Italy - for 30 days

You would do well to begin your travel planning by reading a book or two on travel in Italy to get an idea of cities and areas that appeal to you. I would recommend a Rick Steves’ Italy, which is available online, at your local bookstore or, more than likely, at your local library. Then, once you have a more definite idea of what you’d like to see in mind, come back to this forum with more specific questions. It would be helpful to know your desired activity level, interests, budget, etc.

Airports (3 largest intercontinental, in order of size:
Rome FCO
Milan MXP and LIN
Venice VCE

Weather in Italy is similar to Northern California. So the best month depends on your preferences and what you intend to do.
30 days lends itself to at least 5 bases.

Your question is too broad. The possibilities are endless. You need to do some homework and see what your interests are. Start with a guidebook. You came here, so maybe you could buy or rent Rick Steves’ guide to Italy.

"Rome outskirts"

Probably a really bad idea. If you want to see Rome, then be in Rome and when you want a small town or countryside experience, go there. Do not waste time 'commuting' to Rome from the 'burbs.

And I will add to the suggestion to get a guide book and get some idea of what you want to see. Where to fly in/out of will be determined by where you ultimately choose to go.

April, May and Sept would be good choices of when to go. Avoid the heat and crowds of summer.

Hi Millie, as others have recommended, starting with a guide book will give you the best idea of which towns you like and others that aren’t as appealing. Then we can give you better advice.

1. We’ve flown in and/or out of Milan, Venice, and Rome. Some options are Naples and for some airlines - Pisa.
2. Look at several guide books. You will learn so much from them to help in several areas of your trip.
3. Personally, we really like September. The weather is still very nice to eat outdoors in the evening. Since you’re retired, I would avoid July & August.
4. Check out a train map to get an idea of where the main lines run. Verona could give you daytrips to Vicenza, Padova, Venice, Lake Garda or up into the beautiful Dolomites. Florence is a good location for both the city anyd small surrounding towns. The trains are easy to use. If you’re looking for relaxing, select a smaller town as one of your rental locations; they’re usually cheaper, too.

We have spent extended periods in Venice, staying for half a dozen weeks, I think four or five times. Maybe a couple of weeks in Venice, and a couple of weeks somewhere else might work for you.
Take a look at rail connections for wherever you might be thinking. For us, Venice has worked well, with easy rail connections to Padua, Verona, Vicenza and Treviso, Bassano del Grappa, all easy day trips.
It helps if you can have some sort of path, an agenda, otherwise it can so easily become just another cathedral, just anothe palazzo, just another alp.

One trip to Venice, I was determined to see every work I could by Tiepolo, and that drew me all over Venice. Another trip was architecture focussed, and so I chased down work by Carlo Scarpa, Venice’s best known and loved modern architect.

Spending a couple of weeks in a place is great. Have breakfast at the same bar every morning, and you will develop at least a nodding acquantance with the bar tender. The check out people at the supermarket will get to know you, and appreciate when you fumble around with euro coins, appreciative of the correct money.

There were a couple of street musicians who played near our apartment in 2013. Big handshakes and smiles all round when I came across them at the Frari last year. Lovely memories.

You can get Information on Italy and several specific towns here on this website. Also click on the tour information to see what is highlighted in the tours.

I'm guessing that you may not have been to Europe in a long time. Because of that, I also recommend the following RS links.

Money. Remember that if you make reservations for anything ahead of time from the US, inform your CC company that you are going to do that and where so that your card will not be rejected. Also, whatever resources you use, set them to € (EUR, euros) so you are getting a true picture of costs.

Packing Light. Especially this Travel Talk video by Sarah Murdoch. And the Packing forum. Even though you plan to stay in apartments, you don't want to be lugging heavy luggage on trains or buses or boats to get to them. I'm 72 and I travel with very little compared to my husband.

I agree that staying outside the cities you want to go is not the best idea. For me it's much better to be within reasonable walking, bus, metro or taxi distance of the sites I want to see and the food I want to eat. I like to stay in apartments or B&Bs, not big hotels.

My favorite resource to find those is Booking.com. I pay attention only to the review score, no matter what kind of lodging I'm seeking. Star studded amenities aren't high on my wish list. Apartments and B&Bs usually do not have stars anyway. Use the opening screen's search box to do the basics. Then filter them according to your needs. There is a learning curve. Most apartments will have a washing machine, though a dryer will likely be lines out the windows or a rack inside. Pick a washing machine as a filter for your apartment searches.

