Itinerary assistance for first time visit to Italy

You are covering a lot of places, probalby too much. I assume that you are arriving in Rome from the states. If you are coming from Anchorage you will be 'brain dead' from the jet lag. There is so much to see in Rome you really need three or four days just to see the major sites. You might want to skip Milan and the Cinque Terre and save them for another trip. You really are trying to do too much. Three days in Florence is plenty. Two day in the Cinque Terre can be done. Three day in Venice also can be done. But you need to the amount of time is reduced in each place once you consider travel time. Rome is a great city - spend more time there. Once you are in Italy, you will realize you must return so save some sites for the second trip. I would do Rome, Florence, and venice for this trip. If you have to squeeze in Milan for a day.

I agree that you're probably moving around too much to really have time to see much... I'd limit it to 3 or 4 places that really interest you. I doubt your going to be able to appreciate much of Rome in one day, particularly since that's your arrival day; you'll spend the morning clearing the airport and finding your hotel, and jet lag tends to set in as the day goes on. I love Florence and Venice, but it depends on your interests.
To answer your transportation question, I'd suggest checking budget airlines to get to Paris, rather than the train. It will be cheaper and certainly no more time consuming. Check skyscanner.com or whichbudget.com. I paid about 59E for Paris to Milan on Ryan Air in June, but you need to book ahead and carefully read their policies on baggage, etc, or airport fees can get pretty expensive. Also, be aware that the budget airlines commonly fly into small airports, some of which can be some distance for the identified "city", so you need extra time.

Lisa, IMHO, your proposed Itinerary is FAR too ambitious, and may realistically be hard to accomplish. For such a VERY short time frame, you'll most likely have to skip some of the "musts" locations. A few thoughts on each of the places you listed..... > Rome - I doubt that you'll even get to your Hotel by noon, and especially from the west coast you'll be suffering the effects of jet lag. You'll basically only have the afternoon and evening for Rome, which is NOT enough (IMO). > Orvieto & Bagnoregio - just to clarify, are you referring to the town of Bagnoregio on it's own, or Civita di Bagnoregio? In any case, I don't believe you'll have time for that, due to the times getting back and forth from Orvieto (especially with only one day). I'd suggest skipping those entirely. > Florence, Pisa, Lucca - it might be an idea to skip Pisa and Lucca, and use the time to expand other locations. Florence deserves AT LEAST two days. > Venice, Murano, Burano - should be OK > Cinque Terre - two days is good. Which of the five towns are you planning to stay in? The atmosphere at the end of October should be somewhat "quiet", as many of the tourist businesses will be starting to shut down for the winter. For that reason, you may want to consider staying in Monterosso. > Paris - I'd suggest trying to add at least one day to Paris, as there's SO much to see! If you could provide a somewhat abbreviated list of destinations, it would be easier to provide a suggested Itinerary and also information on the most efficient route to follow. Minimizing transportation times will be especially important with such a short time frame. Good luck with your planning!

Thank you guys! I was starting to think that maybe we'd gotten a little too ambitious. I'll talk to my sister and see if we can narrow it down and get back to you. I really appreciate your help!

Lisa, My wife and I are planning our first trip as well (I've been twice before, but when I was a teen and with my family and family friends from Italy) and have a similar schedule in mind. Day 1 - Rome (arrive at 9 am) Day 2 - Rome Day 3 - Rome Day 4 - Train to Sorrento, via Naples Day 5 - Side trip to Pompeii Day 6 - Side trip to Positano Day 7 - Train to Florence Day 8 - Florence, then late evening train to Milan to stay with family friends and drop luggage Day 9 - Train to Venice Day 10 - Venice Day 11 - Train to Verona, then evening train to Milan Day 12 - Milan Day 13 - Fly from Milan to Paris Day 14 - Paris Day 15 - Fly home A couple of things we have thought about: 1 - We know we can't conceivable see everything we want to in many of the cities. We have chosen to see less in more cities and come back for more, but that is only a personal preference. It sounds like many might prefer to see as much of a few places as possible and truly enjoy them.
2 - Definitely look into flying to Paris. We found tickets from Milan to Paris for 32 euros each (we could not find train tickets for this). The cheap airlines also have more baggage fees and the tickets aren't flexible, but the price is low enough to make up for the hours we will save. We are headed out the last week in August - the first week in September so I will be sure to post updates when we return. It may be too late at that point, but hopefully I will have some fresh input as to how busy your trip may be :)

