Italy Itinerary

You already know the answer or you would not phrase the question the way you did. It is too much BUT I think a lot of people have to one of these trips so they understand in the future what "too much" means. You will spend the majority of you time finding hotels, checkin and out of hotels, and looking at thing from inside a car. We always plan to lose a half day of productive sightseeing when we change locations plus travel time. I count eight location changes -- 4 days gone add another day and half of driving time and you have just four days to enjoy your Italy trip. With 8 and half days I would spend a day in Milan just to adjust somewhat to jet lag and it is worth a day, go to Florence for three days with a day trip from Florence, Rome for four days and home. Dump the car, not needed, and will probably generate some nasty TL zone tickets that will arrive about a year after your have return home to remind of your wonderful trip.

You have to make a decision if this is just a drive by trip or any opportunity to enjoy the culture. There are tourist that love the drive-by and others, especially on this site, will say your nuts. Was gental enough. It is your trip. Do what pleases you!

I want to be sure we see and experience as much as we can >>>>>

As Frank said, the main thing you'll experience is changing hotels and driving. Which cities would I cut with only 10 days? Most of them. If you chose 3 cities you would have just about 3 days in each. I would spend one night in Milan, 4 nights in Florence with a day trip to Sienna and the rest in Rome. This will allow you to see and experience some of these wonderful cities.

Also, I would dump the car and take the train. You'll have problems finding parking in all the cities you mention and the fee to parks is usually pretty high. It will add up even over a short 10 day period. The train is fast and cheap.

Don't make the mistake of trying to pack a months worth of cities into 10 short days. You'll come away with very few memories outside of the car and hotels.

Donna

Agree with the previous posters. You lose a half day or more just with changing hotels and travel. Also San Gimignano is nice but two nights seems too much. We like slow travel and we spent less than a day there as a side trip from Siena. To experience as much as you can, it might be better to pick three places and experience them, rather than experiencing driving from one place to another & checking into and out of hotels. Remember that even with the best planning, everything takes longer than we expect. The three I'd pick are Venice, Florence, and Rome. No matter how many places you go to someone will always tell you that you missed the best thing, so select two or three and plan a day trip or two and be happy. Good luck with your plans.

I understand that you have dreamed of Italy, but what is the Italy you want to remember? The one with piazzas, museums, and scenery? Or the one where you spend 1/2 your time packing, unpacking, finding your way from town to town, and trying to find a place to park the car? You can see all that you have listed, but it will be at a somewhat exhausting pace. There was a recent poster who had a trip planned to the Nth detail. She had other issues, but it might be worthwhile to read thru some of her blog entries at http://elbodans.wordpress.com/page/4/ and at http://elbodans.wordpress.com/page/3/ to see how well a hurried itinerary worked out for them.

Who can blame you, Rachelle, for wanting to squeeze as much life out of Italia as you can in the course of about a week? It is truly an amazing place, to me the most amazing place on this wonderful planet. I will not repeat what has already been stated by the many experienced travelers on this board although I sure agree with most of the advice thus far. Instead, I will add this: With 9 nights per the itinerary you provided, I think you could see most of what you wish BUT reduce the hotel changes a bit, i.e.: Fly to Milano, 2 nights Lake Garda, Lunch in Verona, pre-scheduling a walking tour of old city for after or before lunch, maybe 2 hours, since we find when just stopping by a town for 3-4 hours, even a 90 minute guided walk makes a lot of sense, 2 nights Venice, Lunch in Bologna with another walking tour, 3 nights Florence with one day devoted to a drive to a Chianti winery and either San Gimignano OR Siena...or both...but return to Florence in the evening, 2 nights Roma, Fly home from Roma. You would be amazed at how much less rushed even a busy itinerary seems when you stay put in the hotel for more than one night, and work in day trips. Good luck!

I wonder if the OP can share with us what is the limiting factor that makes the trip 8.5 days&#59; is it the cost of the trip, or the availability of time to travel? I think people may be able to give more targeted suggestions if they know which factor is more difficult to change.

Rachelle, I presume the 10 days included the arriving and departure from Italy. If this is the case, then you will really have only 8 days. I Know when my brother and I went to Europe last year, we stayed in Italy for 9 days. We had departed from Innsbruck and arrived at Arezzo, where our cousin and uncle lives. While we were in Italy we used Arezzo as our base and toke day trips to Florence, Cortona, Pisa, Assisi, Rome and Orvieto, and Lucca. We saw Florence and Rome 2 times each and the others 1 day each. This is an example of using a base city for other travel day trips, but this was all done by train. What you might want to do, is spend a night in Milan because of jet lag, then the next day spend a day in Venice or on the main land and day trip to Venice. The next 2 days in Verona, it is a wonderful place to walk, relax, and eat. Then 3 days in Florence and take days trips to Siena, San Gimignano, or another place. Then the last 3 days of your trip in Rome, and just enjoy and sightsee and relax before you take your trip home. This was also alot to do in the days we had, so I do understand what you want to do, so whatever you do and wherever you travel. HAVE A GREAT TIME and a SAFE TRIP, Jerry

