Itinerary Assistance - March 2015

It would be helpful to know the city (or cities) you are flying in/out of to better help you. If you have not bought the airfare yet, fly into one city and out of another (AKA open-jaw or multi-city). Flying in or out of Milan would be economical, and would be a great spot to add one or two nights so you can see all that Milan has to offer. A good plan would be flying into Milan, head to either Cinque Terre OR Venice, Florence, Tuscany or Umbria (i.e. Orvieto or Siena), the Cinque Terre OR Venice (whichever one not seen before), then finish in Rome before you head home. Or start in Rome and end in Milan. Easy peasy.

If you have not booked your flights yet, I would try to fly into Venice and out of Rome. Assuming you are coming from the US, flights leaving from Venice generally leave very early, so not convenient to get to the airport on time. Also, if all you really want to see in Milan is the Last Supper, I would think long and hard to decide if that one thing is worth the time to get there.
Personally, i do not think 2 nights in Venice is enough. We were there in March for 4 nights and we had so much more we wanted to see-- next time!. 2 nights is 1 full day. I would give Venice at least 3 nights, Florence at least 4-5 nights and Rome 3-5 nights. There is more than enough to keep you occupied in each of these cities but if you really feel you need to get out of town, you can do a day trip from Florence or Rome.
So start by telling us your city of arrival and departure.

Have fun.
If you could give us more details about your interests, are you traveling alone, etc you may get better advice.
Also, I recommend that you end your trip in your city of departure.

Rome: 4 days
Florence: 6-7 days - taking 1 -2days (max) to do San Gimignano or Lucca and another2 days to go to some Toscan Natural park or seaside
Siena - 3 days
Gubbio-1 full day
few other days - do what you feel like

I would do Venice another time where I would spend 3-4 days and from thereon, would visit, The laguna of Venice (often forgotten but its by visiting it that you understand the Venice spirit 1-2 days) Verona (2 days, attend an opera at the outdoor theatre), Trieste (2 days), Lago di Garda (2 days) and 1 day in Ravenna.

You can do Cinque Terre from Florence but it is also very easy form Genoa which is also a very interesting city.
Cinque Terre needs time (2 days) because in order to discover it you must do quite a lot of walking
I do not like Milan that much and apart from the Scala, the old shopping gallery and the dome with the "last supper". In the north I like Torino and its hills better but it is true Milano is bigger, is a bigger financial and fashion centre (but fashion you will find it in Florence and I believe you are not coming all that way to see the Milano Stock exchange!)
Bologna and Orivieto are within reach from Florence.

Do a multi-city (open jaw flight as follow):
Going: LAX-VCE (via a hub in Europe or via JFK, which has flights to Venice with Delta)
Return: FCO-LAX (via a hub in Europe or US, or non stop with Alitalia).
FCO is the airport code for Rome (Fiumicino airport).

Since you are going there for the first time and don't like changing hotels too often, I would do the following (in this exact order):
ARRIVE VCE:
Venice: 4 nights (with day trips to Murano-Burano, Padua or Verona)
Florence: 6 nights (Florence deserves 2 days, the rest take as many day trips as you wish in Tuscany and even Bologna, which however you could do as a half day stop on the way from Venice to Florence)
Cinque Terre (optional): 2 nights
Rome: 5 nights (with day trips to Orvieto and/or to Pompeii/Naples)
DEPART FCO

I put Cinque Terre as optional because the weather in March may not be amenable for a trip there.
Your travel within Italy would be by train, except for some bus trips from Florence to some Tuscan towns.

The weather in March may be still a bit cool, especially at night, and changeable (could be sunny one day and rainy the next). Basically northern California weather (but with a bit more rain).

I knew there were things I was leaving out of my initial post that would be helpful just could not think what there were.

I have not bought my airline ticket. I wanted to get a better idea of where I really wanted to go before I did that. I do plan to fly open jaw.

I will be traveling alone. There is a slim possibility that my sister might join me for the Rome portion of the trip but I will not know that for a few weeks.

As far as interests, I love food and wine and plan to take at least one cooking classes at some point during my trip. The cooking class I took at Le Cordon Bleu is one of my favorite memories of my trip to Paris. I have taken bike tours in several cities I have visited and feel like it is a great way to see the city. I will probably try and find at least one while I am in Italy. I enjoy art but my tastes are all over the place when it comes to what I enjoy so narrowing that down would be difficult.

I will be sticking to smaller hotels/B&B's and will probably rent an apartment in Rome. I rented apartments in London and Paris throught that was a great way to go.

Thanks again for the advice.

Jennifer

Jennifer. Absolutely do Roberto's itinerary, and pay attention to the part that Chinque Terre may NOT be a good idea in March.
He's given you a perfect itinerary.

Jennifer, I will just add that I think spending a couple of nights based in a beautiful small town would really add to your appreciation of Italy. In March most should not have too many day trippers, so you can enjoy them even in the heart of the day, but often these towns are most magical in the early morning and then again in the evening, when things are quiet and often misty. You mentioned Orvieto (in Umbria) which is wonderful and has several interesting things to see and do, although that can also be visited as a day trip from Rome, just 70 minutes by train. Another great possibility would be Assisi (also in Umbria), a spiritual center, with many sites, mostly churches of various sizes in and nearby the town. Or various of the smaller towns of Tuscany, such as San Gimignano, Lucca (great for biking), Volterra or many others. Cinque Terre in March is really iffy. I understand that many inns and restaurants are closed up in March, the boats probably are not running, and if it rains, you likely could not hike. If you do not yet have the Rick Steves Italy Book, it is a good place to learn about all these places, with many tips re lodging, eating and transportation. Happy planning, I think that phase is one of the most fun parts of traveling!

