Italy itinerary - Venice to Rome and in between...best route by train?

ljohnson,

My suggestion would be something along these lines.....

• Fly inbound Venice (1 travel day)
• Venice (3 days?)
• Train to Florence (about 2 hours via Freccia or Italo train - pre purchase tickets for considerable savings)
• Florence, with day trip to Siena by Bus (3 days?)
• Train to Cinque Terre (will probably be via Regionale, so buy tickets from a Kiosk in Florence)
• Cinque Terre (which of the five towns are you planning to stay in - 3 days?)
• Train to Rome (use one of the direct trains from La Spezia to Rome, as travel time is only about 3H:45M)
• Rome, with day trips to Orvieto, Pompeii, Ostia Antica or just tour the many sights in the city (4 days?)
• Outbound flight from FCO (1 travel day)

There are many possibilities, but this is a reasonably logical and efficient route.

If this is your first trip to Italy, I'd highly recommend picking up a copy of the Italy 2014 Guidebook, as there's a LOT of information there on hotels, sightseeing, transportation, restaurants, etc. It will be a good resource to use in your planning.

Your home location is not shown in your Profile, but I'm assuming you're travelling from North America?

Good luck with your planning!

Thank you, Ken! I have been reading the travel helpline a bit every night in planning our trip, but I have never posted a question. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner...this is so helpful!

Yes, we are from Spokane, WA, and I just purchased our airfare, so now I can continue making our accommodation plans. We are actually beginning our trip in Turkey (11 days), then to Greece for 9 days, and finally Italy. We have only been to Venice, so the rest of our trip is new to us. I have all of Rick's books for these places, and his DVDs. This is a big trip to plan for a family of six, and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. Yet Rick's books and this website help me to take things one step at a time. For me, the planning is half the fun! Of course, part of the challenge for me is finding places to stay that are the most economical for six - sometimes I can find a "family room" for all of us, which is usually the least expensive. But otherwise, we have to get two rooms, which typically costs more.

I'm so glad I asked about this itinerary, as we were planning to do Florence first, but sounds like CT would be better. I just booked lodging in Vernazza at Albergo Barbara (a recommendation of Rick)...but can certainly request to change our dates. Do you think Monterosso would be a better place to stay in CT for our family? I can't imagine that either would be a bad choice!

ljohnson,

Either Monterosso or Vernazza would be good choices for your group of six. I've never stayed in Vernazza, but a few thoughts that come to mind....

• Vernazza seems to have more Affitacamere and other "informal" accommodations such as the one you mentioned, with basic rooms which will probably be a better choice for a family group. Monterosso has more "conventional" hotels, which will likely cost more.
• Many of the places in Vernazza don't supply breakfasts, but with a group of teenagers, you may want to stop by one of the local markets and pick up some items that you know your group will enjoy.
• Monterosso has the largest sandy beach of the five towns. However, Vernazza also has a beautiful small harbour and a small beach with nice areas for sunbathing. If you manage to get a harbour view room at Albergo Barbara, you may be able keep an eye on your group from the flat if you decide to let them go to the beach on their own.
• It's very easy to get around the five towns via the local trains, so you could easily go to Monterosso or one of the other towns for a fine hot meal, and be back in Vernazza within a few minutes.

For an interesting view of Vernazza, you may enjoy watching THIS short video.

Your trip sounds wonderful, and I'm sure it's going to be an incredible experience for your teenagers. Where are you going in Greece?

Cheers!

Agree with Ken, his itinerary makes the most sense.

Think about it this way... Venice-on water, Florence and Tuscany-inland, CT-on water
Rome-inland, Amalfi Coast-on water.

Areas on or near the water tend to be less intense, makes for a more relaxed vacation.

Thanks again, Ken!

In sharing this with my husband, we have a question about the best way to make a short visit to Pisa. We assumed that we'd do so as a day trip from Florence. But since we want to visit a hill town, too, could our Pisa visit be combined with the hill town day, or would we need separate days for these two? Or, could we stop and visit Pisa on the way to CT, or on the way from CT to Rome, to make the most of our time?