Jonah, I appreciate your desire to see as many places as you can. And, if you will never go back to Italy that might be the best way to go. However, you run the risk of seeing everything but seeing very little at the same time. The first day in Rome you really won't get to see too much. Two full days in Rome will allow you to see three or four major sites such as the Vatican area (almost a full day to see it all), Borghese galleria, Forum and the Colleseum. Bascially 24 hours in Florence will allow you to see a few major sites but maybe a bit rushed. Make sure you have reservations for the Academia and Uffizi to save time. But, two full days really lets you get to experience Florence more. You want to walk around the city a bit and take it in. One day in Venice just isn't enough. I think you want one day to see the major sites like St. Marks and the Doge Palace and another day to just walk around. I wouldn't eve consider seeing Murano or Burano in the short time you are there. Verona is fine for one day and so is Milan just to see the major sites. Get reservations to see The Last Supper. As for Paris, give yourself more than a day and a half. It is such a beautiful city and so much to see and take in. Just Versaille, which is a 'don't miss', will take a day. You may want to scale the trip back to Rome, Florence, Milan, Venice and Paris. That is a very full schedule by itself. Save some sites for the next trip.

So much beauty... so little time. I have been to all the places a number of times, and if I were giving a first timer advice I would suggest Rome, Venice, Milan (if you must ) Cinque Terre and Paris as well as a hill town near Florence with a day trip to Florence. This gives you the variety of cities, hill town, Venice, as well as the beautiful Sea and CT. I enjoy my time in the cities, but when it is time for me to leave for a village or quiet town I breathe a sigh of relief. I much prefer sitting in a small cafe and simply enjoying the Italian lifestyle. You can definitely take the Hoho bus through Rome and catch the highlights, or you can stay a month and not see it all. I was really find with the hilights. I have since returned but would never have given up my other experiences to stay a week in Rome. I like Lucca & Pisa was fun, but given everything else you can see I would eliminate these unless you have a specific reason for going. You will be spending lots of time traveling, especially if you do public transportation. I prefer Venice and CT to Florence, so I am okay with less time in the city...but that's my preference. Loved Burano and I also try to get to CT every time I go, but I love the Sea. Be sure to give enough time to Paris to just wander around... can also do the Hoho bus there.

Lisa, My advice will be to leave Paris for another time (Ditto for Jonah). The flight time plus the time spent travelling to and fro both airports will not be worth it. You'll burn half a day or more just trying to get to Paris. It's worse that you're thinking about getting to Paris from CT as CT to Milan is about 3 hours by train. I'd suggest flying into Rome and leaving via Milan or vice versa. I was recently in Italy for 21 days and flew into Milan and left from Rome. I enjoyed seeing the Last Supper in Milan but other than that and the Duomo I felt that there was nothing much to do in Milan. Here's my itinerary: http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/66061/itinerary-advice21-days.html If it was left to me, I'll have my itinerary as such: Day 1 - Rome (arrive at 9am) Day 2 - Rome Day 3 - Rome/Orvieto & Bagnoregio Day 4, 5 - Siena Day 6, 7 - CT Day 8, 9, 10 - Florence & side trips to Pisa & Lucca Day 11, 12, 13 - Venice, with possible side trips to Murano and Burano Day 14 - Travel to Milan
Day 15 - Milan Rome really deserves more time. I had 4 full days and it wasn't enough. Florence and Venice for 3 nights each was ok - Venice requires more time if you intend to visit the small islands as that in itself can take a day. Advice is don't try to cramp everything in. Just tell yourself you'll be back in Europe. FYI, I'm now planning a France trip..

@Jonah, While it may be feasible, your Itinerary is far to "busy" (IMO), considering the distance you're covering and the short time frame. You're going to be spending a lot of your holiday time checking in and out of Hotels, travelling, hauling luggage from hotel to station and back, waiting to travel and looking at Italy through the window of a Train or Bus. During the last week of August and beginning of September, it will still likely be HOT and CROWDED in Europe (conditions which are not always conducive to a "pleasant" travel experience). Hopefully it all goes well for you. Happy travels!

I really appreciate all the information you are all sharing, especially how to get around and in what order to visit places. We'll try to whittle down our plans a bit, but our trouble is that this really is very likely a once in a lifetime trip and its hard to skip anything. I will try though, because I know how much fun it is to just soak in a place. We do have to fly out of Paris as that was the flight available for us to use with our mileage tickets. Thank you, everyone!

If that's the case then drop CT from your schedule. Something's got to give: Day 1 - Rome (arrive at 9am) Day 2 - Rome Day 3 - Rome Day 4, 5, 6, 7 - Florence with side trips to Pisa, Lucca & Siena Day 8, 9, 10 - Venice Day 11 - Half day in Venice before departing to Milan Day 12 - Milan, fly to Paris in late noon
Day 13, 14, 15 - Paris Combine Pisa & Lucca into a single daytrip from Florence. See Duomo when you get into Milan. Remember to book tickets for the Last Supper for the morning slot on Day 12.