As everyone else has mentioned, you are trying to do too much and it is doubtful that you will enjoy the time you have if you insist on this grueling schedule. It has been suggested that you spend the first night in Milan. I disagree, unless that is a place you want to spend time in. You have so little time it would be a shame to waste it. To minimize transferring from one hotel to another, you might think about using Verona as a base to see Lake Garda and Venice. You could use Florence or Siena as a base to see Tuscany, and then finish your trip off in Rome. You would only be relocating 3 times, but you would have the opportunity to see most of the places on your wish list. You could have lunch in Bologna on the way from Verona to Tuscany. I don't know anything about the castle you want to stay in. You know you have to delete some things. Only you can decide what is most important to you.

I'd cut out Lake Garda and add to Venice.

Thanks you guys for all the feedback! I had to smile as I read the replies because I knew what was coming. I hear what you're saying and know I need to re-evaluate my itinerary. Andrea, I really like your idea of using Verona and Florence as a base to see the surrounding areas then finish off in Rome. The Castle we want to stay in is Castello di Bevilacqua. It's just south of Verona, so I'd be thrilled beyond measure to spend more than one night there and use it as a base in that area. Has anyone ever been there? The pictures and reviews are AMAZING! I am extremely concerned about driving a car anywhere near Florence or Venice after reading other posts! Not sure what to do about that because I know we'll want a car when we explore Lake Garda as well as the Chianti area. And Frank, we actually wouldn't mind a little drive-by action in combination with some slow travel. Also, we already have our hotels reserved, so that'll be one less thing to worry about. With regard to the car issue though, could we leave the car in a parking garage outside of Florence & Venice, then take a cab into the city center? How complicated a process would that be? Carol, we're actually not staying in San Gimignano proper, but at an agritourismo outside of town. Just wanted to experience the "country life" thing...kind of a slower pace than say...Florence. However, would that not be a good place to use as a base to explore Tuscany? It's hard to tell how much driving we'll do, coming and going from there. Lastly, Mike, the 8 and 1/2 days allows for travel time to and from the US. Also, thanks for telling me about the other poster. I'll definitely check that out! Ok, so my question now would be...if we use Verona, somewhere in Tuscany, and Rome as our 3 bases, would you recommend staying in Florence itself, or at the agritourismo (Guardastelle) outside San Gimignano? You guys are awesome! Thanks so much for your help!!!

Rachelle, I definitely agree with the others as well, but based on your last Post it appears you will be revising your plans. In reading over your first Itinerary, one point that stood out was a lack of adequate travel time between locations. Using a car will be slower and less efficient than using high-speed trains (at least between major cities), so you'll have to allow extra time. Note that you'll need the compulsory International Driver's Permit to drive in Italy. This must be used in conjunction with your home D.L. A GPS unit along with a good Map would be a really good idea! One of Rick's planning principles is to "assume you will return". My suggestion would be to plan on that basis and focus on quality, rather than quantity. However, if all your Hotels are booked your choices may be limited. I'll reserve further comment until you post your revised Itinerary. Cheers!

"Ok, so my question now would be...if we use Verona, somewhere in Tuscany, and Rome as our 3 bases, would you recommend staying in Florence itself, or at the agritourismo (Guardastelle) outside San Gimignano?" Some travelers who want to sleep in the historic center of Florence AND have a rental car have been blindsided by unanticipated difficulties. Overnight parking in Florence has been a stressful and expensive experience for some.

Rachelle, I have done Italy by car and by train and both are enjoyable. However, if you have to cover alot of distance with a limited time table it would be better to go by train. But if you want to be more individual and take side trips where trains don't go or it isn't convenient to take a bus or train, the the car is great. Many times when I have traveled by car, it was nice to maybe plan to go to acertain place and then decide as I was going to this place to stay somewhere else, and then continue on to the planned place. Either way you will have fun and make the most of it. Take care, Jerry

If you stay at the agriturismo and take day trips from there, a car shouldn't be a problem. On the day you go to Florence you could take public transportation. Either go by bus or drive to a train station and leave the car there. For maximum time flexibility you might want to get as close to town as you can, without driving into it.

Good advice from Andrea, this is the standard advice given here about driving into Florence, which I've repeated many times. For Florence DAY TRIPS ONLY, Rick and Anthony give another option: see Rick's Florence book or the post by Anthony, a Florence resident, at this thread: http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=36844. I have not done it and don't know if I would try it, given Florence's aggressive enforcement of the hefty ZTL fines. But maybe something to think about.