There are many other resources for finding apartments. Owners sometimes list their rentals on several listings services. The prices may vary from one to another. Often you can also find the same place listed independently or contact the owner and rent directly through them.

With 30 days, you could do a round trip to one airport and make a big circle. Or you could fly into Milan or Rome or Venice or even Sicily and fly home from a different city. Here's where the part about deciding where you want to go based on what you want to do or see there is important. Nonstop flights are preferable. If there are none from NOLA, Houston and Atlanta would both possible short hops to catch one.

My favorite resource for finding flights is Google Flights. You can set up price tracking options, see pricing history, etc. When you decide on something, you go to the airline to make the reservations.

And if you plan ahead well enough, you can get really cheap train tickets. I like to use Trenitalia. I love taking the fast Frecce (arrow) trains. They're great for covering long distances quickly, although I probably wouldn't take a train to Sicily unless I was already in southern Italy. I'd fly. Google Flights covers intra-European flights, too.

Have fun with the planning and make sure everyone is involved.

1. Plot your destinations and draw a line. You want to fly into one end and out of the other. Rome and Milan are the biggest busiest airports so you'll have more options and maybe better prices. However since you probably have few, if any, non-stop flights to Italy, you will have lots of choices flying on European airlines changing planes somewhere in Europe and then shorter flights to Italy.

2. Depends on what interests you. Have you been to Europe before? What did you like? If not, you really need to get a couple of guidebooks and read them to get an idea of what sounds interesting to you.

3. Because of heat and crowds, I would not go to Italy from June through September. There are advantages and disadvantages to some areas but overall any other month can be a great time to visit Italy.

4. Italy has very good public transportation. How relaxing a trip is depends more on who you are and what you do than on where you are. For stays of 7-10 days, I would want to be in the heart of the action. There are lots of places to slow down and sip the wine or savor a gelato in the center of Rome or Florence or even Naples.

Hi Millie,
My wife and I are also going to Italy for 30 days from Sept. 17 to Oct.18 and will be spending 11 of days in Rome. In 2014 we spent 3 weeks in Italy and had a great time. You don't say when you are going but I assume this is your first time. You and your friends will have a great time also. Obviously, we are not veteran Italy travelers but I'll tell you how we did it. ( I'm 63 and my wife is 65). Just remember that even with 30 days, you are not going to see the entire country and you need to do a little homework but I promise you it will be fun homework. Go see the things and places that everyone wants to see, they're amazing! See Rome, go to see Florence, see the old city of Sienna, go to the lakes region or the Dolomite mountain region, they are the southern alps and are supposed to be beautiful. See Venice, rent a car and stay in the tuscan region, go to the town of Assisi. There is enough there in just those few suggestions to burn 30 days .
The first thing I would ask is, what is your budget? That can determine where you'll fly out from and how you'll fly. Before I get into what we did , let me suggest that you already have everything you for a great Italian vacation: your computer and Rick Steves guidebook to Italy. If you don't have his book, get it. This guy knows more (in my opinion) about traveling in Italy as an american than anyone else. You want itineraries? look at Rick's book. Best month to go? look at Rick. Best places to stay, eat, sleep? Rick. It's well worth the $27. We "reversed engineered " his 3 week trip in 2014. You can also google or you tube almost any how-to or informational video on cities, regions, or any specific question you need answered. Next to Rick's book, they were my best resources.
When you fly, you can get a flight out of any major city in the U.S. If you can afford to fly in a better class than basic economy, do so. This may be your once in a lifetime trip. While you don't have to spend money like a drunken sailor, enjoy it and splurge a little.
While in Rome, we've rented an apartment through a company called, romeloft.com,never used them but did a little checking and going to give it a shot.. They do speak english and they have a direct phone line and/or online(we used both). I saw Joe's reply to you about staying on the outskirts of Rome and he is absolutely right. If you're going to Rome, stay in Rome. Another service called, emmavillas.com has rentals around the country. Use the trains.The Italians have an efficient and reliable rail network. and As for best month, there's a good case to made for april /may or sept/oct. Again, look at his book or Fodor's or to get usable, quality information.
Have a great time!

Dear Millie --

1 - I'm assuming New Orleans would be a good location. If not, Atlanta or DFW might be your next best option. A lot depends on wether or not you're willing to drive to a nearby airport.
2 - Itinerary ideas - what are the interests/must see items of everyone in your group? 3
3 - My favorite month to travel to Italy is May.
4 - I've never done rentals in the way I think you're suggesting, so no help there.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday!!!