In Greece, we will be spending 4 nights on Santorini (just for relaxation!), and then 4 or 5 nights in Athens, doing a couple of day trips, to Corinth and Delphi. My husband is a Lutheran pastor, so some of our stops/visits are because of Christian historical sights that are important for him to see - many are places that the Apostle Paul spent time. Of course, Paul didn't spend any time in the CT, but I really want to see it!

Your guidance/suggestions are very helpful to us. This is a once in a lifetime trip for our family - we are so excited. Thanks!

I did something similar last month. I took Rick's advice from his guidebook (also in his article here - http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/italy/italy22.htm) and went directly to the Cinque Terre from Venice. It was good to breakup the big cities of Venice and Florence instead of doing them back to back.

As for Pisa we did that on our way to Florence. We left the CT with our luggage and dropped it off at the Pisa Centrale Bag Storage for a couple euro charge. We toured Pisa for a couple hours, grabbed our bags and back on the train. it's real convient being on the way to Florence.

Ken has a good suggestion about Orvieto for a day trip. I enjoyed our overnight in Orvieto. I would recomeend staying there for 1 night before going onto Rome.

If you want a guide for some hill towns around Tuscany or some wineries, Tours by Roberto from Rick's book and tv show is my recomendation. I did a full day tour with Roberto and it was amazing. They pick you up in Florence or Siena. You can see the tours on their website or you can customize it to do anything you want which is what I did.

I agree with Ken, I would do Venice to Florence (with a day trip to a hill town) to Pisa to Cinque Terre to Rome. Your train from Florence to Cinque Terre will stop at Pisa and you will have to switch trains there, so get off there and see Pisa for a couple hours, then catch the next train to La Spezia (you transfer again at La Spezia to get to Cinque Terre). For hill towns, I would also look into San Gimignano, that is my favorite, it is also the home of the best gelato in the world! It is more of a preserved fortressed hill town, while Siena is just a smaller version of Florence, but just as touristy. San Gimignano is touristy, too, but so much prettier and so much fun to walk around and explore. You also get amazing Tuscan hillside views from a lookout point at the far end of San Gimignano. If you went to Cinque Terre before Florence, you'd end up backtracking and spending more money on train tickets.

ljohnson,

Regarding a visit to Pisa, there are several possibilities.....

One of the easiest solutions would be to stop there for a few hours on your way from Florence to the Cinque Terre (it's on the way). Of course, that presents a minor problem as you'll be hauling your luggage. As I recall, there is a luggage storage (Deposito Bagagli) at Pisa Centrale. You could drop your luggage and then take the Bus or walk to la famosa Torre (details in the Guidebook). Pisa S. Rossore station is actually closer to the tower, but it will be less convenient in terms of transportation and your ongoing journey to the C.T.

If you wanted to spend longer in Pisa, you could (for example) add one day in Florence and then just go there on a day trip. It's a very short trip from Florence to Pisa. I suggested adding a day, as there's a lot to see in Florence, so I wouldn't reduce any time there. Of course, if you're planning to visit the Uffizi or Accademia, it would be prudent to "pace yourselves", as your teenagers may not have the attention span for repeated Museum and Gallery visits. At that time of year, reservations for the Museums would definitely be a good idea!

Another option would be to use the day I had listed for Siena to tour Pisa instead. Rather than travel from the C.T. directly to Rome, you could travel via Siena and spend one night there. I don't usually suggest one-night stops, but in this case there's a finite length of time to work with. My inclination would be to drop Pisa if it complicates your Itinerary too much, as there are more interesting places to spend your very limited time.

How are you getting to Santorini and then back to Athens? One solution would be to take a Ferry in one direction and use a budget flight in the other. I'd recommend Aegean Air, as I found they were a real "class act". There's also Olympic Air, but they were recently bought by Aegean, so it's the same company. For planning your time in Greece, you may find it helpful to have a look at Matt Barrett's excellent GREECE TRAVEL website. I used one of the travel agencies listed on the site to make some of my arrangements for the islands, and they did an outstanding job!

Interesting that your husband is a Lutheran Pastor. There's a Lutheran Church across the street from my house!

Cheers!