Lisa, I don't agree that you should skip the Cinque Terre. It's a wonderful and unique area, and will be easy to fit in using the Itinerary I posted earlier. Regarding your comment that this will be a "once in a lifetime trip", keep in mind one of Rick's common sayings - "assume you will return". Cheers!

I was in CT too and I enjoyed my time there.. Lisa can keep CT in her itinerary but she will have to drop another city off her list. 1 day each in Paris and Rome won't be good enough. 1st day in Rome doesn't count as she'll be fighting off jetlag and last day in Paris won't count either unless she's departing on a late night flight. Rome and Paris are the start and end points respectively. Florence & Venice are the other main cities in between. So decision boils down to choosing 2 out of the following 3 - Siena, Milan or CT. Reason why I am in favor of dropping CT is because of the logistics of getting there. Venice to CT then to Paris?? Florence to CT to Venice to Paris?? As a reference, CT to Venice will take about 5-6 hours with train change in either Milan or Florence. Not saying it cannot be done, but you'll waste time commuting or backtracking

We just got back two days ago from our "whirlwind" trip to Italy, so I thought I would give you some feedback based on our experience. We flew in and out of Venice, with two nights there on the beginning, and one on the end. That was plenty of time for us. Even if we had only the first two nights, we still managed to do everything we wanted, St.Marks', Doges' and a Gondola ride. We shopped, walked and ate lots of good food, didn't feel rushed, or short of time. We then went to Tuscany for 3 nights, with a stop (literally 3 hours) in Florence on our way. (we had a car) That was fine for us, as we don't really go to museums, and just enjoyed seeing the Duomo and a bit of the city. We loved Tuscany, and stayed just outside San Gimignano, one of our favourite stops. We liked this hilltown much more then Sienna or Lucca. We did a trip to Lucca and Pisa, and honestly, Pisa is a couple of hours at most, and Lucca was just ok. Sienna was nice, but again, really enjoyed San Gimignano and other smaller places more.

continued.... We then did Rome for 2 nights. We essentially did two half days, and managed to see all major sights, including Vatican City and Museums, Coliseum, Trevi, Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, and some other places.......we even managed a walk through the Jewish Ghetto, and dinner in Travestre. (best meal , and cheap) We then did two nights on the east coast in Riviera del Conero, which is a place Italians go, didn't hear a single english voice! We loved the beaches, beautiful, and the relaxed atmosphere in the towns for dinner. Best part of our trip. On the way back to Venice to fly home, we did a stop in San Marino, an independent republic within Itlay. Best day ever! Most beautiful views I have ever seen, as the republic is on a mountain overlooking the ocean on one side, and the countryside all around. Also cheap shopping, as they have no tax! We did have a car, which let us visit many areas quickly. We found it easy to drive.

@Tom Thanks for the feedback. You essentially echoed my advice to my wife. Personally, I would prefer to cut Milan and save Paris for another trip. However, we have family friends in Milan who we feel we must see (when you are so far apart it seems silly not to carve out at least a day to see them when we are finally close enough to do so). As for Paris, the wife has her heart set on it (along with Pompeii - quite the combination!). When I first drew up some plans, Paris was not in the discussion, but here we are :) With the train schedules, we have roughly a day and a half in Florence, Venice and Paris. Based on input from our family friends, I think we will be able to see enough of what we hope to in both Florense and Venice (we are not huge art lovers and I'm afraid my wife would be bored to death with too many museum stops). Paris is the one place I think we are really short on time. We have tossed around the idea of cutting our stay in Sorrento (currently 3 nights) down to 2 nights and therefore skipping our side trip to the Amalfi coast. This would bump the rest of our schedule up a day and give us extra time in Paris. Anyone have input for us?

@Ken Thanks for your input. I agree we will certainly be cramped for time, but we've really struggled to decide where to cut. We don't have enough vacation time to extend our trip (I wish! We managed to squeek out an extra day thanks to the Labor Day holiday - hence travelling this time of year) and my wife has her heart set on seeing Pompeii and Paris. As to the weather, I'm not overly concerned. The two previous times I've been were both in mid-July (and of course our gracious hosts did not have air conditioning!). We anticipate weather similar to here in the midwest - anywhere from 70s to low 90s. With regard to the crowds and luggage hauling, any suggestions? The time of year isn't really flexible so we will deal with crowds, but we are open to suggestions on luggage. Our friends have offered us to drop bags in Milan (hence the trip from Florence to Milan to Venice rather than direct to Venice) and we are planning to store our large(r) bags in the train station in Naples while we stay in Sorrento for a few days. Anyone with experience using bag drops? I have my concerns, especially with Naples' reputation, but it was suggested by our Italian friends. Thanks again for everyone's input!