Hi, we are also traveling to Italy next March, so we ask the permission from Jennifer to use this post for our questions too. Our trip is almost identical to Jennifer's, like the dates; train/bus transportation; food and wine enthusiasts; b&b and rental for accommodation.
We already have our tickets, and we'll be arriving and departing from Rome.
The question we have, from what you have been answering to Jennifer, is: why are not the Dolomites or other Alps regions mentioned in any itinerary?

I think the suggestion to spend a little time in a small town is a good one, but be very careful to pick a place where the tourist infrastructure will be open that early in the year.

Assisi would be a good bet, since it's a year-round pilgrimage site. I've been several times, and stayed a week on my last visit to Assisi. It's a wonderful town, with much to recommend it. Also, the transportation from there is good for trips.

Get your Last Supper ticket well in advance. Milano, Padova, Lucca are all easy cities for biking, on your own or with a tour. I would omit the Cinque Terre nights because of the time of year, and put those nights elsewhere. Assisi or Siena, perhaps. Daytrips from Rome could easily include Frascati or Castel Gandolfo; or within Rome to Ostia Antica.

I like Roberto's general idea, but I'd tweak it. Definitely start with 4 nights in Venice. If you don't enjoy it that much, there are day trips to Verona and/or Padua.

Since you didn't mention art/museums as a preference, I think 6 days in Florence is not a great idea. Also weather in Florence can be pretty cold, even when it's nice in nearby places. It's main attraction is Renaissance art and architecture. If that doesn't turn you on, then it's just going to be a big city.

The Cinque Terre are only enjoyable in good weather. Put this on your "next time" list, along with Orvieto and Assisi (both of which I really enjoyed) It takes a long time to get to them so neither is a good base or really even a good day trip from somewhere else. It is likely to take you over 2 hours each way from Rome. Yes, the train ride is only 1.25 hours, but you have to get to the Rome train station, and then you have to get from the train in Orvieto up to the city. Then you are there with the other day-trippers.

Bologna, the "food capital" of Italy, could be a really good base for you. It is much less touristy, since it doesn't have major sightseeing attractions. There is still a lot to see and do . . . maybe this is the best place for a cooking class (not my thing, so someone else - please chime in). It's easy to take day trips to Padua, Ravenna (wonderful Byzantine churches and mosaics), Ferrara.

4 nights Venice
3-4 nights Bologna
2-4 nights Florence
5-7 nights Rome

As Chani said, Bologna is a good base for other daytrips. Parma is very close by train. Either city is a great place for a cooking class.

Thank you all for the great information. I have decided that the Cinque Terre and Milan will have to wait for the another time. I had not taken the weather in March into account regarding the Cinque Terre and as much as I want to see the Last Supper trying to add Milan to this trip for one "must see" just does not seem like a good use of my travel time. Since I have only ever been to Paris and want to see more or France I figure I will do the south of France and that part of Italy on another trip. Someday!

As for my March 2015 trip to Italy, after all the comments here and speaking to friends, co-workers and family that have been to Italy my current idea is as follows:

1. 3/12/15 - Fly from LAX to Venice (Arrive on 3/13/15)
2. 3/13/15 - 3/16/15 - Sleep Venice (4 nights)
3. 3/17/15 - 3/19/15 - Sleep Bologna (3 nights)
4. 3/20/15 - 3/23/15 - Sleep Florence (4 nights)
5. 3/24/15 - Sleep Orvieto (1 night)
6. 3/25/15 - 3/29/15 - Sleep Rome (5 nights)
7. 3/30/15 - Fly home from Rome

For me, I feel like staying in each place at least 3 days (with the exception of Orvieto) as a base and doing day trips if I find that is too much time in those individual cities will work best for how I like to travel. When I was in Spain I scheduled too much time in Granada (for my interests) and took a day trip to Ronda at the last minute which was a highlight of my trip. So as I am planning I will look at the day trip options from each city and have those in my back pocket just in case. Of course things can change (and probably will) as I do more research but at least now I know where I want to fly into and out of and the airfare hunt can begin.

Thanks again for all the help! Any other ideas/suggestions would be welcomed!

Jennifer

I think this is a Great Itinerary! Stick to it!

Jennifer, you've got it, you've got it, by gosh you've got it !!!
Now, enjoy it!

@ricodeaca asked: from what you have been answering to Jennifer, is: why are not the Dolomites or other Alps regions mentioned in any itinerary?

March is between season in the Dolomites. It is toward the end of ski season and not nearly into summer activities like hiking. The summer season really starts again in early June. So if you are going to Italy in March, you can certainly go to the Dolomites, but outdoor activities the area is known for are limited. You might check WeatherUnderground for typical weather here to see what your dates are like in the area.

Consider Ferrara as a daytrip from Bologna.

Great itinerary, Jennifer.
Now you can start to plan some of the fun things. You haven't asked but I MUST suggest ROWVENICE. So much fun, educational, different, ecofriendly, A much better experience than an overpriced gondola ride in my opinion.

Hi again Jennifer. I would not do.Venice in March. I find it too risky in case of aqua alta. This happens every year and Venice is submerged by water and it.is then impossible to walk around. Type aqua alta Venezia or Venice in.google and see what you find and which period in the year is to be avoided. Venice is lovely but a bit later in the year , may or June are best.

Hi again Jennifer. I would not do.Venice in March. I find it too risky in case of aqua alta. This happens every year and Venice is submerged by water and it.is then impossible to walk around. Type aqua alta Venezia or Venice in.google and see what you find and which period in the year is to be avoided. Venice is lovely but a bit later in the year , may or June are best.