Is this a realistic northern Italy itinerary?

Hi Francis,

You'll definitely want 2 nights for the Cinque Terre area, so you can enjoy the area. I'm not sure why you want to stay in Genoa. Possibly stop off at Genoa for a couple of hours and move onto Portofino and add that day to another location? There's trains every 30 minutes, according to www.rome2rio.com

Another option instead of Milan on the return would be to stay in Stesa on Lake Maggiore as your last night.

Fly into Milan. If using Malpensa airport, I would go straight to Torino in Piedmont. You are already half way there anyway.

Why Genoa? Do you have relatives there? Sorry but I never liked Genoa. I'd skip it. It's a big ugly industrial port city (IMO).

I don't care much for Portofino either. It's a nice little quaint town with a harbor for expensive yachts, but I could never stand the pretentious ultra rich people who hang out there. Prepare your wallet to be plundered by the local establishments. The place is overpriced. It's worth a visit but I could never see myself spending the night there. One night there will probably cost you as much as all others. I would rather stay in Santa Margherita and visit Portofino from there. You'll save a bunch.

You are changing hotels too often. Stay at least 2 nights in each at least at the cinque terre. One nighters are a waste of time and energy.

Leave your Milan touring to the end of your trip before your return flight (as you noted I sent you to Torino upon arrival).

You really need just a day to visit Milan in a short 9 day trip, and that includes the time for the last supper. I would spend only the last 2 nights in Milan (the two nights before your return home). That will give you a full day to visit the city.

Put me in the "Why Genoa?" camp as well.

As for the rest of your itinerary, I hate doing one-nighters in town after town. Too hectic. Minimum two nights per location, as a rule.

Francis,

What Roberto said.

IMO, you have too many one night stops which won't allow you to see much in some of the places you're visiting. A few thoughts on each of the places you listed.....

• Milan: If you want to see the Last Supper or whatever, then a night or two there is necessary, but I agree that it would be a better use of your time to press on to Torino. As you're returning to Milan for your flight home, you could easily fit in the Last Supper at the end of your trip.
• Genoa: I agree with the others that it's not worth the stop (especially for one night).
• Portofino: I'd suggest visiting there as a day trip. If you add one night to your stay in the Cinque Terre, you can easily visit. It's only short trip from Monterosso (I know, as I've done that trip).
• Cinque Terre: As mentioned it would be good to add at least one night there. When you arrive, you may not want to leave! It's also a good base for touring other places in the area, such as Porto Venere, Levanto or wherever.

Well planned train travel would be the quickest and most efficient way to get around that area, especially for a short nine day trip.

Which of the five C.T. towns are you planning to stay? For travel at the time-of-year that you mentioned, pre-booking hotels would be a good idea for all the places you're visiting, but especially the C.T.

Cheers!

These are great suggestions. Outside of Milan and Cinque Terre, I didn't know much about the northwest corner of Italy, so I've been flipping thru some guidebooks and the map. I've read internet posts about Genoa being an overlooked spot, but the response here has been so immediately negative I'll give it a pass. I like the idea of heading straight to Torino and will be looking into Santa Margarita. It sounds like by basing in the Cinque Terre or nearby much of the area is easily reached for day trips.

I had not yet chosen a base in Cinque Terre, is Sep-Oct likely to be booked up already? Wow --

thanks to all again, this is just the sort of advice I've been looking for --
Francis

Francis, very often if you read between the lines of those references to an "overlooked spot" you'll see that they are more along the lines of "Hey, it's not 100% bad!" But the real test is whether there are other places that are MORE appealing.

I love Milano. Two nights gives you a full day for the Last Supper, the Duomo (take the elevator to the roof for some face-time with the gargoyles), the Castello Sforzesco and La Scala and the Galleria.

Francis,

Keep in mind that you only have a very short nine days to visit five locations (from your original list), which includes transportation times between them, so you're going to have to be somewhat selective.

There will most likely still be many vacancies in the lodgings in the Cinque Terre. Don't give up yet! I'd suggest staying in Monterosso, as it's the largest of the towns and therefore has the greatest number of accommodations as well as restaurants and other facilities. It also has the nicest beaches (if only for aesthetic enjoyment), and is slightly more central for visiting Portofino and places to the north.

If you think you'd like to stay in Monterosso, have a look at THIS LIST. I don't know how current it is, or which of the places are now accepting reservations, but it will give you somewhere to start. My favourite hotel there is Hotel Villa Steno, with Hotel Pasquale a close second (both owned by the same famiily). There's a similar list for Vernazza, or you could check the RS Italy 2014 Guidebook as it has listings for quite a number of reliable places in each of the towns, as well as Levanto and other towns in that area.

You can easily stay in the Cinque Terre (perhaps Ken's favorite Monterosso al Mare) and see Portofino, SML, etc., by train. We did so on a trip last year and it was fabulous to stay on e place and see so much along the Ligurian Coast. I wrote about a 2012 side trip to Portofino here.

I would structure your itinerary like this
- Fly into Milan and go directly to Torino as Roberto suggested, or directly to the Cinque Terre. Unless you arrive quite late, this is doable and avoids a one night stay, which is a waste at either end of your trip
- Torino, 2 nights
- CT, 5 nights - allows you time to visit Genoa, Portofino, SML as well as the 5 towns. Be sure to take the boat from one end to the other!
- Milan, 2 nights

I have not been to Torino (going in March) so not sure what two nights there would be like. I've heard the food in Piemonte is fabulous. What are your plans for Torino?

Do try to buy your Last Supper tix in advance: well in advance. Even with advanced planning I had to buy from a consolidator and it cost extra. We loved it though!

Two nights in Turin right after your arrival will actually give you only one full day in the Piedmont capital (and former Italian capital city).

The top for most Italians are the Mole Antonelliana, the Egyptian Museum, Piazza San Carlo and Piazza Castello (with the Royal Palace). They are all within few short blocks from each other, but those alone will take your whole day and more.

These are the top 10 to see and do in Turin according to this website. Not available in English, but at least you get a short list of things.

http://www.10cose.it/torino/cosa-vedere-torino.html