My husband and I haven't been to Italy in over 20 years and are planning a 6 week trip in May/June. I've put together an itinerary but am looking at filling in a week somewhere so that we hit the Dolomites as late as possible during our trip. I would love some suggestions for adding 6 days somewhere in Northern Italy. I thought of leaving it open to go back to an area that we especially liked but worry that it might be hard to get a hotel during peak season. I'm open to flying somewhere, as a roundtrip from Venice or Milan. So far we have:
4/30-5/5: Rome
5/5-5/9: Amalfi coast, Paestum
5/9/-5/12: Sorrento (time to chill and visit Pompei, Herculeum, Capri and possibly Naples)
5/12-5/17: Orvieto (2 nights), Assisi Agriturismo (3 nights). Visit other towns in Umbria as we will pick up a car in Orvieto
5/17-5/23: Siena (3 nights as a base to also visit Pisa, Lucca, Volterra and San Gimignano
5/23-5/27: Castelmuzio (agriturismo and use as a base to visit Montalcino, Montepulciano and the countryside). Drop off car in Siena and take the train to Monterosso al Mare
5/27-5/31: Cinque Terre (based in Monterosso al Mare).
5/31-June 3: Venice
????
We leave out of Milan on June 15 and I was hoping to spend 4 nights in the Dolomites (Ortisei?) from June 9-13?
I would love suggestions for filling in extra days before the Dolomites. Thank you!
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
6049 posts
Bologna, Ravenna, Padua, Verona…
Posted by
Folsom, California
540 posts
Siena seems like a long way away from Lucca and Pisa for a day trip. Lucca has plenty to do to spend at least a few days there, and you can take a quick trip from there to Pisa and Cinque Terre.
Posted by
Irving
2948 posts
Add two more nights in Venice and take day trips to:
Jun 4 - Padua by direct train (30-minutes). Buy tickets for the Scrovegni Chapel before leaving home. Afterwards explore the center; sleep in Venice.
Jun 5 – Vicenza by direct train (1h); sleep in Venice.
Jun 6 – train to Varenna with one connection (4h 15m); sleep in Varenna.
Jun 7 – day trip to Bellagio by ferry (15-minutes); sleep in Varenna.
Jun 8 – train to Verona with one connection (3h); sleep in Verona.
Posted by
11156 posts
More time in Venice. Spend a night or two on Lake Garda en route to Ortisei. That’s what we did. Salò overnight on way north and Malcesine overnight on the the way back.
Posted by
🏝️ Hobe Sound, FL⛱️
3161 posts
Consider visiting the wine towns of the Piedmont - Barbaresco and Barolo. I highly recommend staying in Torino for a few nights. The city has a lot of things to see including the great Egyptian Museum, Mole Antonelliana, National Automobile Museum. The one thing missing from both sites are hoards of tourists. If you’re in the mood, take a day trip from Turin to Courmayeur and take the Skyway Monte Bianco up 3,500 meters to Punt Helbronner for views of Mont Blanc.
Posted by
OP
Bend, Oregon
10 posts
Thank you all for the excellent suggestions. I am going to rework the itinerary to incorporate some of these. A friend of mine said that she went to the Dolomites early June in 2019 and they were able to hike the lush valleys without any trouble. I guess it just depends on the year and how much snow they get. Philip, I love the idea of Turino and going up to Courmayeur for the day. That would be a wonderful ending for our trip. I appreciate the time that everyone took to give me some ideas.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
These few changes may make your path a little more straightforward.
Assisi > Castelmuzio good day trips from this location.
Castelmuzio 4 nights
Castelmuzio > Siena. Day trip to Volterra.
Day trip to San Gimignano and Certaldo.
Day trip to Panzano and Castellina.
Siena 3 nights
Change here uses 2 nights On way to Cinque Terre.
Siena to Pisa drop car @ Pisa Centrale Station.
Store luggage @ Deposito Bagagli.
Lam Rosso bus to Field of Miracles.
Return to station, train to Lucca 20min. Sleep Lucca. 2 nights
Train Lucca - Monterosso 2hr.24min.
Monterosso 4 nights.
Change here uses 3-4 nights.
Train Monterosso-Lake Garda. 4H 47m. Sleep in one of these towns. Desenzano, Peschiera or Verona
3-4 nights.
Train Verona- Bolanzo 2H43m. Bus to Ortisei 30 minutes.
Ortisei 5 nights.
Train Bolanzo- Venice 3H11m.
4 nights Venice.
Train Venice-Milan 2H27m.
1 night Milan.
Travel.
Hope this helps.
Posted by
OP
Bend, Oregon
10 posts
Gerri, thank you for laying out a more straightforward itinerary. One of the challenges is that the dates in Castelmuzio are fixed so we had to do a bit of backtracking. Thank you for suggesting some other day trips that were not on my radar!