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Italy Itinerary - Feedback Welcome

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For seats with extra legroom, I've booked Premium Economy flights into/out of Frankfurt. (It's a long story, but It should be much cheaper than Business Class.) I'm tall and we're not as young as we used to be.

It's my wife's first trip. She is interested in Milan (for fashion), Pisa, Rome, Venice, and tourist sights. It's my second trip, but that trip was decades ago. I would like to see Pompeii again. I'm interested in history, culture, and art, but I would be happy to just relax and enjoy being in Italy. My proposed itinerary is below, which is a bit of a compromise. I have scheduled Cinque Terra to avoid holidays on 4/25 and 5/1 and for only about 1 1/2 days, which may be too short. We are interested in avoiding crowds and moving around between lodging as little as possible. I have 3 extra days with nothing scheduled, which could be used to stay in one location longer, e.g., Venice or Vernazza, adding Sienna, Assisi, or Orvieto & Civita, or deciding how to use the extra days on the fly while we are in Italy. The schedule below assumes a day trip from Florence to Sienna. Also, I think we'll have a half day at the end of the Trip to explore central Frankfurt.

I would like to start making lodging and local transportation arrangements. I have not yet booked flights from Frankfurt to/from Italy. I would appreciate any feedback on this itinerary and how to use the extra days before I begin this next step.

4/13 Sun. Arrive Frankfurt. Sleep Frankfurt for 1 night.
4/14 Mon. Fly to Venice for 4 nights.
4/17-4/18 Venice
4/18 Sat. Train to Milan for 2 nights.
4/19 Sun. Milan
4/20 Mon. Train to Vernazza for 2 nights.
4/21 Tue. Vernazza.
4/22 Wed. Train to Florence via Pisa for 5 nights.
4/22-4/26 Florence.
4/27 Mon. Train to Sorrento for 5 nights.
4/27-5/1 Sorrento.
5/2 Sat. Train to Rome for 5 nights.
5/7-5/9 Extra 3 days.
5/10 Sun. Fly Rome to Frankfurt for 1 night.
5/11 Mon. Depart Frankfurt.

Posted by
6560 posts

You have a nice allotment of days planned! I would add those days to CT and any of the existing stays.

Posted by
2897 posts

hey hey wilhelmr1
can you look at flights to a city in italy instead of back tracking to frankfurt. look at multi-city: into venice, milan, rome then out from another.
italy will be busy and always is especially with the places you want to see. seems no off season anymore, all over the world is busy traveling so we go with the flow.
it's also easter time that people stay longer, USA spring breaks. look at booking.com to see what's available on your dates, see something, email direct to hotel if a better price, trenitalia or italotreno for train reservations, booking early better prices. use italian train names for station
remember check-ins are 3-4pm and check-outs are 10-11am unless you can get early check in. takes about half day to check out, get to train station and ride to next place. sometimes we pack up a little picnic sandwich/drink for the ride. your "2 nights are one full day to explore", look at april 25th and may 1 as public holidays and what's open /closed. good luck and enjoy. keep asking questions
aloha

Posted by
3525 posts

Have you checked Google Flights that allows you to check premium economy and business class fares: https://www.google.com/travel/flights? Also, can you fly in and out of Venice/Milan/Genoa and Rome/Naples airports (multi-city or one-way)? Once you buy your plane tickets you can design the order of your itinerary. If you fly home from Venice, make sure it’s not an early morning flight so you don’t have to pay for an expensive water taxi to the airport.
Frankfurt: If you can, sleep in Frankfurt’s old town called Dom-Römer Quarter.
Venice: if you fly from North America to Venice, don’t expect to get a lot done on arrival day. Venice needs a minimum of three nights (two full days).
Milan: If you go to Milan, add a night and make it three nights. Milan itself is OK, but adding Varenna and Bellagio that over looks the most scenic part of Lake Como will make this destination better. All you need to do is take a direct train from the Milano Centrale station to the Varenna-Esino station (1h 15m): https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html. After you arrive, take a 15-minute ferry from Varenna to Bellagio and walk around. Afterwards, go back to Varenna walk along the path before returning to Milan.
Cinque Terre (Vernazza): Sleep here a minimum of two nights so you can visit all the towns by ferry. This is the place you want to linger and enjoy its spectacular cuisine.
Florence: You need four nights in Florence if adding a day trip to Siena by direct bus (1h 15m). Don’t take the train to Siena because it takes longer. Furthermore, the bus drops you off across the street from the old town.
Rome: You need a minimum of four nights in Rome if visiting Vatican City.

Posted by
331 posts

I would book flights to and from Italy so that you only spend 1 night in Frankfurt, not 2. It's a hassle to get into and out of the airport, so I would book a flight from Frankfurt to Italy at the beginning, without spending the night in Frankfurt. Then do the Frankfurt visit after Rome.
Will you use Sorrento as a base for your Pompeii visit and a possible visit to the Amalfi Coast?
Or, add Lake Como between Venice and Milan.

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