I am planning a 3 week trip in September to Italy. The first week we will be staying with a friends in the northern part. My friends claim they can show us Venice, Florence, Rome and Slovenia or Croatia all in one week. The second week I am booked in Maratea down on the southern end which is approx. a 10 hr. drive from the friends' location. Would it be better for us to drive with our friends down to Maratea by car and see the sites along the way or do you see a lot by train and the fact that it is quicker? We want to book the 3rd week by using our timeshare trade-off method and was offered a place in Puglia down in the heel near San Isadore beach. Does anyone have advice about this area? We keep hearing that the places that are more central or northern near Milan and Lake Comos would be great places to see. I am a scuba diver and the Puglia area actually advertises that the sport is nearby to the resort. Also, for a 3-week trip not knowing a thing about Italy, is it better to purchase railpasses, and can you do so for a 3-week period? If so, is it more economic than renting a car and trying to drive from place to place? I had thoughts to use a travel agent to book the 3rd week so that they could include our airfare and railpasses in the booking instead of using the timeshare method. Advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Posted by
Park Ridge, IL
524 posts
Paula Your trip is ambitious. And you are so lucky to have 3 weeks to travel in Italy. I, however, respectfully disagreee with your friends that you can see Venice, Florence, Rome, and Slovenia or Croatia all in one week. Not going to happen. IMHO, I would stick with Italy and wait for another trip for Slovenia and Crotia. And even then you can't see the 3 main tourist areas in Italy in that time. I don't care what your friends say. It would be great to hear the reason you chose Maratea for your second week. Also, it looks like Maratea also offers scuba diving so your 3rd proposed week in Puglia may be a duplication of the 2nd week. I like the fact you are incorporating your scuba diving hobby into your trip. However, I would spend 2 weeks in mainstream Italy. What town do your friends live in? Day trips to these cities is not a good way to experience these fabulous places. Really, overnight gives you such a different perspective However, you have to tell us what is important to you. Do you like art, museums, historical architecture? Or maybe wine and food? Or just to get a good sense of Italians and their lifestyle? Do you like outdoor activities? You can do day trips from Florence on bikes to vineyards. Tell us and we can give advice on an itinerary that will fit your interests. Train from Venice to Florence for a few days. Then by car for some time in Tuscany or Umbria. Drop off car near Rome and spend several days. Not sure what transportation is good for Maratea. Have your read RS Europe Through the Back Door? Please purchase it with RS Italy 2011. Then you will have a better idea of what kind of itinerary will fit your needs. Let's see what everyone else has to say. I will follow this thread to see how you are doing. Bobbie
Posted by
OP
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
4 posts
Bobbie, thanks for your advice. The friends live in Aviano, above Venice, because one is in the military. They also own a cabin in Slovenia which is why they thought to show us that area, approximately a 2-hr. trip from Aviano. I researched the rail passes info. by R. Steve and it looks as though I need to have all 3 wks. in place before I decide on that. As you suggested, it does appear I can incorporate my scuba hobby into the Maratea week. I ended up booking that through my timeshare method, and the area looks so beautiful. I love everything there is to see; however, my hubby is not much of a museum guy and cannot do a lot of walking due to back issues. He is able to do the biking and we love wine and food, so the biking to vineyards sounds very appealing to me. We like to check out art and historical architecture, but the walking for my hubby concerns me. From your feedback and some others, I think the thing to do for the 3rd week is to break up the week in a few places. I will pick up the book you suggest as well. Thanks again!
Posted by
naples, italy
6 posts
Contact your friends and ask them to look into airfare for you guys. You can fly into naples and then take a train to maretea (2-3 hour train ride). This would cut the travel time down and (believe-it-or-not) may be cheaper than taking the train that far.
If they live near Aviano, they should be familiar with the normal Inter-european airlines. These airlines have cheaper airfare, just like our stateside cheap airlines do sometimes... To give you an example of time saved, a flight from Naples to Venice takes 45 minutes.
Posted by
La Crescenta, California, USA
361 posts
The only way you can see all those cities in that time is if you drive really fast or do it by helicopter.