Made the decision to skip CT since i knew i would want to go back. It sounds like are the kind who wants to take things slowly. you can always hop on a train or bus and take a daytrip. In 5 nights in Florence I went into one or two museums (not the Uffizi), in Rome I only went into the Vatican museums (not counting the ancient sites), in Venice I only went into the Doge's palace, and I still ran out of time. Instead of cutting out a place like rome (agree on cutting out milan), why not just slow down, take the time to enjoy each city and experience Italy as it's meant to be experienced? then you can see what you like and start planning the return trip on the flight home.

I'm not sure what you mean by "more experiential." Can you elaborate? FWIW, since you're a 26 year old guy, I suggest dropping Milan and substituting Bologna instead. It's a wonderful Italian university town, with lots of people your age. You could end up making some good friends. Same's true for Siena, although it tends to have more foreign students. (FWIW, Bologna is generally agreed by Italians as having the best food in the country.) Also, drop CT. They're small pretty towns, but just swimming in tourists. Not particularly "authentic" anymore. Again, these are all my opinion. Don't drop Rome. It's amazing. Especially, check out the Trastevere neighborhood in Rome. Very hip and young. And although I absolutely love Venice, I would suggest you save it until you're older and/or traveling with your sweetheart. So based on your demographic and your criteria, that makes my suggestions: Rome, Florence, Siena, and Bologna. Do at least three nights in each to give yourself enough time to meet people and get a sense of the place. Have a great time.

I know I am going to get hammered with this but I would drop Florence. Seems like the whole reason to go to Florence is to see art - very important art but you said you weren't into museums. We were in Florence the first week of October and it was a zoo of tourist. We found it very difficult to find good local food, everything seemed set up for tourist (without the charm of Venice). We had a hard time getting past the shtick to find the local feel. I really enjoyed Milan, but agree with previous posters that it is not on the must do list. That being said we got our selves lost in Milan and ended up in some really great neighborhoods, had great food, and am sure we where the only tourist in the area. It was not on our itinerary but ended up a highlight. Keep Rome, just too impressive. I like the suggestion of Bologna, I haven't been but have friends say it was one of their favorites. I agree with Micheal about Cinque Terre, great scenery - not much else. Umbria and Tuscany have great little hill towns. Really fun area to drive through. We did the drive between Rome and Siena in 3 days, stayed off the intestate. Stopped in small towns and had coffee/gelato with the locals. Great time. (FYI at the time married couple in their late 20's and early 30's)

Wow! Thank you everyone for your comments. After reading through all of them, I think this is my plan for submission and approval: (:-D) I bought my plane ticket to/from Milan because you guys all said skip it, but I do love fashion and got better flights there, so it will be a passing through area at the beginning and a break at the end. I also wanted to start in Cinque Terre to have a quick paradise start. Landing in Milan at 11am. Train to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre 1.5 days/2 nights Rome 4 days/4 nights Florence 3.5 days/3 nights Venice 2 days/2 nights Milan 2.5 days/3 nights I would like to explore getting out of Florence early in the AM and spending the day in Bologna and one night there. Then getting to Venice in the AM and staying 2 nights, taking one from Milan. I'm also borrowing a backpack from a friend and have ordered quick-dry clothes. Thank you so much everyone's input! Any advice on finding a good, reasonable price to lay my head and keep my stuff? I'm not sure how to get the ideal places without being overwhelmed by information.

Skip Milan unless you are into fashion. Otherwise, spend your time in another city!!! Don't skip Rome!!!

Personally, I do not think you could do this itinerary unless you like marathons at a dead run. I like Milano, but it is not high on the tourist mainline. You could fly into Venice and home from Roma to eliminate time consuming back tracking. After that I would drop Cinque Terra and save it for the next trip. Italy will seduce you, so assume you will return. Buon viaggio, RB

"Any advice on finding a good, reasonable price to lay my head and keep my stuff? I'm not sure how to get the ideal places without being overwhelmed by information."================Guidebook. If you haven't already, watch Rick Steves' videos (available on this site, or on his YouTube channel), and I'd suggest his Italy guidebook. Of course, I'd also suggest going to a bookstore, or using something like Amazon's "Search Inside" feature to compare the different styles of guidebooks; you might prefer a different style. OK - you have to go to Milan. Do you have a plan (a sort of 'fashion pilgrimage') in mind, or just wandering and looking at store windows? While you're there, I'd suggest the Sforza Castle (knowing some history will make for a richer experience, but it's still neat to walk through) and the Milan Cathedral. And now you're going to get one of my Packaged Speeches (lucky you!).........When I hear a first-timer say that they're "not big on museums", I want to say that you haven't seen EUROPEAN museums!!! If I could insist (and of course I can't - drats!) that you go to a few of the biggies, it just might change your mind. Or not, but they ain't your momma's museums. I really urge you to check them out...they have the crème de la crème of the world's art - paintings, sculptures, textiles [talking to you, Mr Fashion Man ;-) - lots of costume and textile museums, etc.], architecture, etc. And most of the buildings the museums are housed in are worth the price of admission themselves. Packaged Speech over.

Ha, thanks Eileen! I own and have read the Rick Steve's book, but there aren't many reasonably priced options. I'm looking for a great booking site where I can get all the reviews and prepay. Since it's just me, I want pretty basic stuff but nice enough that I won't regret saving the dollars. I'd be happy to pay more when it's worth it. And I think the "not big on museums" wasn't the right thing to say. I am going to all the biggies. I just tend to walk very fast through them! I don't want to spend my trip doing museums, but I couldn't leave without the big ones under my belt!

At the risk of reconvening the debate society on this forum, reasonable is a nebulous term which means different things to different people. If you would be specific in terms of dollars or euros you would receive more definitive help. Two good places to start looking for rooms are venere.com and tripadvisor.com. They both provide pricing, map locations, and client reviews. Buon viaggio, RB

James, have you perused the hotels on TripAdvisor yet? You can get ALOT of good info, and LEADS, there. THEN, you can go to that hotel's website and book directly. Sometimes, because the hotels are on the smallish side, you'll have to Google the name of the hotel in order to figure out their website - it's not always Super8.com, but maybe more like ffgarmishtick@bbi5k.55.com...for a hotel called Bob's Hostel LOL! Seriously, TripAdvisor and venere.it (just 2 examples) are good places to find all of those little 8-room hotels that won't have their own websites, too.******And I'm very glad you'll see 'the biggies'!!!

If you do cut a town, do so with Milan. Maximize time by flying open jaws [INVALID] perhaps Venice and Rome or Milan and Rome. If you are not into museums, you might also want to consider some time in Tuscany to give yourself more of a true Italian experience. Rick has an excellent guide to packing so be sure and read it carefully. For me, I pack lightly with something I can carry onto the plane and easily carry with me. A light jacket that time of the year is not a bad idea, but you can always buy one in Italy.

If you are 26 (I'm 28), you don't need to skip Milan. They have the best bar/club scene in Europe, if you are prepared to spend some money. Because of this prejudice many people have against Milan, the nightlife is really tourist-free (for Italian standards) and as long as you dress well (shoes and shirts, never ever t-shirts or sneakers) you can get into a places with a very different crowd that you casual club in Rome or, let alone, Florence. The problem is that Downtown Milan is NOT the most attractive place in the city. But if you are willing to walk 10 minutes, it is a very interesting city, and one of the less crowded ones.